It’s Saturday… time for a delish brunch
Delish Sisters Cafe
The Litchi Orchard, Seaforth Avenue, Salt Rock
Phone: 032 815 0413
Open: Tues-Fri breakfast 8.30am to 11am; harvest lunch noon to 2.30pm; teas from 3pm. Sat-Sun breakfast starts at 9am.
THERE can be few better ways to start the weekend than meeting good friends for brunch. It’s when you wash your hair of a hell of a week and enjoy a little bit of me time. And it’s even better if the food is delish.
So it didn’t take much armtwisting when friends from Salt Rock insisted we make a pilgrimage up north to join them at their favourite local. We couldn’t do the champagne and orange juice – the drive back being a factor – but we were promised great coffee.
And so the four of us relaxed at the Delish Sisters, a vibey cafe that is at the heart of the Litchi Orchard.
It’s packed with families ranging from eight to 80. There’s a party of cyclists, a gang of foodies and a couple so intense it looked like a proposal was imminent. But no problem for the sisters, and we didn’t have to wait long.
A table was created for us and we were seated. It wasn’t long before an excellent cappuccino (R20) was in front of us.
The decor is rustic but homely, complete with wellworn Persian carpets on the outdoor floors. I like the style.
The menu boasts of tasty food made with love and there is certainly plenty of attention to interesting flavours. Breads are freshly baked and a big plus is that there are both gluten-free and carb-clever options for the Banters.
Besides the traditional takes on eggs, there’re things like pecan-crusted French toast with berry compote, cream cheese and mapleglazed bacon, chai tea-infused rolled oats with banana and cinnamon, a flapjack stack and zucchini fritters with Thai green curry mince and poached eggs and coriander (R70). A friend went for that and gave it the thumbs up.
I went for the corn bread stack with spicy sriracha sauce, creme fraiche, guacamole and poached egg (R70). The result was an enjoyable dish even if it looked like a giant mess.
I am not sure I got the heat from this spicy sauce from the east of Thailand. My only real criticism was that the eggs could have been softer.
Other options might be scrambles with halloumi and spinach and Za’attar spices, or creamy scrambles with tomato and chourizo.
The ladies went straight for the Benedicts, one with maple-glazed bacon (R75) and the other with smoked salmon (R85). Both were more than satisfied, although, again, they would have prefered the eggs to be softer.
And no outing would be complete without a second cup of coffee.
If we could have fitted it in, we would have had a plate of the chocolate brownies that looked so delicious on the counter top.
As we were leaving, the harvest table was being laid out for lunch. Think zucchini, ricotta, tomato and basil bake; sesame, basil and red onion chicken meatballs; papaya, cabbage, cashew and carrot salad with herby dressing; Vietnamese rice-paper wraps with soy and chilli dipping sauce; sticky onion marmalade porkies; pea, mint and feta fallafels; quiches; and pomegranate, sesame and green bean salad. It all looked way too delish. We almost stayed for round two.
But we left satisfied, with armfuls of croissants, drinking yoghurts, peri-peri sauce and bread sticks from the deli next door.
Ratings (out of five)
Food ★★★✩
Service ★★★✩
Ambience ★★★★