Hello lovely people of Hoedspruit. I have been away for a while, savouring delicacies in the fair Cape. It was good eating, quaffing good pale-yellow stock, and basically relaxing and having a good time.
I must say that the culinary fare in and around Cape Town is quite magnificent. Yes, there are those spots that fail to dazzle, but on the whole, it was a great adventure.
The cream of the crop for me though, was a restaurant in Camps Bay called the Codfather Seafood and Sushi. If you are into fish – this is the spot you need to get to. It is off the charts amazing; and the sushi – well, I have never in all my culinary escapades had sushi quite like I had at the Codfather. Well done to them – exemplary service and outstanding food, and a ‘must visit’!
But back to Hoedies…. I ventured out of Hoedspruit the other weekend to sample a simple lunch at Ya Mati. What a setting, but sadly although the sign at the gate said “Open for Lunch” the kitchen was closed as they were preparing for a wedding the next day. The group was disappointed, and although we pleaded for a possible simple toasted sandwich to be made, the kitchen would have nothing of it, and we turned tail and very disappointingly headed back towards town.
Someone in the group suggested we visit The Ultimate Mango Shop at Mohlatse, which we would pass on our way back to town. It was not very far down the road when we turned onto the farm – you can’t miss it, there is a large mango (cut-out) logo very visible from the road. The drive from the road takes about 5 minutes through the mango orchards and then you come across this little shop that sells everything mango and more. There is a great variety of goodies that you can buy at the store, jams, chutneys, chillies, olives, the list goes on and 95% are super edible and delicious!
There are beautiful lawns in front of the shop and a play area for kids off to the right. The view is over the orchards and up into the Drakensberg Mountains.
Not thinking we would get anything to eat, save for some purchases of mango snacks, the question was posed as to what we could have for lunch as a snack – a long shot! To our surprise the lady behind the counter (to whom I apologise for not getting her name) said it was not a problem, they could do a cheese and biscuit spread with some other condiments if that would do?
We accepted and about 10 minutes later we were served with a serious cheese platter with biscuits and fruit! It was fabulous and we sat outside on the lawn and chomped our way through the platter. I cannot name all the cheeses, but we must have had at least five different types and a wonderful array of biscuits.
The only negative was that we couldn’t get a glass of wine – but hey, an impromptu cheese platter lunch with all the bells and whistles certainly made up for that.
The willingness of staff ‘to make a plan’ was amazing, and compliments to all at Mohlatse for a job well done. The farm is neat and tidy, clearly successful, and the little shop has so much to choose from: we walked away with a fully stacked paper bag of goodies.
Little gems like this have to be mentioned and it actually took us all by surprise. We had a thoroughly good afternoon and waddled back to the car, well satiated and a bunch of happy bunnies.
So, if you’re looking for something different, get into the car and drive for about 30 minutes and feast away. I do hope I have the number right: 072 937 9025.
