Troutbeck

Zim on a Plate, Zim in a Glass
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FADED GLORY – AND A COSY SUPPER FOR TWO 2011
It had been several years since we had visited one of our most favourite venues in the Eastern Highlands – The Troutbeck Inn in Nyanga – and we were eagerly looking forward to a leisurely afternoon in the beautiful surrounds of the hotel winding up with dinner in their Restaurant.

The resort has an ageless charm set in its expanse of well-kept lawns with views of mountains and forests, overlooking the sparkling water and golf course stretching into the distance. After spending a pleasant hour lakeside, hoping to catch a rainbow, we finally realised fish were just not biting that day, so we took a very casual walk around the golf course instead. There were a few other strollers enjoying the late-afternoon sun and also a couple on horseback by the lake. A tranquil scene in which to unwind and relax before moving indoors to order pre-dinner drinks and to anticipate a well-earned dinner!

The interior of Troutbeck is still as welcoming as ever with its traditional roaring log fires in the entrance lobby and the spacious lounge, and we appreciated being able to sink into the comfort of the fireside sofas and imbibe the warmth, the ambience and the friendliness of the staff, whilst taking a leisurely look through the A La Carte Menu and deciding what to order.

The Menu offered an extensive variety of tempting dishes ranging from Tomato Carpaccio and Mature Cheddar Fritters to Prime Beef Cutlets and Grilled Marinated Pork Chops (with Cinnamon-glazed Apple Rings!); Apple Pie with Cream and Carrot Cake with Brandy Sauce – just to mention a few of the mouth-watering dishes for those such as ourselves who had worked up a hearty appetite after a day of outdoor activities! So it came as a disappointment when we ordered the Stuffed Button Mushrooms and Chicken Escalopes (and other alternative choices) that these were not available on account of the numerous power cuts that day! It was a fact that during the evening the power went off three times when the hotel had to switch over to their own generator. So in the end there was a very limited choice of food, which rendered the Menu virtually meaningless.

The hotel staff were exemplary, service was superb throughout and Killen, our waiter, was charmingly friendly and most attentive. When we voiced a certain reluctance to move from the cosy fireside, he promptly suggested bringing our meal to us there – which he did! This was especially appreciated as being the only diners there that evening we really didn’t fancy eating alone in the dining-room. So it was that our meal started with Soup of the Day, a rather bland Potato Soup – unremarkable but thankfully served piping hot – followed by Deep-fried Oriental Vegetable Spring Rolls with Chilli Dip and a Salad Garnish. My partner ordered Whole Nyanga Trout – nicely grilled - with herb and lemon butter – and I ordered Sirloin Steak which was perfectly-cooked to my liking. Both these dishes were served with chips and mixed vegetables. None of the baked desserts was available so we ordered a serving of plain Vanilla Ice-cream to finish.

Looking around the Troutbeck Hotel gives the impression that it has seen better days and there exists a kind of shabby elegance in the reception rooms. It is a wonderfully interesting place with historic photographs on the walls and memorabilia dating back to when the hotel was built eighty years ago. Whilst this history should be preserved at all costs, some refurbishment and appropriate interior decoration, sympathetically carried out, would certainly enhance this beautiful old hotel.
Family Restaurant
2 Plates
Expect to spend $25 to $30 per head

Troutbeck Inn - average food, good service 2010
Having had some good reports of dining experiences at Troutbeck Inn, I decided to take a partner and see if there was any truth in the report.

We were met at the gate by an extremely friendly guard who offered us a display of marching and saluting that had us both commenting on. Something that almost demanded a circuit around the car park and another entrance to see again! We then proceeded to the lower car park only to find all bays were full and so had to park in the upper level. We had been warned that ZESA load shedding was a major problem, but we noted the generator was silent as we descended the stairs to the hotel.
We went directly to the hotel dining-room and spoke to the gentleman in charge who ushered us straight to a table in the corner near the windows. All the diners were placed at tables to the one side of the dining-room and were not spread out which created a better atmosphere and also made it easier for the waiters. We were very promptly given a drink – a beer each served in ice-cold glasses which went down very well (the chilled glasses that is, but then so did the contents!). Our waiter introduced himself and a trainee waitress and I proceeded to ask for the wine menu. This seemed to be a problem as he eventually came back with hand written notes which he proceeded to read out. When he finished the list of rather expensive imported wines, I enquired about the local wines of which there were none so we stuck to beers - a good selection is available from the bar.
We were then presented with the set menu which consisted of:

Starters – vegetable spring roll
Soup – cream of butternut
Main courses – braised beef or roast chicken pieces (served in barbeque sauce). All main courses were accompanied by fried rice or roast potatoes or sadza and vegetables in season.
Dessert – chocolate cake and custard, carrot cake and custard or fruit salad and ice-cream

I ordered beef and rice while my partner ordered the chicken and potatoes. We were then served the starters and having envisaged nice crispy spring rolls cooked to perfection we were rather surprised to be presented with vegetable crepes. They were good enough, but not quite what we were expecting. In the mean time we ordered another beer which arrived promptly with another chilled glass and at just the right temperature (for me anyway!) The soup was great, thick and creamy with a good flavour.

