Zim on a Plate, Zim in a Glass
Restaurant Reviews
Sponsored by the Cheeseman,
with Press Partner The Standard
©All Zimbabwe On A Plate Reviews and Ratings are
copyright to The Cheeseman and may not be
reproduced without permission.

Juliusdale 4 km on Nyanga Road
past Montclair Nyanga
029 3021/4

 

Fine Dining at its Best at Inn on Rupurara 2011
The highlight of our recent vacation in the Eastern Highlands was most definitely our visit to the beautiful Inn on Rupurara situated off the road between Juliasdale and Nyanga on the edge of the spectacular Nyanga Mountains.  On our travels we had noticed the Inn’s signpost, clearly stating “By Appointment Only”, and duly made a note of the telephone number in order to make a reservation for dinner at sometime during our stay in the Nyanga area.  And what a treat that turned out to be!

When we called to make the reservation we were advised that a set meal would be served between 7.30 and 9.00 pm.  However, as we were unfamiliar with the territory we decided to go early in order to arrive before dark – a wise move on our part as the 3 kilometre stretch of unmade road turned out to be quite a challenge to the uninitiated – but quite and exciting adventure nonetheless! 

The Inn on Rupurara is, primarily, an exclusive hotel, but open to non-residents for dinner - by appointment!  A truly fascinating place built into the mountain-side with individual guest lodges with fabulous views overlooking the lush valley and surrounding mountains.  We arrived in time to watch a most spectacular sunset from the balcony, marvelling in the range of amazing colours painted in the clouds and sky as the sun sank behind the mountains. 

On entering the Inn we were met and warmly greeted by Jack, who escorted us through the hallway to the upstairs lounge where we were offered a welcome cup of tea and made to feel very much at home!  By now there was quite a nip in the air and we were pleased to relax by their roaring log fire and chat with other dinner guests and enjoy the elegant surroundings.  There were two lounges on two floors, both beautifully furnished with antiques and comfortable sofas, with books and magazines to browse through, and in no time at all – after pre-dinner drinks and snacks – we were shown into Dinner – into the candlelit dining room, with tables set with crisp white linen and a single Protea flower on each table.  Trymore was our charming and attentive waiter whose services certainly contributed to the enjoyment of our meal.

Our “set meal” which consisted of four courses was superb – Asparagus Salad with Herb Mayonnaise for starters followed by a delectable Cream of Zucchini & Sweet Corn Soup.  Three dishes were offered for the main course – Beef Lasagne with Napoletana Sauce (my choice), or Peppered Chicken with Mustard Sauce or Grilled Bream with Caper Sauce (my partner’s choice) all served with Minted Potatoes, Fried Rice and Seasonal Vegetables.  The Lasagne was very good and the Bream excellent and cooked to perfection!  All nicely presented and the vegetables delicately prepared.  Desserts offered were Profiteroles filled with Ice Cream & Chocolate Sauce and Candy Coconut Sponge with Rum Sauce and we ordered one of each.  All told an excellent meal and great value at $22 each.

Upon leaving, as there was a power cut, we were very kindly and safely escorted by members of staff through the garden to the car park.  A final gesture which was particularly appreciated.  During the evening there were two power cuts, when the Inn was obliged to switch over to their own generator.  However, despite this inconvenience, there was no interruption of service – which was first class throughout – and the food was served par excellence!

Rupurara is one of the famous Inns of Zimbabwe where dinner is served graciously in elegant surroundings, making it a not-to-be-missed experience.  
Deluxe Restaurant
5 Plates
Expect to Spend $25 - $30 per head
4 km past the Montclair on the Nyanga Road, Juliasdale

 

Inn on Rupurara - magnificent in every way! 2010
Secluded charm and elegance infused our delicious culinary experience with service second to none in Zimbabwe, at what can only be summed up as a most memorable stay and dinner at Inn on Rupurara.

