Coffees and chats in the cool
Hingham Nursery
Where: 15 Clematis Grove, Glen Hills.
Open: Nursery open daily 8am to 4.30pm. Tea garden closed Mondays, but otherwise open 9am to 4pm daily.
Call: 031 564 3062
I HAD been trying to get to the Hingham Nursery for some time, including popping in one Monday morning for breakfast to find the little coffee shop closed. Pre-Covid I remembered it as a homely space where you sit outdoors and can relax among the plants. Plus it produced some pretty decent omelettes.
I tempt the Maths Professor into joining me for breakfast. As we drive in I feel it so appropriate that this little urban oasis is at the top of Clematis Grove. But then all the streets in this part of Durban North are named after flowers, like Hydrangea Street and Bouganvillia Boulevard.
It’s not the best day for it but we both appreciate the cooler weather, even if the skies are heavy. The breeze across the outside seating area is most welcome. At one point there’s even a light drizzle of rain. So it’s not packed, but there are still people relaxing and enjoying the space.
We’re soon sipping on an excellent coffee, served up with a lovely home-made buttery biscuit.
Breakfasts might include a full farmhouse fry-up to a more modest bacon, eggs and tomato. There’s a breakfast wrap and avo on toast, and French toast either plain or with the likes of bacon and banana. Then there is a selection of Benedicts from the traditional with ham, to bacon and tomato, to one with avo and salsa, to, and I shudder, another with curry mince. I suppose each to their own.
Or you can build your own omelette. The Maths Professor goes this route, choosing one with bacon and cheese (R45 + R28 + R28). Other fillings included tomatoes or mushrooms, pork sausage or banana or more of that curried mince. He enjoyed his omelette even if it was a shade on the dry side. An omelette is really something that should be in and out the pan. It can set at the table. But it had plenty of filling.
I tried the Welsh rarebit with a twist (R79). This was pleasant ‒ a soft fried egg, as ordered, on top of toast with bacon, tomato and rocket and covered in a sauce which could have had a cheesier kick. A good dollop of English mustard might give it some oomph.
Breakfasts are available all day.
For lunch there is a selection of wraps, toasted sandwiches and tramezzini. There’s a small selection of burgers ‒ beef, lamb and chicken ‒ a bobotie, a couple of quiches, some salads and a lemon and garlic chicken.
There’s a kids’ menu and there’s even a doggy menu. Ella, who came and said hello to us, had just finished her doggy treats pack and puppuccino. She was very friendly and well behaved, or was she after the Maths Professor’s leftover bacon?
We finish up with a second cup of coffee and one of their home-made scones with cream and jam (R40). The scone was nice and fresh and light, and would have really been a lot more memorable with a decent apricot jam. I’ll give you Cathy Walker’s number. You can buy her excellent apricot jam in the home industries store in the Windermere Centre.
We would like to have lingered over another coffee, but, while the Maths Professor is a gentleman of leisure, for me the office called.
Food: 3
Service: 3
Ambience: 3 ½
Bill: R354 including tip
Independent on Saturday