Smiles, sundowners and tastes of Africa

Moyo uShaka 1 Bell St, uShaka Marine World, Point, Durban 031 332 0606 Hours: Mon-Sun 8am-11pm The sun had gone down and people were streaming from uShaka to cars and buses after the public holiday.

We were heading in the opposite direction. As we walked into Moyo, we were greeted with a big smile from a waiter who seemed a bit surprised when we asked if we could have a table.

This is a very big restaurant, on more than one level, and we were led to an area which was better lit, where a few other tables were occupied. We were asked if we wanted to eat from the buffet.

I last came here with friends from Germany, several years ago, because of the location, showing the curve of the bay to uMhlanga, and also because of the focus on African cuisine. The evening had been a great success.

Here we were again. Having seated us, the waiter disappeared without taking our drinks orders first. Minutes later a different staff member appeared with menus and we hastily ordered a lime and soda (R21) and a Millers beer (R23) before he, too, disappeared.

The menu was full of interesting dishes from various parts of Africa, but we decided to order from the winter set menu that offered two courses for R180 or three for R210.

Our waiter then brought us a bowl and jug, to wash our hands with the lukewarm water. It was a nice touch.

Starters included West African peanut soup, West Coast mussels, Zulu-style basted wings, or samoosas.

My wife chose the soup, described as a creamy sweet potato soup with a hint of tomato and peanut, served with cocktail pumpkin rolls. The thick soup’s flavours were subtle and delicious.

I chose wings, which had a delicious smoky barbecue flavour sauce, described in the menu. With the wings came deep fried panko crumbed pap balls and a tomato-based “sheba” sauce. It was a great starter. I loved the pap balls. After eating with my hands I would have been happy to see the waiter return to offer another hand-washing. A wet wipe eventually materialised but by then I had gone to the wash room to clean the sticky sauce off my fingers.

Main items included a Mozambican fillet, prawn and chicken curry, Moroccan chicken supreme, beef dombolo and zucchini, brinjal and mushroom smoor.

The grilled chicken was stuffed with butternut, pine nuts, dates and feta drizzled with harissa lemon butter served on a bed of African spinach with couscous. The breast was tender and the spinach perfectly cooked. The other ingredients added to the enjoyment of the dish.

I had a decent sized fillet, topped with panfried chicken livers in a delicious spicy periperi sauce served with what tasted like wild and brown rice and rather forlorn rocket. The livers were fine, the steak nicely rare and the rice slightly crispy. It was very pleasant but, unfortunately, I could not finish it after the starter.

We had also ordered desserts, with choices being apple, butternut and white chocolate crumble, Cape malva pudding, or peppermint crisp cheesecake. The crumble was tasty and crunchy, with lots of apple, but the malva pudding was more like a sponge cake with oodles of custard over it.

It was very pleasant sitting, overlooking the beachfront, not that one could see much, but knowing it was there.

I imagine, given the location, the restaurant must do quite nicely during the day and at weekends.