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Holiday Inn
Samora Machel Ave
Harare
250900/1/252460/011 616160

No Silver lining for the Spur 2011
Thoughts of juicy, tender steaks filled our minds and tantalised our taste buds as we saddled our (very old) horse and rode into town in search of The Silver Spur Steak Ranch.  The restaurant is situated in the Holiday Inn complex, just off Samora Machel Avenue.  Parking is secure and well guarded and there is easy access to the restaurant both for those staying at the Hotel and for visitors.

Touted as “The Official Restaurant of the South African Family”, the Spur Group has made their mark in Zimbabwe.  The Silver Spur is no exception and trade was brisk on the cold evening that we dined there.  The décor is very much in keeping with the Wild West theme, right down to the faux brown and white ‘rawhide’ upholstery as you enter the restaurant.  Seating is at fixed tables and comfortable benches – relaxed and suitable for family outings.  There is a children’s play area.

We were ushered to our table and spent some time perusing the menu.  I needed my reading glasses and needless to say, bother!  I had gone and left my specs at home!  So I had to hold the menu a vast distance away from me so that I could decipher the tasty delights.  This procedure both embarrassed the younger members of my family and amused adjacent patrons.  Everything sounded delicious, and the pictures looked scrumptious, those I could see, of course.  The menu invited patrons to sample the delights of their ‘Vegetable Garden’ salad bar, but our waiter informed us that this had been discontinued.  The Kiddies section of the menu is reasonably priced.

Our order was taken efficiently; Crumbed Mushrooms – an all-time favourite which somewhat justified the price tag of $10, and interesting sounding Quesadillas for a reasonable $3 as our hors d’ouvres.  These were served speedily and the Quesadillas were simply delicious, jam-packed with a cheesy chicken filling with a tangy sauce on the side.  They were accompanied by a tiny imitation of a salad and a teaspoon of guacamole.  The portion of mushrooms was generous but they were disappointingly soft and soaked in oil, although the ‘crumb’ part was tasty.

Since we were at a ‘Steak Ranch’, we ordered what we thought would be a good variety of cuts of steak.  Our younger son opted for the 300g Fillet Steak ($17) while the elder couldn’t resist a man-sized T-Bone Steak ($20). The Spur actually offers a ‘beefing-up’ option whereby you can have an even larger portion of beef for an extra $2!  

Curious to investigate a different option, I went for the Slimmer’s Rump Steak ($12) which was accompanied by a Greek Side Salad.  We tried three of the Spur sauces; Mushroom, Monkey Gland and Chilli ($2 each).  My verging-on-vegetarian daughter could not be tempted to a red meat dish, and chose the BBQ Chicken Breast ($8).  All main courses are served with a choice of chips, rice, jacket potato or sadza.

Our dishes were duly served and, sadly, this was where the Silver Spur lining started to tarnish. Without exception, the steaks were tough and bland.  I genuinely could not chew my meat and was forced to ask our obliging waiter to replace it.  The replacement was marginally more palatable, but still pretty tough.  The sauces were ordinary and the Mushroom one was stodgy and lacking in flavour.  My Greek Salad was a sad excuse for something bearing so grand a name.   Perhaps the Spur should look to getting their meat from another source.  This kind of meal could really turn one to a vegetarian diet.  The only redeeming meal was the BBQ Chicken, which was tender and tasty, and eaten in a flash before the rest of the family could beg for morsels.

Dessert options were limited – strange for a busy Saturday night, but our waiter insisted that the Brownies and Waffles (both $4) were the only choices, other than ice-cream-based desserts.  The Brownie was large in size, but small in flavour, and dry.  The Waffle was pleasant enough, but the serving of syrup was miserly.  The children enjoyed their Double-Thick Milkshakes ($4).

The cup of coffee we had at the end of the meal was probably one of the worst I have ever tasted – or rather, it had virtually no taste at all.  I was extremely irritated by this because I had spied a genuine coffee machine when we went into the restaurant, and mistakenly believed that genuine coffee would be served.  Why is it still so difficult to get a decent cup of coffee in so many restaurants?

