The Treatery at Yard 41
Where: 2 Shafton Road, Howick
Open: Monday to Friday 7am to 4pm, Saturday to Sunday 8am to 3pm
Call: 033 330 2594
Yard 41 is a charming setting ‒ a collection of red brick buildings housing a nursery, decorating shop, vintage outlet and a number of eateries and many professional offices. It’s perched high on a hill overlooking the Mngeni valley, with a distinct old Pietermaritzburg feel to it.
We lunched at The Treatery, a delightful coffee shop, bakery and eatery that specialises in serving everything fresh from great local ingredients. You walk in and are confronted by the coffee counter and fruit baskets piled up with fresh fruits for the smoothies. Along the other wall is a series of servers displaying the day’s fresh baked goodies, from breads and chocolate croissants to mile-high lemon meringue cakes and carrot cakes. The day’s pies too are on display. It all looks way too tempting.
The restaurant has spilled out into two of the old brick buildings. They are joined by a glassed-in walkway around a stairwell, which gives it some cosy, comfy corners to hide in, and while away an afternoon in the warmth of the winter sun. There’s also a covered verandah outside which was full and would be beautifully cool in summer.
Staff are friendly and welcoming. We found a corner table and ordered two iced coffees ‒ winter has come late this year ‒ while we perused the menu. These were proper iced coffees with a good depth of the bean to them, not milkshakes, although we did wonder what the yellow gooey strips down the side of the glass were. Fresh Midlands honey, is the answer.
Food offerings are super fresh and healthy with a large selection of all-day breakfasts. Always enticing. So whether it’s the full works, or mushrooms on toast, or a scrambled egg croissant, you’re covered. The Treatery bowl includes double-cream yoghurt, roasted seeds and nuts, seasonal fruit and berry compote with a number of optional add-ins, including chia pudding ‒ I’m not sure what that is.
Salads include options with roasted chickpeas, or butternut, sweet potato, cranberry and feta, or even halloumi and pesto. All sound way too healthy.
Otherwise there’s French toast filled with ham and cheese ‒ a sort of croque monsieur, if you like ‒ soup of the day, a selection of sandwiches on home-made bread and a few pastas.
Then there is pissaladière ‒ the French “pizza” born on the rough street of Marseilles. These are flatbreads baked with caramelised onions and a selection of toppings, the Treatery offering mushroom, bacon crumble and avo, or chicken, camembert and sweet chilli.
I had to try their home-made pies, and by late lunch the only choice left was mutton curry or a Cornish pasty (R60). The pasty had a lovely crisp pastry and was stuffed with a tasty meat and vegetable filling. It was served with half salad and half chips. The salad was a work of art, complete with edible flowers and a good dressing. Unfortunately those skinny fries could have done with a second frying to get them nicely crisp. The only slightly unfortunate thing was that the gravy never arrived.
My friend’s classic cheese burger (R92) was an absolute feast. There was no way you could even try eating this with your hands, it was so well stuffed. The home-made patty was delicious, and the home-made brioche roll doubly so. It was made interesting with generous portions of those caramelised onions and topped with a good local cheese. When it comes to burger weekend this weekend, it comes highly recommended.
We unfortunately didn’t have time to languish over coffees and desserts, but I did take a chocolate torte home with me. Its crisp crust was topped with a layer of caramel and then the chocolate custard ‒ delicious, but beyond rich. Next time I’ll come just for that lemon meringue cake.
Food: 3 ½
Service: 3
Ambience: 4
The Independent on Saturday