Unity Bar and Brasserie
Where: Silvervause Centre, 117 Silverton Road, Berea
Open: Monday to Thursday noon to 9.30pm, Friday and Saturday noon to 10pm.
Call: 031 201 3470
It’s always doubly disappointing when an old favourite doesn’t quite produce its usual zing. It’s not that the food was horrible, it was just somehow flatly ordinary, none of the usual pick me up we expect.
It wasn’t that the ambience was terrible, despite a bunch of beer-swilling oddballs noisily debating everything from religion to colonialism to the Ukraine; you sort of expect that from a vibrant pub (although they might at least have listened to each other’s points of view).
It had something to do with the service, which was pretty grim. We had to place our second and third gin orders at the bar, the second order being incorrect.
It was as if, it being mid-January, everyone was tired and trying to hold it together after a busy holiday season, and maybe everyone needed a holiday.
The Glass Guy and I were at Unity, the gastro pub on Durban’s Berea. We weren’t planning for a night on the town, just a quick catch-up after his trip to Cape Town. We both had things planned early on Sunday morning. We chose Unity because our other two pop-ins on the Berea had done what Unity maybe should do ‒ take a much-needed holiday.
Maybe it was also the disappointment of spending almost R1 000 on a non-night out that involved a shared starter and two light mains. Those gin and tonics were expensive.
The menu has been stripped down since I was last here, many of the frills removed. In fact, the online menu was more as I remember it (its prices too). It’s at least two years old. But the salt and pepper calamari and the zingy Portuguese prawns still feature, as do the stuffed, deep fried olives. I recently had their prawn and calamari tacos topped with avo and pineapple ordered in on Uber Eats and enjoyed them. There’s a couple of bao buns and poke bowls ‒ although I’m never going to get excited over a poke bowl. Ingrid Shevlin insists this is one of Durban’s better examples.
We decided to share beef nachos with all the trimmings (R130), which were hot and pleasant, although there could have been more beef. The guacamole and sour cream were plentiful.
Unity is known for its burgers, offering beef, chicken and a veg burger, which is falafel based, along with an array of toppings. I have enjoyed their Mexican option, which I think is topped with avo, sour cream and jalapenos, and their burger with gorgonzola and onion marmalade. I had actually come out thinking of a steak, but somehow I did not feel like Cafè de Paris butter, the only option. Their ribs are usually good too.
The chicken and prawn curry enticed, as did the Portuguese chicken, which I have always wanted to try, except I’d finished the last of some chicken tikka for lunch.
I settled on a mussel special with bacon and leeks in a cream and white wine sauce (R160). This was 12 small mussels floating in a pleasant but very salty broth, mopped up with a couple of slices of herby toast. It felt very ho hum.
Not so the Glass Guy’s lamb curry pie (R115), which came with plenty of excellent curry gravy. This was very good. I wish I had gone that route.
We left as the man in the kikoyi was opening another bottle of wine and the debate had turned to some finer point about the afterlife.
Food: 3
Service: 2
Ambience: 3
The Bill: R985 including tip
The Independent on Saturday