Our overall opinion, of the Silver Spur, which began well, was soured somewhat by these various issues.  The sad thing is that it could be so good, and great for a family outing, but the meals simply did not match the descriptions on the menu.
Family Restaurant
3 Plates
Expect to spend between $20 - 30 per head
The Holiday Inn, Samora Machel Ave, Harare

 

 

Mixed experience at Silver Spur 2010
Walking into the Silver Spur we were immediately struck by the décor, which is certainly colourful, and there are various artificial cacti and flowers displayed at intervals.  However, these were covered in dust, giving the establishment a slightly tired, wanna-be Mexican restaurant look which was not very attractive.  The walls are adorned with signs informing one of the distances between this Silver Spur and other Spurs all over the world.

It is a large, well set-out restaurant with a demarcated play area for children which includes a television screen.  We were greeted and quickly seated by our waiter and our drinks orders were taken.  He returned with place mats bearing short stories involving ways of “bringing joy” to all mankind through feasts involving tender meat.  We duly read these, and were reminded that this is very much the archetypal family restaurant which focuses on children’s particular needs and parties, and that the children would be well entertained by reading these stories.

We were presented with well set out menus which offered the usual fare of burgers, steaks, ribs and so on, with a sprinkling of Mexican dishes such as quesadillas, nachos and fajitas.  Most of these mentioned the use of a secret, unique Spur sauce and Spur onion rings.  There is a good range of vegetarian alternatives on offer.  Most amazing to note on the menu was the option of sadza as an accompaniment to a burger!  Carbohydrate overload, perhaps?  But certainly showing that all tastes and needs are taken well into consideration.

We ordered buffalo wings and calamari as starters, and were not disappointed.  The wings were hot and crispy, accompanied by a flavourful but rather thin spicy sauce.   The calamari was crisp but lacked the promised golden colouring.  The waiter was attentive initially but disappeared for long periods, when we observed him basking in the sparse winter sunshine outside the restaurant.

As main courses we ordered chicken fajita and ladies ribs.  The chicken fajita was well presented.  The chicken slices were stir-fried with onions and green peppers making a tasty combination.  This was served with tortillas, grated cheese, tossed salad with guacamole and hot salsa sauce.  According to my partner this meal was an authentic reproduction of Tex-Mex food as served in American steakhouses.  She pointed out that this serving of the dish had omitted the usual sour cream, which would have counter-balanced the hot salsa in a cool and soothing manner. 

I ordered the Ladies’ Ribs with an accompaniment of baked potatoes, onion rings and a side salad.  While I waited for my meat, I ventured to the salad bar where various salad components were arranged with little finesse on a special table. There was nothing artistic about their presentation.  There were hunks of cucumber and tomatoes, beans, mayonnaise-saturated coleslaw and red cabbage, glazed grated carrots and stuffed olives.  The whole array looked rather thrown together as opposed to arranged with any style.  The ribs were well cooked and tasted great with a delicious covering of a sticky, mild marinade.  The salads, we only nibbled at.  To accompany our meals, we chose chilled light ciders and soft drinks.

We had a recess while we waited and waited for our waiter to reappear.  When he finally did, we asked for a dessert menu and for him to pack away the remains of our food. My partner was tempted by a prominently displayed picture of an ice-cream topped mousse and she decided to order pudding.  Perhaps hoping for something light, airy and not too sinful... she was deliciously mistaken!  The mousse was topped with two scoops of ice cream and chocolate shavings.  She enjoyed it immensely, due to the high chocolate content!  She claimed that the serving of this dessert in a wine glass induced merriment and euphoria akin to that caused by alcohol!

