Indian Fare
The popularity of Indian food in South Africa is testament not only to the significant segment of the population that is of Indian origin, but also to the excellence of the many Indian restaurants. Most of these are styled in the traditional way – sizeable and draped in rich earthy colours. The cuisine has been adapted to South African tastes and the spicy dishes are not as hot as they would be in India. Most restaurants offer patrons the choice of mild, medium or hot, with a warning that hot is not for the faint-hearted.
The highest concentration of Indian restaurants is found in and around Durban. One of the oldest and most respected is Saagries House of Curries, in the basement of the Holiday Inn on the bustling beachfront. Bursting with iconography and adorned with photographs of the many dignitaries who have dined here (including Nelson Mandela), Saagries treats every guest like royalty.
Vintage India in Windermere Road, Morningside, Durban - has a similarly plush ambience and a range of dishes from traditional North Indian to Goan and Hydrabadi. Indian Connection, also in Morningside, is housed in a renovated homestead with small, intimate rooms as well as the main dining area, and offers exceptional value for money as well as a host of regional dishes.
The rest of the country has its fair share of independent and chain Indian restaurants. One of the popular franchises is Sahib, with consistent quality, food and service. Meals are inexpensive and the ambience makes takes one on a culinary trip to India, without paying the airfare.
Unquestionably the best Indian restaurant in Cape Town and Johannesburg is Bukhara. The North Indian cuisine served here, particularly the tandoori specialities and the trademark butter chicken, is legendary and worth the extra expense. The mother restaurant in central Cape Town is in a copper-hung hall that throbs with activity every night. The Johannesburg branch, in the shopping precinct adjoining Sandton Square, lacks ambience but serves the same addictive food.
Cape Town also has fine Indian dining at Ginja, set in a Victorian warehouse in the Bo-Kaap. Award-winning chef Mike Bassett, who has worked at Raymond Blanc’s 3-star Michelin-rated restaurant in London, serves Indian-inspired dishes such as slow-roasted lamb shank curry with ginger and coriander served on jeera pulao with fresh rotis.
Pakistani Cuisine
There is also a fair-sized Pakistani community in South Africa, and several notable traditional restaurants. The best place to find Pakistani food – which places more emphasis on vegetables than Indian (and has a much higher chilli threshold) – is in Fordsburg, the fascinating area around Johannesburg’s Oriental Plaza.
Karachi restaurant is an old favourite, famous for the tandoori whole fish, which is crisply scorched on a skewer but tender inside. Alongside the palate-rousing spicy dishes, Karachi also serves bhindi gosht - subtly flavoured lamb with okra.
One of the newer sensations in the area is Dawaat, where chefs trained at the Karachi Sheraton serve North Pakistani cuisine, including tandoori, tikka, curry and biryani, with some exotic specialities such as grilled quails and home-made creamy cheese. Local businessmen flock to Larosh, where the prices are incredibly low and the Pakistani dishes are supplemented by Chinese and Indian specials.
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