Nestled in the granite kopje overlooking distant plains of flaxen gold from which barley twists of smoke spiral into the hazy blue beyond, Rupurara is a golden place to escape for several days in Nyanga.  Not steeped in the mimosa nostalgia of tame Nyanga lawns up at Troutbeck, this is an original eastern highlands slice of Africa with a luxurious inn that ticked all the boxes.  Inn on Rupurara complements its idyllic location perfectly set high and discreetly in amongst the granite rocks and the canopy of indigenous trees in mottled greens and coppers.

The attention to detail upon arrival through to the well-appointed and home-from-home touches in the staggered cottages offering maximum privacy that Prince William and Kate Middleton would appreciate, the bijoux green roofed cottages are a delight affording expansive views and settings that have you regretting why you hadn't booked for several nights, wanting you to linger longer at every turn.

The Inn envelopes you within the masterpiece of this magnificent setting.  Would dinner disappoint, or meet the early exacting standards of friendliness and personal attentiveness already encountered, which is sometimes so easily lost in the glossy foyers of 5 star establishments eager to impress?  Inn on Rupurara has that rare quality of authenticity in that they care about their custom and all the staff evidently take pride in having you to stay.  Having been unconvinced about anything special in Juliasdale we had clearly underestimated this Inn, and all the signs were promising for a great evening ahead!

The litmus test which would set aside Inn on Rupurara as special, lay not only in the soft furnishings and sense of luxury in the chalets, but of course in the whole experience of all the Inn had to offer from its varied activities through to its fine dining and standards of service.  So often one can find some fault in the best hotels in the world - but since returning home, I still cannot contain my enthusiasm, and am most definitely planning a much longer return! We were greeted with the friendly, warm meet-and-greet synonymous with Zimbabwean hospitality, and simultaneously with the thunder clap of summer rain above, so we tucked under umbrellas on the terrace in the pouring rain to enjoy tea and fresh scones with lashings of cream and jam.  No better way to soak up the heady African scents of the bush thirsty for rain.

Undeterred by the downpour, a game drive in the rain proved great fun with abundant game on view, from giraffe and zebra to wildebeest and tsesebe, grazing nonchalantly on the early spring shoots.  Our amiable driver amused us in the fading light and served us the inevitable Gin and Tonics at the setting of the sun.  As we rumbled back to the Inn along the track, catching in the headlights a glimpse of an owl in the branches of an overhead tree in search of supper, our own thoughts turned to dinner!

As we relaxed in the spacious sitting room in the main lodge enjoying pre-dinner drinks, the  tantalising delicate crumbed fish "amuse bouche" provided a tantalising taste of the evening ahead.  The maitre d' and bar staff, impeccably turned out, managed to be attentive without being intrusive, a habit that has crept into the finest restaurants in Europe where service so often  interrupts the convivial flow of diners' conversations.

The wine list is thorough and reasonably priced, catering for all tastes, and the menu was enticing. The babotie as a starter was tasty and just right as an appetiser.  A well-seasoned country vegetable soup followed with the main course a delightful fusion of Zimbabwean flavours - Kariba  bream delicately cooked with the subtle piquancy of asparagus, accompanied by a lavish selection of seasonal vegetables served perfectly al dente.

My companion's chicken was beautifully moist and the crisp Craighall Chenin Blanc proved a magnificent complement. The sticky toffee puddings and kiwi fruit basket rounded off a most memorable meal. Coffee served in the sitting room allowed us to wallow in the sofas to ruminate on the day's game drive and optimistic plans to climb Rupurara at the crack of dawn.

Throughout the meal the waiters remained unobtrusive. Probably the best service I have encountered in many countries and service with an obvious sense of pleasure.  The dining room is inviting, with a lovely sense of intimacy.

There is  little to fault in this Inn, where service and attention to detail at every level is considered. Perhaps one little suggestion would be to showcase the eastern highlands teas and coffees as a really unique experience.

We took to bed and well rested with the cacophony of baboons to welcome in the dawn we did indeed climb Rupurara. A definite must-do, with stunning views! Breakfast was well earned and lived up to all expectations as we soaked up our last views from the terrace at Inn on Rupurara ...wishing we were staying longer .. A very special place ... And we will be back!
Deluxe Restaurant
5 Plates

The Enchanted Inn on the Rupurara
2009 Review
Inyanga is a Zulu word for a traditional healer who uses medicines made from plants and animals. The area of Nyanga, formerly Inyanga, in the east of this country, is a place of healing for body and soul, where the medicines used are its natural beauty, which includes plants and animals, and the facilities which make it an unrivalled destination for holiday activities such as hiking, mountaineering, trout fishing and golf.