All in all it was a pleasant lunch which tasted good for the most part, but there were a couple of issues which caused us to pause and reflect; the decidedly “rough” salads, our waiter’s  random disappearances and reappearances, and the price of the meal.  It was rather expensive for what we received.  It is billed as a Family Restaurant, but judging from the prices, if you are going to take your family, make sure to look closely at the price list first and ensure you can afford what you order.
Family Restaurant
2 Plates
Expect to spend between $20-30 per head

 

Silver Spur great for kids - but needs a bit of spurring along1! 2009
It was yet another Sunday, and time to relax over a leisurely lunch out with friends.  We made our way to the Silver Spur, which we had not frequented for quite some time.  Our telephone booking had been amusing, as the lady had taken a booking for 4 adults and 5 children, and then hung up before asking for our name!  We were a family of five, mum, dad and three little people, and met up with our friends who too had small tots. 

Upon arrival the ladies were handed a red rose and a heart shaped stress ball, it being Valentine’s!   The children were given a balloon each, which was received with much delight.  We were ushered to a large table at the back of beyond, where wee found ourselves at the furthest point from the kids’ entertainment; being a jumping castle, a mini jungle mania, and a colouring/video game area.  On realising this, we relocated to the family area where the five children, all of whom are aged five and below, spent almost the entire time bouncing, climbing and whooping with delight!  What a treat for them…….. and for us!

The place mats were certainly showing their age and were somewhat tatty, as were the menus. Our drinks order was efficiently taken by our waiter, Farai, followed by the ordering of starters, kids’ food, and main courses.  The service was very friendly and efficient, and nothing missed or forgotten.  The menu selection was very extensive, however the main laminated menu was difficult to follow as it listed less than half the items on offer on a scruffy printed price list.  When looking at the price list we discovered that there was a much larger selection, for example burgers, Mexican fare, seafood, chicken, beef, pork chops and ribs. 

I shared a Quesadillas for start, which was not much to look at, but was very tasty.  Other starters chosen were snails, which were delicious, and calamari, again, not especially well presented, and fairly arbitrary in taste.  Main courses were delivered too quickly, as one of the starters was still not finished. The mains chosen were chicken enchiladas, pork chops and fillet hot rocks (one cooks one’s own steak on a hot plate.  Of mention here is that the hot rock platters were not as clean as one would have liked). 

The fillet hot rocks were both great cuts of steak, very tender and tasty, but the chips, onion rings and salad seem to have been sitting around for a couple of hours and were somewhat limp, and not the freshest. Indeed all the chips served with the meals were of poor quality and tasted a bit like yesterday’s chips cooked in last week’s oil. The chicken Enchilada was served with rice, beans and a guacamole sauce. The flavour was good, but not as outstanding as we remembered from days gone by. The pork chops were small and did not look especially appetising, however, to the contrary, they did taste good!

The kids had hotdogs and ribs, all of which were consumed piecemeal between bounces and climbs in the “jungle”.  This was all followed by fantastic “funny face” waffles and ice-cream with chocolate sauce. The adults chose Chocolate Brownies, waffles and Dom Pedro’s. One brownie was good, whilst the other was burnt. The Dom Pedro’s, which took rather too long to arrive, had a mass of chocolate sauce coating the inside of the glass, which was somewhat off-putting, and the liquid itself was far too thin, so a disappointment to all.

The décor and ambience at The Spur are much as they always were, and on a par with the Spur Franchise which many of us know across our borders, with the same comfortable and casual feeling.  What we can conclude is that Silver Spur lives up to its reputation as a good place to take your children, as there is a lot to keep them occupied. The menu itself needs to be revamped, and to include all the dishes on offer, especially the kids section.  The service was good and we were well looked after.  The food however was a bit disappointing, and not as we remembered it.  To be fair, the tastes were mostly good, but the presentation could certainly improve.  We would go back if specifically requested to by the kids, as they had a grand time, and the Spur would suit a children’s party.  However, for the grown-ups, Silver Spur does need to spur itself back into the full swing of which we know it to be well capable!
Family Restaurant
3 Plates
Expect to spend between $20 and $35 per head