Somewhere around Moorreesburg in the Western Cape, the flat, straight N7 gets too much and the need for a good cup of coffee becomes a matter of road safety. At weekends, there’s usually a motorbike or three pulled up outside the Desert Rose Farm Stall at the Koringberg turnoff, as well as bakkies and SUVs as weary travellers park off.
They crowd the shady stoep and scoff good grub that sticks to the sides of their bellies and makes them strong for another few hundred kilometres: biltong scones, French toast with rocket and bacon strips, generous omelettes filled with sweet peppers and onions, and tomato and mozzarella quiche with fresh salad, made with veggies grown out back in a nurtured garden.
The place started out as a steel structure that was towed behind a tractor and deposited next to the road to sell a farm’s surplus produce. Die Blikhuis, as it became known, received so many requests for meals that the owners built a proper structure in 2009.
Now it’s a classy joint that peddles all manner of gifts, as well as having shelves laden with everything from ginger beer, dried fruit and nuts to colourful fresh produce, jams and rusks.
‘We make it as homely as possible so people don’t feel rushed,’ says owner Sonia Boltman.
Contact: Tel 082-884-8714.
Hot tip: December is watermelon and spanspek season and you don’t get fresher than those picked amid the dew each morning on the Boltmans’ farm. Don’t leave Desert Rose Farm Stall without loading up with this holiday treat.
