The Mushroom Farm
Where: 450 Kassier Road, Assagay,
Open: Monday to Friday 8am to 4.30pm, Saturday and Sunday 8.30am to 2pm
Call: 031 768 1366
It’s a charming setting and, food wise, things are really happening at the Mushroom Farm in Assagay.
The first thing you notice as you drive in are the goats in a central enclosure, and chickens, ducks and peacocks roaming the property. I’m meeting food blogger Ingrid Shevlin to do a recce of what’s on offer.
Besides an antique shop and a couple of clothing outlets, there’s a SPCA bookshop, and a nursery. Another shop sells horse supplies, giving it a real country feel. There are also three excellent delis in addition to the Denny mushroom shop, which sadly only had two types of mushrooms in supply. Running this wekened there’ll be a Country Living festival.
Robyn Webster’s Loafers is a specialist low-carb deli with a wonderful range of low carb ready meals, and some full carb alternatives for those who don’t get the whole cauliflower thing. There are even low carb breads and baking the likes of spinach and cauliflower bread, soemthing which Ingrid assures me is quite delicious. Then there are a selection of banting and vegan sausages, and any number of jams, relishes, pickles, dressings, oils, vinegars etc that you could imagine with interesting or unusual ingredients. Milks can be almond, or macadamia or oatmeal.
This is always a temptation, especially if you’re one of those people whose top shelf of the fridge is an array of chutneys and pickles and sauces, bought at precisely such delicious looking delis.
Then there’s The Veggie Shop, with buckets of beautiful fresh spinach enticing you from the entrance. Here we had a field day. Where else can you get a sack of lemons for R20, plus so many beautiful looking vegetables? The shop also stocks the Greenfields selection of organic beef, the Jersey Cow Co yoghurts and milks, ranges of fresh cheeses, farm eggs and beautiful baked items. There’s rusks, biscuits, and wholewheat loaves, while the deep base milk tarts looked a treat. Plus ranges of chilli sauce from a mildish jalapeno to a full bird’s eye. I could easily spend an afternoon in here.
Then there’s the Peel’s honey store, where besides a selection of honeys, some with the honeycomb, there are sweets and nougats, jams and chutneys. They also stock Hope Meats products, and some organic cleaning products.
By now we had worked up an appetite.
For lunch we decided to try the Maddison Bakery, which had a deck overlooking the area and a children’s playground area below. There’s a section along the side laden with an array of croissants and breads. A tray of sourdough loaves were coming out of the oven as we arrived.
Maddisons is famed for their pizza slices on offer at the Shongweni Farmers and Craft Market.
While enjoying a competent but mild cappuccino, I was eyeing their breakfast menu as Ingrid told me of a lovely dish she had had here recently of avo, feta and fried eggs on rye. The haloumi breakfast sounded interesting or even just scrambled eggs on one of those croissants would do the trick. Sadly we were told breakfast was over. I have never understood that. If you are doing breakfasts, why can’t you do them all day?
The lunch options were simple: a selection of toasted sandwiches, tramezzinis, burgers and pizza slices. There are also some flapjack and French toast options.
Ingrid opted for the chicken prego sandwich (R60), which was disappointing, the chicken shredded rather than a fillet and dry, and the sauce was a nondescript, vaguely spicy creation which could have been anything from butter chicken to harissa, to peri-peri, to perinaise. It did come with a nice side salad.
I decided on a burger which was topped with onion rings and cheddar cheese (R95), except there was no sign of the cheddar cheese on the final product. Here some work on a proper home-made patty would pay dividends. This tasted mass produced and processed, while the onion rings had gone soggy under the bun and the chips needed longer in the fryer. A great pity.
I did, however, take home one of their almond croissants, which I enjoyed for my dinner that evening.
After some more shopping we popped into Go Fresh Cafe, which does offer all-day breakfasts. These might include anything from a GoBig breakfast to a banting breakfast to a vegan option, with omelettes, breakfast waffles and French toast also in the mix. Pancakes feature here too, both savoury and sweet. Lunch offers a range of sandwiches, wraps and salads, although there is a curry of the day and falafels and chicken strips for those wanting something a little more substantial.
We popped in to try their fresh homemade waffles, which besides the conventional waffles can be pink or blue and topped with things like astros, or choc chips, or marshmallows, and hundreds and thousands. Ideal for the kids. Ingrid likes her waffles quite plain and had a half waffle with flaked almonds, cinnamon and syrup (R22), while I really enjoyed the nutty Nutella (R60) topped with ice-cream and crushed nuts, a full waffle being more than I could really finish. At this point one of the chickens squeezed through a little fence separating the eating area to peck at some nuts we had spilled.
Go Fresh were once finalists in the Sunday Tribune’s cappuccino competition, so I had to give the frothy drink a whirl. The coffee was good with great depth of flavour, but sadly the foam could do with a bit more lift, something for the barista to work on. Ingrid enjoyed her ginger apple and carrot juice, which had one mighty kick.
While the food might not have been everything we had hoped for, we loved the venue that is offering an array of interesting food alternatives in a charming venue that is worth exploring.
PS. Note to eThekwini Municipality. Kassier Road is in an appalling state of disrepair.
The Mushroom Farm: Overall 3 ½, a charming venue although some of the food needs a tweak.
The Bills: Maddisons R235, Go Fresh R170.
The Independent on Saturday