No boundaries to great food at Neo’s
Neo’s Cafe Durban North 12 MacKeurtan Ave, Durban North Phone: 031 563 5546 Hours: Mon to Sat 12 noon – 9pm
WE HAD not been to this restaurant for quite some time and since we were dropping off our son in this party street, we thought we would try it out before he went on the tear.
I like the relaxed vibe of the place, that feeling of being protected from the elements but still out on a verandah. One almost feels you’re on holiday.
We were quickly offered drinks; lime and soda (R24.50) and Mozambican beer 2M (R24). Some warm, fresh rolls arrived and we dived in while waiting for our food.
For starters, we chose a large Greek salad (R65), which was a generous helping of everything one would expect and a portion of rather good crumbed mushrooms (R45).
Our mains included calamari tubes grilled with lemon and garlic butter (R137.50) and a 140g Prego steak, fried the traditional Portuguese way, served on a roll, and accompanied by home-made chips (R70).
My wife has a liking for bean dishes and ordered the Portuguese red bean stew with pork meat, beef, chicken and sausages with red beans and served with white rice (R140). The calamari was delicious. My prego steak roll was just what I wanted, not being too filling, and the chips were really good, and my wife’s stew was excellent. It is hard to beat the sauce that comes out of a stew like that. I was sorry I had finished my roll.
With these main meals, the young man had a Corona (R27) and we settled for a carafe each of the 1659 merlot cinsault cabernet (R40), which was a pleasant, easy-drinking wine.
We had arrived a little early and by now most of the other tables were taken up.
There was a pleasant buzz from the diners around us. The vibes were good.
Our choice for a dessert to share was the chocolate lava pudding made up of moist chocolate cake with a melted chocolate filling, served with ice cream (R40).
It was decadent, sinful and wonderful.
We finished off with two good cappuccinos (R23).
How could one not be in a contented frame of mind after eating comfort Portuguese (Mozambican) food in a relaxed venue.
We left the youngster to his partying and toddled off home in a happy state of mind.
Ratings (out of five) Food ★★★✩ Service ★★★✩ Ambience ★★★★