Our main courses arrived promptly with no undue delay. We were expecting more generous portions, especially of the vegetables – carrots, beans, cauliflower and broccoli (all were cooked to perfection I may add.) The braised beef was OK - a little over done and on the dry side but the rice was not starchy or overcooked. My partner had the chicken and roast potatoes. He felt that the chicken was rather dry, but tasty enough and the potatoes were good but he also muttered about the quantity of his main course being on the mean side.

Having then ordered our desert (fruit-salad and ice-cream for me and chocolate cake and custard for my partner) we were given enough time to reflect on our surroundings while the order was brought. We had decided that there was a lack of atmosphere due to there being no back-ground music and the décor had a rather tired, bland look and had not been changed for many a year. It is a chicken and egg situation – more clientèle were needed to make the money for a make-over, but we felt that a revamp might be necessary to attract the clientèle!

Our dessert arrived - apparently the custard was good, but the chocolate cake more like a caramel cake due to the lack of cocoa. My fruit salad was good and fresh and I was happy to have made that choice! When asked by the waiter if there was anything else, I ordered a cup of coffee. This was brought in a pot and so I could have had a couple of cups, but only had one as I wanted to sleep that night!

On leaving the hotel we were treated to a deluge, that meant one of us had to get wet. I left it up to my partner, as he was younger, to run and get the car. We then proceeded to the gate expecting the same marching and saluting display only to find the boom up and a wave from the guard house – ah, what a disappointment!

Troutbeck Inn is a handy restaurant if you are staying in a cottage in the area and are late back from walking over the hills or a day swimming in the rivers or have no power and cannot be bothered to make fires or get the gas out, but do not expect anything out of the ordinary and you will definitely still be hungry at the end of it!
Family Restaurant
3 Plates
Expect to spend $24 to $30 per head

Troutbeck restaurant – great potential, needs some TLC
2009 Review
Nestled amid the majestic mountain ranges of the Eastern Highlands is the Troutbeck Resort. Famed for its elegant lake or “beck” which the main hotel overlooks, the (now sadly-depleted) pine forests, the rolling green fairways and greens of the golf course. For those who prefer the self-catering approach, the Blue Swallow Timeshare Lodges are located in walking distance from the hotel, which all stand above another, smaller lake, but as plentiful as the main beck for the notoriously elusive Nyanga trout, which have evaded many an intrepid angler’s fly!

Being a busy weekend, we made a booking to ensure a table in the restaurant. On arrival we were greeted warmly by the front-desk staff, and taken through to the restaurant, to a quite grumpy and impolite lady behind the desk, who was not interested that we had made a booking. She told us to go straight through to our table. Fortunately we were rescued timeously from her scorn by George, our waiter for the evening, who dutifully showed us to our table at the far end of the restaurant.

The hotel’s furnishings are in general extremely tasteful: in the lounges, the foyer, the Hare and Hound pub, and in the rooms too. All decorated in modern fabrics and fittings, yet still giving the country rustic, elegant style. Thus, how disappointing it is, to enter the restaurant. It does not look any different from well over a decade ago. Old fashioned wall-paper, dated pictures, quite hideous curtains and light-fittings, all combine to give quite a staid atmosphere, not helped by the fact that the said curtains are drawn with the windows behind closed. The tables were neat and tidy, as they always have been. No frills. No trimmings.

The quality of the food seemed to follow on from the feel of the room. For a buffet, there was not really much choice. The choice of starch was boiled potatoes, sadza or rice. Two choices of vegetables; spinach or mixed veg. The main dishes comprised chicken, trout, or pre-cooked, crumbed steak. I fully appreciate that it is supposed to be a family affair, catering for big numbers, but strongly feel that a far greater effort could be made in terms of choice and imagination of dishes as well as quality of the end product.

The potatoes, rice and vegetables were all extremely bland. The trout which I had was tough in texture as it had been kept hot for so long after cooking. My companion had the steak, a meat dish of which one usually has the choice as to how it is to be cooked; so although she prefers medium-well, well done it was. I have eaten at many hotels and resorts in Zimbabwe and South Africa where the same scenario of big numbers is apparent, but a far greater selection and far superior quality of food experienced.