Over all, Mount Nyangani dominates, sometimes a splendid, far-away, dolerite giant’s castle, day-dreaming centuries of mountain dreams as it dozes against the bright, clear-blue sky.  At other times it dons a Necromancer’s hat and vanishes behind a swirling, blinding, fearful curtain of cloud to mutter dread spells and summon up dark demons from its aeons-old past.

From its slopes rise streams and rivers which flow, leap, chatter and sparkle in their eagerness to offer their treasures of trout-flickering, boulder-laden, breath-takingly cold pools, sandy beaches, rock slides, and endless, spray-veiled, rainbow-crowned waterfalls pouring themselves unceasingly onto far rocks.  Their names form a bubbling litany like the rivers themselves: Nyangombe. Nyamaziwa, Mare, Mutarazi, Honde, Pungwe……

Not all the healing elements of the area are entirely natural; in some places man has enhanced and augmented that which nature has already bestowed on us.  One such place where man, in this case, Gordon Addams, has worked with Nature to give us a particular benison, is none other than the Inn on the Rupurara which casts a unique, generous spell woven of hospitality and comfort and good value around itself.   Once in the Nyanga National Park, turn left down the rock-cobbled road to this charmed and charming Inn, cosy in its lazy-sprawling nest amongst the jumble of sun-warmed granite rocks dozing and napping in the golden light.  Almost one expected these slumbering rock-beasts to stretch and yawn and settle down again as we drove past.

First, as in all good castles, one has to pass the bespectacled Keeper of the Gate, who asks for the secret password – Do you have a booking?  Even without the correct answer, we were still allowed to enter!  Leaving the cars to snooze in the shady car park we ascended the twisty staircase to the castle.  Past the miniature dam with its nearby friendly flock of Water View Lodges.  Into the main lodge and through the big lounge with its polished honey-glow wooden floors and homely, inviting armchairs.  Next the dining room with its dark beams, crisp white linen, silver-bright cutlery and a bright little protea flower cheerful as a smile on every table.

Outside on the veranda, we were welcomed by a deferential waiter and, most importantly, by the resident Chief Magician himself, a large marmalade cat who greeted us with a gleam of round gold eyes, a quick twitch of the whiskers and a curl of the orange tail.  Following his example we chose to sit outside, under the folding wings of a square green umbrella, in full view of the brooding Guardian of the Inn, the great granite monolith called Rupurara or Bald Man’s Head.

Our lunch was a spell in itself, one of gastronomic delight.  The Magic began with a hot Soup, followed by a choice of incantation of pepper steak vol au vent or invocation of crumbed hake, each served with potato wedge charms and accompanied by a crescent moon of salad wizardry.  The dessert, by unanimous consent, of waffles and syrup and ice cream reduced us to almost lyrical silence as we licked our spoons in a child-like trance.  To conclude a strong, aroma-rich satisfying brew of coffee brought us out of the trance and completed the spell.  Should all of this have failed to enchant, further magic potions were available as escribed in the wine list from Trevor’s Bar. This list, with a varied choice of vineyards for both red and white wines, could be song-inducing or soporific depending on your preference.

We tarried on a while, drowsy and replete in a post-prandial state of satiation.  I thought one of our party was purring, but maybe it was The Marmalade Cat, he of pink and black nose who stepped daintily down the steps then flowed in a smooth, sinuous orange line down the adjacent rock and vanished off to inspect the row of Valley View Lodges roosting below us on the side of the hill to our right.

The flickering of the jewel-bright sunbirds was hypnotic, the many songs of all the birds melded together to form a background lullaby, as we continued to sit there dozing and slumbrous in the afternoon sun, warmed without and within, and wondering if we could ever cast off the spell and leave this enchanted place….

