As with most aspects of life in Durban, there is no specific style that defines the food we eat. Fusion is the dominant force, eclecticism the order of the day. The political freedom that arrived in the ’90s has had a spillover culinary effect and South African cuisine has blossomed in the last decades, as minds have opened and the global grocery store has arrived on our shelves. So in Durban you can sample the planet’s menu and also discover entirely new genres of food. Sushi meets roti. The burrito meets Zulu spinach. The samoosa encases a filling of cheese and bacon. And dhal gets poured into an Italian pasta sauce.
If there is a single cuisine that unites Durbanites across the demographic spread it is THE DURBAN CURRY. Hanging out at one of Durban’s countless curry joints, you’ll find everyone from skater kids to lawyers to street people who have managed to squeeze some coins together for that day’s lunch. Imported from India and then made brasher and hotter, the Durban curry might set your nose running, but it’ll also give your immune system a boost (chilli’s are rich in vitamin C) and give you a taste that you won’t be able to satisfy anywhere else in the world. As well as these ubiquitous takeaways, Durban also has an array of traditional North and South Indian restaurants.
Although the Durban Curry is defined by an unmistakable fiery quality, every curry joint offers its own variation and family recipe, and no two curries will taste quite the same.
Consisting of thick, delicious Durban curry spooned into a hollowed-out half loaf of bread THE BUNNYCHOW is widely thought to have been invented as a response to apartheid. Under the old dispensation, people of different colours were not permitted to eat in the same restaurants, and usually that meant that seating areas were reserved for whites only. With takeaways becoming something of a necessity for most of the population of the old South Africa, the self-contained bunnychow was invented. The word ‘bunny’ comes from a derogatory slang term for Indian people but has long fallen out of use and the bunnychow has yet to fall prey to the purveyors of political correctness. The quarter bunny remains the cheapest proper meal in Durban.
The bunnychow can house a variety of fillings and prices correspond accordingly. So you might pay R6 for a quarter bean bunny, or more than fifty bucks for a whole loaf filled with prawn curry.
SHISA NYAMA is Zulu for ‘hot meat’, and is a staple of local African cuisine. The meat, usually chicken or chops, is cooked to well-done, on either a gas-top stove or a fire. Shisa nyama spots can be found on the streets of Durban and its townships and taxi-ranks, and often form the centre of social activity. It is in many ways an African equivalent of the braai, one of the defining features of white old South African identity. And like much African cuisine, its working class roots in no way discourages the black middle class from partaking in the slightly charred meat. Shisa nyama stalls, both fixed and mobile, also offer a substantial income opportunity for many of Durban’s poorer citizens.
The provision of regulations and services for street vendors, particularly sellers of prepared food, is an integral element of municipal delivery in Durban.
Due to the presence of Durban’s substantial Hindu population, VEGETARIANS AND VEGANS find themselves extremely well catered for in Durban. The clutch of Hare Krishna takeaways scattered around the city offer not only mild curries but also variations on lasagne, cottage pies, sausage rolls, hamburgers, pizzas etc, and nearly every curry house will have at least one veg option. But even away from Indian cuisine, you’ll find the city vegetarian-friendly. Additionally, Durban’s humidity often demands lighter eating and the city’s chefs have responded in recent years by reinventing the salad and moving it to centre course. And if there’s simply nothing on the menu, most eateries will try their best to accommodate you.
For the ultimate in karma-free cuisine, head to the Temple of Understanding in Chatsworth, where the lavish structure invites spiritual contemplation and the restaurant provides food for the body and the soul.
If you drive around Durban you can follow the path of white mealie cobs from an unfinished flyover near the edge of the city where they are sold from the backs of trucks, to the pavements and street-corners where small-scale vendors cook them and sell them for a slight mark-up. These MEALIES ON THE STREET are prepared on either a small open fire or a gas-top and are lightly salted. They provide cheap and instant nutrition to pedestrians on the move, as well as establishing a small income for the mostly female vendors. And if you take a walk around the city, you might even discover small gardens of this staple vegetable growing in its marginal spaces and tended by the vendors themselves.
On Durban’s middle class dinner tables you’ll find the more expensive yellow mealie, usually boiled, salted and enjoyed with a dollop of butter.
A NEW AFRICAN CUISINE is beginning to exercise an influence on Durban’s eateries. While on the one hand, Durban’s restaurants are defined by an eclectic fusion of global ingredients, there is at the same time, a move towards establishing a recognisable, local cuisine. The bunnychow has begun to appear in upmarket restaurants, and Southern African classics such as pap-en-vleis, koeksisters, samp-and-beans and Durban curry have all arrived, finally unembarrassed, on our tables. Also providing a unique local flavour is the presence of game and African meats such as ostrich and crocodile in many up-market restaurants. And biltong, a dried meat loved by South Africans, appears in everything from salads to pizza.
The above dish consists of African-style char grilled lamb cutlets presented on a bed of samp and beans (a South African staple) with a rich stout and rosemary reduction. It is served with a chakalaka salsa.
The upmarket FLORIDA ROAD area offers some of Durban’s finest restaurants with new venues opening all the time. One of Morningside’s leafiest, most picturesque roads, it is becoming something of a culinary high street for Durban diners. From the relaxed pavement ambience of Spiga D’Oro (whose astounding success has accelerated the rate of business in the area generally) to the fine cuisine showcased by Society, to Sunrise House of Curries, there’s something for every palate.
WILSON’S WHARF, with its gently astounding views of Durban’s harbour, is one of the city’s most impressive waterfront venues. It contains a theatre and craft stalls, as well as an array of restaurants that overflow onto a wooden deck, blending with the authentic interface of a yachting marina complete with working slipway. Situated just off the Victoria Embankment and next to the Sugar Terminal, the focus is on global and fusion cuisine. The Oyster Bar/
ZenbiSushi is a real treat and probably the best place in town to drink champagne.
As well as boasting one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated aquariums, USHAKA MARINE WORLD houses a huge variety of inexpensive cafés and take-aways. For more formal eating environments, there’s the Cape Town Fish Market and of course the Phantom Ship with its two venues: buffet on the Upper Deck, or à la carte inside the Cargo Hold, designed around a fish tank, where sharks peak over your shoulder as you savour your meal.
The Indian quarter known as GREY STREET has a large concentration of restaurants and takeaways. Unsurprisingly, curry dominates – from a plethora of vegetarian takeaways to a broader spectrum of spicy options. And if Indian fare isn’t for you, there are a good few Pakistani restaurants, as well as globally recognisable chains such as Wimpy and KFC. Eating in Grey Street is very affordable, and has the advantage of having the ingredients of your next meal for sale just around the corner.
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