KwaZulu Natal / Restaurants and Eateries

Nino’s Coffee Shop in Pietermaritzburg – A review

Updated Sunday, 29 January 2017

With over 42 outlets in six provinces nationwide Nino’s Coffee Shops are a familiar sight to most South Africans. Pietermaritzburg is also home to the brand with the Liberty Midlands Mall being the venue for the only Nino’s outlet in the city. After finishing a stint of afternoon shopping recently I decided to pop in to Nino’s for a late lunch and was pleasantly surprised with my findings.

Nino’s are renowned for serving good food and excellent coffee but since I am not a coffee drinker I was looking for something else on the menu to warm me up. That ‘something else’ came in the form of a steaming cup of hot chocolate, which proved to be a winner in every sense of the word. Not only was it rich, it was also very delicious and piping hot; just what I needed to lift my spirits on a cold and rainy day. At just R19 it was well priced to, especially when you consider the size of the cup, which was pretty big.

The Nino’s menu offers a fairly wide selection of tramezzini’s, bagels, salads, burgers, wraps, pitas, pizzas and Italian pastas with the succulent sirloin (served with French fries) and tender chicken breasts (served with roasted vegetables and fries) reported to be among the most popular dishes. However, I was in the mood for something different, a roast beef and mushroom tramezzini (R52) to be exact.

Nino's Coffee Shop

Served with peppers and onions this tramezzini was undoubtedly the most unique I’ve ever had. It tasted a lot like a pan-fried pizza (I simply love pan-fried pizzas) and was both filling and flavoursome. All the ingredients combined exceptionally well to make for a really great tasting and satisfying meal which was well worth the price, both in terms of quality and quantity.

Besides serving an array of yummy dishes and beverages Nino’s has many other things going for it. I simply loved the unique layout of the eatery with its ‘sunken lounge’ effect and the attractive colour scheme and the simple yet appealing décor made me feel right at home. The service, to, could not be faulted.

I received a warm greeting from both the manageress and my waitress who confidently answered any questions I had and then took down my order with a minimum of fuss. I also didn’t have to wait long for my food to arrive, which is always important since almost everyone is pressured for time these days.

I really liked this venue. The food was good, the service top-notch and the atmosphere lively yet not overly so. Nino’s is definitely the perfect place to take some time out of your busy schedule and re-charge your batteries. It certainly did the trick for me and I’m sure it’ll do the same for you to.