The Secret Diner
Little Havana
Where: 16 Chartwell Drive, uMhlanga
Open: Monday to Saturday noon to 3pm, 5pm to 9pm, Sunday 11.30am to 3pm.
Call: 081 393 8205, booking essential.
I hadn’t been into the village of uMhlanga since lockdown, and had been craving the excellent cuts of meat provided by one of its rock stars – Little Havana.
Little Havana is known for its consistently good cooking, regularly being in the top three in South Africa’s annual steakhouse awards, winning in 2015. It’s also known for its impeccable, yet friendly service, and it was great to see the same brigade back doing what they do best. Then there’s the stylish upmarket decor, which manages to be comfortable and intimate at the same time.
So when a friend messaged to say he was going to do another fast food takeaway, I insisted he join me for a real dinner instead.
Starters here are interesting. There are choices like marrow bones, or mussels in a chilli, coriander, tomato, beer and ginger sauce. I missed that on the menu. Steak tartare appears, one of the few places in Durban you can order this retro dish. Broccoli fries with a smoked avo dip is certainly interesting, as are its famed deconstructed prawn samosas.
My friend opted for the calamari grilled in a peri-peri sauce (R75), which were perfectly cooked, the sauce with plenty of tang and flavour without completely killing the palette. I enjoyed their trio of snails (R90), cooked in a garlic butter, a Gorgonzola sauce, and a Spanish red pepper cream. All three sauces worked well. It was an enormous portion.
Being a top notch steakhouse, I have yet to try its chicken or fish repertoire but it is extensive for those who don’t eat red meat. There’s a deboned chicken peri-peri and a Mediterranean-styled dish with chourico and baby tomatoes. You can also order an ostrich fillet in a pepper sauce. Vegetarians could enjoy mushroom risotto, phad Thai, or a spring linguine with baby tomatoes, mushrooms, lemon zest, chilli and pesto.
Its aged steaks take in fillet, sirloin, rump, ribeye or T-bone, all served with a variety of sauces or toppings, the Béarnaise being the real thing.
My friend opted for a special of a 200g fillet topped with a poached egg and hollandaise sauce, and served with Parmesan mash and onion rings (R190). He asked for the onion rings to be replaced with butternut, which the kitchen was willing to do. It was a winning combination. The steak was perhaps cooked more medium rare than medium, but he was happy. Lamb options take in grilled chops and a lamb shank, while pork may include a grilled tomahawk rack chop in a Korean barbecue basting sauce on wasabi or green onion mash, or smoked ribs in a sesame and honey basting.
I opted for the more traditional pork belly in an apple cider and bacon cream sauce with Parmesan mash and braised vegetables (R175). It was a great dish, the belly succulent, the mash delicious and was served with a lovely crisp piece of crackling.
For dessert, we shared a daily special of chocolate brownie and vanilla ice cream (R70). This was more a chocolate cake than a brownie, but smothered in a beautiful chocolate sauce and with silky smooth home-made ice cream it was a wonderful way to end a good meal, and not as rich or heavy as the more traditional brownie.
I enjoyed an excellent double espresso.
Food: 4
Service: 4 ½
Ambience: 4
The Independent on Saturday