FRANCHHOEK'S LOSS IS DURBAN'S GAIN - THE WOW FACTOR!!!

What Margo [Chef Extraordinaire] and Craig [Front of House Fundi] have created in the old Café 1999 premises is fine dining at its best! On a chill Durban Tuesday evening we ventured out to try Café Monroe as the reviews were promising and people were saying some really great things about this fairly new eatery in Silverton Road. The menu is concise with something for nearly every taste. I had thought about trying the Duck breast served with a creamy potato fondant etc........ regrettably not available. The Duck lady only delivers on a Wednesday and obviously the supply did not match the recent demand - I will return on a day when it's available. I relented and went for the Seared Salmon. Yes it was certainly symphony of flavours and rivals my favourite from Mundo Vida. My wife decided to opt for two starters, the Calamari and the Phyllo Prawns. Now what was unusual and ever so clever was that Margo plated both 'starters' on one plate creating a beautiful ensemble of flavours that could well be added as a main dish in the future! So much better than two plates of starters arriving at the same time or being server one after the other. We both sampled each other's dish and raved. To end off we shared a Crème Brule which again was unique in that it wasn't served in a ramekin. I'll leave out any further description as I don't want to spoil the surprise! But it was delish! What is also a first for Durban that I recall is that Margo and Craig are the only visible staff! Yes and each of the them is amazingly attentive. Especially Margo who goes out of her way to describe each dish in detail and is not adverse to offer slight adaptions should your palate crave it! No waitrons, no waiters, no barman and from the ****tails I saw Craig serving he is obviously an accomplished 'mixer'! Maybe Margo has a 'slave' of two in the kitchen to assist with the preps?? I ask her next time we visit and that will be soon! One of the finest meals we have had for some time! CONGRATS GUYS!!!