Harare Interlude 3: Victoria 22

One of the best things about being home is going for lunch with my mother. Mostly because she treats lunch like it's a special occasion, so we go to awesome places.

Victoria 22. It's true colonial-style - wooden tables and wicker chairs and sprawling rooms that open out onto a shaded veranda and rolling lawns with swimming pool and granite rockeries.

The house is tall ceilings and wooden floors and large vases of fresh flowers. As you walk in, the tables are filled with foreign dignitaries and Members of Parliament, businessmen and high-ranking members of the Pentecostal church. It's a hub of high-flyers.

I felt quite underdressed in jeans and trainers.

Victoria 22 is famous for its food. I started with the chicken livers, which were cooked in a paprika and port sauce, with bacon and onion, served on slices of fresh apple. For the record, the apple was genius. The sweet port, the juiciness of the liver and the smokey bacon were perfectly offset by the crisp sharpness of grannysmith.

My only criticism was that it looked a bit messy on the plate. But all was forgiven after that first mouthful:

For mains, my mother opted for a Caesar salad. Not my first choice, if I'm honest. Not the biggest fan of anchovies; and while it looked quite pretty, that dressing was overpowering. But what do I know? Maybe in the world of Caesar salad lovers, the anchovy dressing is king.

My mains was the pork-fillet. It was done in a mustard cream sauce with red-peppers and dates. And honestly - how good does that sound?

Sadly, also a little disappointing. Sometimes, I worry that my decision to blog about food has stopped me from enjoying it. In fairness, the fillet was perfectly cooked and the vegetables were awesome. But I just feel that pork fillet with dates needs a little more date. I like to have enough date for each mouthful.

And then dessert:

Homemade berry ice-cream, crushed meringue and fresh strawberries. So so delicious. THIS is a summer dessert. All lightness and crushed sugar and sun-ripened fruit. 

Then, because it's colonial dining, we had tea and petit-fours.

Oh but it's good to be home.