So tell us, is it a knife and fork… or a fork and knife?
Cafe 1999 Shop 2, Silvervause Centre, Silverton Road, Berea, Durban Open: Mon to Sat 12.30 to 2.30pm; 6.30pm to 10.30pm Call: 0312023406 IT WAS noticeably wrong, and I checked my wife’s cutlery setting to make sure. Hers was the same. The knife was on the left and the fork on the right. It seemed very odd.
Cafe 1999 is a favourite restaurant for many people and we had been there previously when friends were celebrating birthdays.
We like the node of restaurants on Silverton Road, which includes Unity Bar, Fusion World Food Cafe and Cafe 1999.
When we went on Wednesday evening, admittedly the weather was a bit miserable, but there were people in Unity and Cafe 1999 got fuller during the course of the evening, but Fusion had hardly any visitors. It puzzles us, because we enjoy eating there.
But on this evening our choice was Cafe 1999 and it was well worth it. When offered a choice of tables for two I unfortunately chose the one nearest the bar, till, kitchen and on the way to the toilets. At least it was out of any draft.
Our waiter was friendly and on top of his game, asking if we wanted a bottle of water, which we did (VDC Sparking 750ml R36). We also said we would have a glass of wine each with our meal.
He gave us a bit of time to look over the menu and then ran through the starter and main course specials. There were three fish main course options, including swordfish, kingklip and tuna, and a steak special.
We decided to skip starters.
My wife chose the kingklip on a bed of green vegetables and potato wedges topped with a leek Ratings (out of five) Food Service Ambience beurre blanc (R190) and I chose penne pasta with seared fillet strips, chilli, charred aubergine, tomato and Calamata olives (R105). There was a smaller portion for R85.
The fish was perfectly cooked, with delicate flavours and crisp vegetables but the potato wedges were a little too firm for my wife’s liking.
She had a glass of Jordan sauvignon blanc (R55).
The pasta dish was outstanding. The steak was almost shredded but the combination of flavours with the chilli, aubergine, tomato and olives would take some beating. My choice of wine was a glass of Tormentoso pinotage (R49).
After cleaning our plates it was time for dessert, with my wife choosing the triple chocolate brownie with white chocolate and poppy-seed ice cream (R65). I had the vanilla and rooibos creme brûlée (R50).
The bitterness of the chocolate was nicely offset by the sweetness of the ice cream, while my creme brûlée’s crust cracked perfectly and the filling was delicious.
We also had two good cappucinos (R25).
I was still puzzled about the place settings and our waiter said many people asked about the knife and fork being the wrong way round. The explanation offered was that when the artwork was being done for the restaurant, the creator of the logo put the knife and fork in the wrong position. The restaurant was about to open for business and there was no time to change it. So an error was turned into a novelty and talking point. That was smart. Now the tables are set like that.