The dessert-fare was slightly wider in variety, a lemon-meringue pie, a traditional fruit salad, a strawberry cheese cake, jam swiss-roll and a fruit tart. Nothing fancy, nothing original, but all I suppose, acceptable. I opted for the lemon-meringue with fruit salad; quite a measly portion of meringue atop a meager section of lemon based on a rather thin crust. My companion went for the cheese cake which was most unceremoniously “flopped” onto her plate by the attending chef; which she admitted tasted a lot better than it looked!

This restaurant, like the entire resort has so much potential. It has a magnificent location. It just needs some “TLC” and a touch of imagination in terms of décor and setting of the menu and/or buffet selection. The staff are mostly very polite at all times, and make one feel welcome in the establishment.
Family Restaurant
2 Plates
Expect to spend $15 to 422 a head

Attentive service at Troutbeck 2008
Troutbeck is a welcome new entrant in this year’s competition which will shortly culminate at the Awards Ceremony at Wild Geese Lodge on Sunday 28 June. We unknowingly chose to dine there during a conference, so the restaurant was busy, with both a varied buffet and the a la carte menu from which to choose.

This grand old hotel with decades of history carries many memories both for those resident in the Nyanga district and for the many who choose Nyanga for weekend breaks, long weekends or have access to holiday cottages in the area. Nyanga has always been a popular destination for recreational breakaways for those living in Harare, with its beautiful mountain scenery, fresh, clear, scented air, lovely country hikes, or relaxation by a roaring log fire, away from the stresses of city life. Troutbeck also has some long-established attractive time-shares, and various pleasant activities such as horse-riding, trout fishing and boat hire. Cream teas on the Troutbeck front lawn with its splendid view over the pretty dam and forests beyond, are a happy memory for many of us since childhood. Troutbeck has long been a popular choice for seminars and conferences, within relatively easy reach of the capital, yet far enough away to ensure the focus of normally stressed out executives who are constantly distracted by many demands when at their desks. Yet occupancy remains low, given the economic challenges from which we are all trying to recover.

Troutbeck is looking good. It has the general appearance of being well cared for and maintained. Additionally, the staff we encountered were without exception friendly, helpful and attentive. This was good to see. It seems we have generally moved on beyond the woes of last year when many hotel and restaurant staff often couldn’t help but exude the despondency seen across the nation, what with hyperinflation, shortages and so many other problems. The feel at Troutbeck is much as it has always been – very much the English country hotel. Likewise the dining area has its same rather traditional, formal look and feel, which, perhaps, could now be refreshed and lifted – though I’m sure there are those who are comforted and pleased by the old-style appearance they’ve always enjoyed. The linen is a little tired, but we could not hold that too much against Troutbeck which like all in the hospitality sector has much to recover from economically speaking. The gardens and grounds are all being cared for well and this remains an attractive and appealing hotel.

On arrival clasping our own bottle of Douglas Green Chardonnay, we were warmly greeted and the bottle efficiently whisked away to chill while we took a drink at the well stocked bar. The bar service and range of available drinks was excellent.

The night we dined at Troutbeck there was a buffet and whether this was because there was a conference on or whether it is always available we weren’t sure, and indeed, forgot to ask! I opted for the buffet while my husband went for a sirloin from the a la carte menu.

For starters, I had the butternut soup, which was mediocre, my husband the Greek salad, which contained no feta (as the menu promised and indeed as one would expect), a few sad olives and some slightly fatigued lettuce, so starters were a bit disappointing.

His sirloin, requested as medium rare, came well done, and was both meagre and poor. My roast chicken and Malaysian pork curry, with its sweet and sour quality, were by contrast, very tasty. We both had stir fry vegetables and baked potatoes as the accompaniment. The potatoes seemed more boiled than baked, though tasted fine, the stir fried veggies were average. I also had some peanut butter rice from the buffet, and this was really delicious. Main course choices on the menu were various chicken, steak and trout options, nothing especially exciting but an adequate number of dishes from which to choose. A friendly young trainee chef came and had a quick chat to us during the course of our meal.

We did ask for the wine list, which, boasting around 20 wines, belied the mere three that were actually available. Troutbeck could either revise the list to reflect reality or make some effort to obtain a wider range of wines, now readily available.

The puddings, which we chose from the buffet (and are otherwise chosen from the sweets trolley) were of average quality, nothing spectacular. We chose apple crumble and milk tart, both rather ordinary. The breakfast offered a good range of options - yoghurts, juices, cereals, croissants, rolls, pastries, and the usual choices of cooked breakfast, and was absolutely fine.

With its smartly dressed, friendly staff, all very keen and eager to please, I would definitely go back to Troutbeck, which is doing its best to keep up good standards in circumstances which continue to be difficult. Yes, the cuisine is relatively basic, but it is adequate, and good service does count for a lot.
Family Restaurant
3 Plates
Expect to spend $15 to $20 per head