Meet & Whine

by Tara-Zee

So this one time, Tilly and I had to go to a workshop in Pretoria. Yes, P-town. Tilly came through to my place at the crack of dawn (well 07h15 felt like it that day, as we hadn’t got up at the real crack of dawn for gym), we packed the car (you need to ensure that you have water and snacks for the long drive) and headed off to the executive capital city.

Workshop done, it was time for a pedi. We made our way to Brooklyn Design Square (not to be confused with the Design Quarter in Fourways) and had our toes transformed into a perfect 10. And then we were thirsty and craving something sweet. We stopped in at Lila’s bistro.

Our waiter: “I’m new here.”

Me: “So are we.”

Silence

Our waiter: “Can I get you something to drink?”

Me: “A mojito for Tilly” (she’s not big on sickly sweet cocktails), “and a cosmo for me.” (Mr T-Z and I have just finished watching the entire Sex and the City box set and I was reminded about how much I fancy cosmos.)

We decided we felt like more than they had on offer to eat, so drank up and did a little shopping before settling on MooMoo Wine Bar & Grill. Good choice, us. 

Hmm, what to drink? – Yay, they serve Fat Bastard by the glass (and in wine glasses – an improvement on the beer glasses at JD’s). 

What to eat? – Definitely a platter (remember, when you’re sharing, you’re halving the calories).

Me: “We’ll get the Meet & Snack platter to share.”

Our waitress: “For two, I assume.”

Perceptive, their staff is.

Man, that platter was good! Cubes of aged beef and sweet chilli chicken thighs on skewers, haloumi sticks, boerewors (and I’m not even a boerie fan) and shoestring fries. Served with cheese, peri-peri and sweet chilli sauces on the side.

Tilly: “So, how do they make cheese sauce?”

Me: “You start by melting butter, then add some flour and then-”

Tilly: “What?! Flour? Yuck. Cheese sauce should be made from cheese.”

Me: “Well yes, then you add milk and then the cheese.”

Tilly: “Flour? Really?”

Me: “So the sweet chilli sauce is good.” (I know I’m not going to get the flour out of her head.)

We finished off with another glass of FB and MooMoo’s chocolate volcano – melt in your mouth chocolate pudding served with ice cream – and their mini cinnamon rolls – nyom, nyom, nyom.

Satisfied, we raced off to The State Theatre to see The Nutcracker (which was followed by more dining, but that’s for another time). Overall, a lovely experience and great to know that such good eating establishments with great service exist in the capital; eating establishments that agree that fine food and wine should not be reserved for special occasions.