So if you want a respite from the bedevilment of five o’clock traffic, from the curse of the pot-holes, if you are plagued by the evils of unsought-for bills and vanishing cash, catch your flying carpet, book yourself into the Enchanted Inn, and with a wave of the magic wand you too can be cast under its own, very special spell.
Deluxe Restaurant
5 Plates

 

Escape to the Eastern Highlands: Inn on Rupurara
2008 Review
About two and a half hours drive from Harare is the little town of Juliasdale; a thriving micro-metropolis comprising two hotels, a post office, two garages, a shop and a rather quaint and tiny church.  One should not hasten to forget the bustling soft-produce traders who swamp any vehicle that is brave enough to stop on the roadside, all claiming that they have the best apples, potatoes or tomatoes for sale at the best possible prices: meanwhile we all know too well that they base their prices on what kind of vehicle you are driving!  So if you want some bargains, best you make the trip in that old R4 or grannie’s delapitated 120Y!

One of this town’s hotels is Inns of Zimbabwe’s prime select Inn, just a couple of kilometers drive from the town centre.  It derives it’s name from the large mountain of rock which it overlooks: the “Rupurara” which is the shona for “bald man’s head.”  The Inn is built along a river amongst a host of indigenous trees, including msasas and cunningly constructed around and amongst numerous granite rocks, all of which gives this place a true African atmosphere coupled with the most stunning views of the typical eastern highland panorama.  Six of the lodges overlook a beautiful water feature right on the river, and the other eleven all have the spectacular Rupurara and the valley below as their simply impressive outlooks.

Fine cuisine is not the only crowd-drawing quality of the Inn, as they also offer a wide range of on-site activities on and around the estate.  These include morning and evening game drives, the latter always including drinks on their infamous “Sundowner rock”, an early morning climb (214 metres) up the Rupurara, horse-riding, a walk to the Nyachinjiri rock paintings, a waterfall picnic at Nightingale Falls, a tour of the trout farm, bird and nature walks with a vastly knowledgeable guide and lastly fly-fishing on the Nyangombe River.  These will surely keep you occupied and all the more prepared to take on the culinary delights which await you at the dining room.

We had indeed had an energy-sapping day and thus arrived at Trevor’s wine bar for pre-dinner drinks with great thirst and an accompanying hunger for good food.  The barman came over to us immediately and took our first drinks order, where upon we were brought the set-menu from which to select our four courses.  Both of us opted for the same hors d’oeuvres and entrees but then differed on the desserts. First up we had fish-cakes dressed with a saffron sauce which were very tasty, followed by the most unique and original tasting coconut and spinach soup.  The combined flavours complemented each other amazingly well, a dish that we agreed we would both choose again if ever given the option.

For our main course we took the beef kebab which was served on a bed of rice, comprising tender pieces of beef, onions and tomatoes with a tangy sauce over the top.  It was served “off the skewer” such that we did not have to experience the ever embarrassing flicking food off the plate scenario which can so often happen with a kebab-style meal! The waiter also brought us a platter of fresh peas and carrots, sweet corn fritters and what could best be described as baked whirls of mashed potato, all of which were ideally cooked and went very well with the main dish. The choices for dessert were crème caramel and crepe suzette: so the easiest way to try them both was to have one of each between us. The crème caramel was delicious, rich and creamy with a dark sauce over the top. The crepe suzette was dressed in a piquant orange, sticky sauce bespeckled by a kaleidoscope of hundreds and thousands (no that’s nothing to do with our currency of our yester-years!!) which altogether was quite delightful.

Our waiter, David was absolutely outstanding, ensuring that we were happy at all times of the meal, and allowing just the right amount of time between the respective courses to be able to enjoy each one individually. The Head waiter, Webster made us feel totally at home and checked on us a couple of times in his hospitable yet unobtrusive manner.

Being fortunate to be staying at the Inn it was only a few steps away to bed, which certainly beats having that weary drive after a big meal and a few alcoholic beverages.  So next time you and your family are looking for a night or two’s retreat from the big city, book yourself in at the Inn, you will certainly not be disappointed.
Deluxe
5 Plates