indian food – Latitude Post

The Eastern Food Bazaar

In downtown Cape Town there is a magical food emporium serving tantalising eastern delights called the Eastern Food Bazaar. It is a culinary landmark and institution in this city. Of course a global city like Cape Town has an abundance of places to eat offering all kinds of different food from around the world. However there is no other restaurant in this city which can measure up to the epic sounds, sights, smells and special ambiance of the Eastern Food Bazaar. Entering this arena is like walking into Old Delhi sans hawkers. The handsome elaborately adorned dark wooden interior furnishings give the place a regal and palatial air. During lunch and dinner hours this place sometimes swells to levels over the acceptable maximum capacity threshold. Yet as uncomfortable as it may be during this time this is the best time to be here. You wait an age to get served but the food is always fresh and prepared right in front of you. What’s more, there’s something a tad sad about eating in an empty emporium not buzzing with life. The only other place I’ve been to on the African continent which can compare with this place is the legendary Dja El Fna square in the centre of Old Marrakech. When the sun goes down, that square comes alive with energy, music, delicious food and persistent touts.

Inside the EFB

The EFB full of life

Notice the exotic wooden interior designs

There are about seven food stalls inside where Tandoori food, dosas, shawarmas, Chinese food and even (very unEastern) pizzas can be found. I almost always bolt to the Madras Dosa House for a tasty and no nonsense masala dosa. For a few coins more, the Chicken Cheese Masala dosa is a real treat.

The Masala Dosa House Stand

If you have a sweet tooth, the Ice Cream parlour is an irresistible addition. The ice cream here is rich and creamy and just as good as the ice cream you’ll find in the finest Italian geleterias. Two scoops in a cup for R20 is a hell of a deal.

Divine (and cheap) ice cream

I love this place but it’s dangerous since the more frequently I come to pig out here the higher the probability I’ll morph into Andy Fordham.

by Nicholas Peart

28th July 2016

Indian restaurants in Durban are ten a penny, but here are four establishments in this city that serve up wonderful no nonsense Indian food…

MY DINERS

My Diners Indian restaurant chain

At the northern end of the suburb of Overport and in a lively part of town full of Indian supermarkets and grocery stores is the restaurant chain My Diners. There are others in town but the Overport branch is the one I frequented. At first glance this is a very ordinary eating establishment and you may be mistaken for thinking this is some kind of Eastern Steers but you’d be making a big mistake. This place does very brisk business and is often packed with local Indian families. I had a tremendous mutton bunny chow floating in a pool of curry gravy like some edible Tower Of Babel. I ordered a half loaf and just as well since I would have had to summon some locals to assist me if I ordered the full loaf.

A half loaf mutton bunny chow

Half time bunny carnage

HOUSE OF CURRIES

House of Curries on Florida road

This establishment, located on Florida road in the suburb of Windermere, is noted for its rotis, which are very generous. The lamb rotis here are especially good. HOC is also a great place to idle an afternoon or night away with a cold beer or four. I washed my roti down with a cold pint of Windhoek beer.

Vegetable roti

PATELS VEGETARIAN REFRESHMENT ROOM

Patels on Yusuf Dadoo street is one of the oldest restaurants in town

This eatery is perhaps the most special and legendary of my picks and is located slap bang in the heart of little India on Dr Yusuf Dadoo street. Patels was recommended to me by an elderly South African Indian gentleman whom I met at a local corner restaurant also off Dr Yusuf Dadoo street and not too far from this place. This is one of the oldest eateries in the city and has been serving the population for 85 years. Don’t be fooled by the rough hole in the wall exterior. This is the place to go for a quarter vegetable bunny chow. When I ordered mine I got a mixture of sugar beans, dhal, lentils and potato curry. It was delicious and very inexpensive. I followed this up with a R4 cup of chai and a small traditional Indian sweet treat for desert.

Classic original quarter veg bunny chow

Chai and an Indian sweet treat

MALI’S INDIAN RESTAURANT

Mali’s restaurant in Morningside

One night I decided to have dinner here in the suburb of Morningside after reading all the glowing reviews of the place on Trip Adviser. This is a more formal dining experience compared to the other three places (and I’ve got to admit I wasn’t taken by the internal decor which I found a little sterile – not that I came here for that!) but I was not disappointed by the food and the restaurant lives up to the hype.

I began my evening by ordering the infamous paper dosa. That thing is so big you could write the entire Mahabharata on it. I needed three separate plates to accommodate all the broken down fragments of this beast.

The legendary paper dosa

Next I ordered one of the restaurant’s signature Chettinad curries. I went for the lamb one accompanied with a side garlic naan, which was very good.

Chettinad lamb curry

Then for dessert I ordered the restaurant’s homemade kulfi (Indian ice cream). I’ve had kulfi before but I was very impressed with the one I tasted here which was rich and full flavoured. Very nice to savour.

Homemade kulfi

OTHER INDIAN EATERIES IN THE CITY

ORIENTAL inside the Workshop mall in the centre of a town is a good place for cheap Indian food although I prefer My Diners. Nevertheless I had a decent mutton curry served with rice and salad. There are a couple of very cheap hole in the wall Indian food eateries both located on Yusuf Dadoo called AL-BARAKA and ALMASOOM TAKEAWAY & RESTAURANT; absolutely nothing to write home about but if you are watching the Rand they are two good choices. For thrill seekers the former has a rough and tumble Bukowski vibe to it and there is more chance of Jacob Zuma paying back that R250 million of taxpayers money he spent on his Nkandla homestead than bumping into another tourist.

The following places I haven’t sampled. I hear good things about LITTLE GUJERAT close to Victoria Market which does a variety of cheap vegetarian fare. For a more formal dining experience similar to Mali’s, LITTLE INDIA RESTAURANT ON MUSGRAVE gets almost equally dazzling reviews.

by Nicholas Peart

20th June 2016

Tag: indian food

The Eastern Food Bazaar

Four Great Places For Indian Food In Durban