Little coffee shops in obscure alley's

Lavender - the lower level dining area

I've lived in Pietermaritzburg all my life and there are so many awesome places here and nearby that I've NEVER been to and others that I never knew even existed! Lavender is one such place.

We went to Lavender for the first (and only time) a few weeks ago. A lady from church had been asking us to go out for coffee for ages and we could just never find the time, so we finally just made some time and did it. And it was awesome. She's an absolute treasure of a lady and may the good Lord bless her kind soul for treating us that rainy, but lovely, Saturday mid-morning. Anyhoo, this is not a post about the awesome lady from church, its about the coffee shop she introduced me to!

Lavender is just on this little street called Gough Road which is just off Wembley Road (not far from entrance 2 of the Royal Agricultural Show Grounds) (in Pietermaritzburg obviously). If you don't know the place, you will NOT be able to find it. I found that out the hard way. I'd taken hapdash directions to the place and had an idea of its surrounding whereabouts, however, I ended up at the banking complex as I could find no signs. The lady we were meeting had to come find us at the banks and take us to the place. 

We entered through the back, so I didn't exactly get the most picturesque first impression of the place. And it was super cold and rainy. The lady pushed a wooden rolling gate open and let us into the yard. The first thing you see is a plastic sheeted room with a tin (or aluminium) roof. You've got to push through a slit in the plastic to get inside. The inside is a small little room with dainty tables and chairs and just enough room to maneuver around. There is however an upstairs room (or rooms) which I did not get to see as we remained on the "ground floor" at which we entered. 

I love obscure, little known about places but, these places tend to have a set clientele... And when you're a new face (especially when its two Indians coming in with a Coloured lady) people are bound to stare (as we experienced, I bring it up because it happened, not as a speculation). 

However, once you settle in and get a bit used to the place (and ignore the stares from other patrons) its quite a comfy place. And a good place to get away from the crowds - which is something I ALWAYS strive to do. 

I had the "house" cappuccino and my sister and I shared a slice of cheesecake. The cappuccino was pretty much as a cappuccino usually is, nothing super amazing about it or anything, though it was pretty neat that they had chocolate chips in it. I sure did enjoy that. 

A Lavender cappuccino with chocolate chips - yum

The cheesecake was so-so. It was neither the worst, nor the best that I'd had. Though the base had a bit too much coconut than I could handle (I hate desiccated coconut) and I think it was lemon rind that was used as a sort of garnish on the top and just added a not so grand taste to the cheesecake.

All in all, this quaint little place may seem rustic at first, but you warm up to it and I certainly wouldn't mind going there again. I will definitely not be having the cheesecake again though - been there, done that... I would love to try out the other stuff on the menu though, and maybe a go at a meal...

Another reason to go back  - the staff are extremely friendly and welcoming (might be 'cause we went with a "regular", who knows... *shoulder shrug*, will have to see) and the service is pretty good too - a rare thing to come by these days.

(Photos taken from the "Just Lavender" website)
PS: Not too sure on the name, the website says :Just Lavender" but I know it as "Lavender" so I retained the name I was given. Also from the website, it seems that they are more than just a coffee shop... For more check out their website: http://www.just-lavender.co.za/index.html