Old Town Italy
Where: 39 Meridian Drive, uMhlanga Rocks
Open: Monday to Saturday 7am to 9pm, Sunday 7am to 5pm
Call: 031 566 5008
Two of my pet peeves came to the fore this week.
Food writer Ingrid Shevlin and I had decided to revisit some old places we’d enjoyed and hadn’t been to in a while. We settled on Old Town Italy because we’d always liked the vibe and style. And there were always interesting Italian delicacies to take home. Neither of us had been since pre-Covid days.
There have been some changes. The supermarket section has largely been removed in favour of more tables, as have the high benches in front of the bar. The deli and bakery and butchery sections are still there, as is the gelaterie, but it feels like more of a restaurant.
The menu hasn’t changed much, although the make-your-own board selection from the deli has been pared down considerably. But it’s still a range of Italian-inspired starters, some salads, a few more substantial mains and a selection of pizzas and pastas.
We found a seat at the front and I enjoyed an excellent coffee.
Then the first peeve… something on the menu is not available. Yes things go wrong in the kitchen all the time, things run out for any number of reasons, including being let down by suppliers, or because of a run on a particular dish. And it is no sin for a waiter to say in advance, ”sorry, we’re out of calamari today“, ”sorry we can’t do chips because the fryer has just broken and the electrician is on his way“ or ”the lamb shank special has finished“. But to let us peruse the menu and then order only to be told that the kitchen no longer makes it is another story.
We had decided to share some starters and my eye settled on the chicken liver pâté. You don’t often see a good pâté on Durban menus. No luck. We asked if there was anything else that was off the menu and our waitress said no. We asked about daily specials but there were none.
Then, after much deliberation for mains, my eye settled on an intriguing dish of pork and apple-stuffed zucchini in a Napolitana sauce with basil and Parmesan shavings. No, this was another dish the kitchen could no longer do. I asked about the giant meatball, roasted and topped with Napolitana sauce on a bed of cannelloni stuffed with ricotta and Parmesan. No, the kitchen was on strike here too. I wanted to ask how the beef short rib could possibly cost R315, but thought that would seem churlish. I settled for a pasta; surely there wouldn’t be a problem here?
For starters, we shared a plate of arancini balls stuffed with Gorgonzola and cooked with truffle oil (R75) and chicken croquettes with Dijon mustard and slaw (R65). We also ordered a bowl of marinated artichokes (R35), which was fortunate because these were the only things we enjoyed.
Pet peeve number two. Nothing was cooked with salt, so everything was bland and tasteless ‒ even the “lovely” crusty ciabatta they serve to begin with. It’s simple: cooking with salt enhances the flavour of the ingredients you’re cooking. Adding salt at the table just makes everything taste salty. No amount of salt could rescue the impossibly bland and dry risotto balls which had no hint of Gorgonzola. A tomato dipping sauce helped a little. Knowing this, maybe the chicken croquettes were not a good idea. Chicken is inclined to be bland at the best of times, which is why croquettes are often made with ham or cheese, something with some guts, but these were beyond bland, just tasteless with a stodgy, sticky mashed potato. The slaw looked and tasted tired ‒ like it had been bought over the counter at a supermarket three days ago.
We liked the artichokes but they had probably come out of a tin and were made elsewhere.
Sadly, mains were no better. Ingrid liked the look of the deli bowl (R96) with curly kale, cherry tomatoes, confit zucchini, four-bean salad, turmeric hummus, avo, red onion, peppers and more artichokes. You could add a protein and she chose calamari (R95). It looked pretty but, againm was fairly tasteless. The four bean salad had no flavour, the calamari was cold and tasteless. It could also have done with some more colour. The fancy bread stick thingy was cold and had softened in the humidity. And the turmeric hummus was just odd ‒ neither of us could put our fingers on quite what was wrong with it. It might have been on the turn. Even the olive oil dressing on the salad stuff needed flavour. It was a case of thank heavens for the avo as she gave up.
I opted for the capellini d’Angelo (R100) which was spaghettini with smoked bacon, peas, courgettes, garlic, cream, herbs finished off with grana padano. I had visions of how the Glenwood bakery produce this humble but delicious dish. But no joy. First, the spaghettini was linguine, but I do not know how anything containing bacon could be so bland. Yes there was a smoky hint of flavour at the back, but no amount of extra Parmesan, chilli, salt or pepper could lift a dish that was essentially dull and flat. The whole meal had a paint-Italy-by-numbers feel.
By now, irritated, we skipped dessert. Instead, we popped up the road to where the Italian deli Edicola has just reopened, and feasted on amaretti biscuits in the car on the way home.
Food: 2
Service: 2½
Ambience: 3
The Bill: R530 with one coffee and one soft drink
The Independent on Saturday