One of Durban’s hospitality institutions, Quarters on Florida, is the result of the restoration of four gracious Victorian homes on the corner of Argyle (Sandile Thusi) and Florida roads.
Part of the rapidly extending Quarters brand, it’s classic old and new theme, with white everywhere, in the restaurant, office, rooms, bar and outside of the buildings (how do they keep it so clean?) provides a soothing getaway from the hubbub of city life.
We recently enjoyed a night at Quarters in one of their sophisticated, yet warm rooms, with spacious comfort and a balcony overlooking Florida Road. A cup of coffee on a crisp April morning was a rare treat, but first to the previous evening’s dinner at the intimate Brasserie restaurant. We chose to dine indoors but the al fresco option is also a definite winner.
For starters, queen prawns and butternut soup.
The four queen tempura prawns were perfectly prepared, the tempura light and suitably crispy, with delicious plump prawns. Creamy butternet soup with coriander oil and cinammon butter, topped with sweet potato crisps and peppadew pesto is quite a mouthful . . . and so it proved. My wife reckoned this was the best of the dishes we tasted that evening.
Starters range in price from R35 to R70.
For mains we opted for Aromatic duck . . . wait for it: Simmered in star anise, cinammon and ginger infused stock, then ovenglazed with a basting of hoisin and soy sauces, served on a sweet potato and butternut rosti and steamed mangetout topped with deepfried ginger and onion. I was having a no-meat evening, but am a fan of duck and sneaked a taste. I found it sweet and flavourful.
My grilled calamari with Cajun tentacles, served on savoury rice with a chilli, coriander and lime twist was very good. Lightly spiced, with a healthy contrast between the Cajun flavour of the calamari and the Asian inspired, fragrant rice, it had just enough zing without being overly spicy.
My only criticism, if there is one, is that the mains portions were too generous and we had to set aside some of our delicious meals. Service was friendly and efficient and mains are priced from R60 to R120.
There are plenty of wine options available for fans of the grape and, if you don’t fancy a whole bottle, you can also order by the glass. I got a perfectly suitable glass of red for the reasonable price of R25.
Our stomach lines bulging, we opted to skip desserts but the vanilla bean crème brulee and pecan pie with minted cranberry ice cream definitely looked worth investigating.
Quarters also caters for light meals and tea time treats.
So, happy customers, it was off to our room and a last cup of coffee before we settled in for a perfect night’s sleep (there’s nothing better than fresh linen and plump pillows). Suitably rejuvenated, there was time for a lazy breakfast before setting off to enjoy the remains of a great weekend. – Garth Johnstone
Quarters on Florida: On the web.