Business Traveller (Asia-Pacific)
WHERE TO EAT
CAPSICUM Hotel Britannia’s restaurant is a good place to sample Durban’s must-try signature dish, bunny chow. It is a little off the beaten track but its bunnies are worth it. The meal is a hefty one – half a loaf of white bread, hollowed out and filled with curry (mutton is traditional) – and was created by the city’s Indian community in the 1940s.
Open daily 7am9.30 pm (Mon-Tues 8.30pm). 1,299 Umgeni Road; tel +27 313 032 266; hotelbrits.co.za
NINTH AVENUE BISTRO For stand-out cuisine and great craft beer, the chic Ninth Avenue Bistro is worth going out of your way for. Its seasonal menu is deliciously innovative – try specials such as pig’s head terrine with crispy squid and fermented beetroot; and smoked ostrich.
Open 12pm-2.30pm Tues-Fri, 6pm9.30 pm Mon-Sat. Shop 2 Avonmore Centre, Ninth Avenue; tel +27 313 129 134; 9thavenuebistro.co.za
THE OYSTER BOX The hotel’s beautiful Ocean Terrace is always abuzz with guests and regulars. There is a varied menu (salads, pasta, pizza and gourmet hotdogs), but it’s the curry buffet that is famous. For R270 (US$22) you can make as many trips as you want to fill up on freshly made tandoori chicken, creamy dhal and fragrant masalas, vindaloos and biryanis.
Open daily 7.30am-10.30am, 12pm3pm, 6pm-10.30pm. 2 Lighthouse Road, Umhlanga; tel +27 315 145 018; oysterboxhotel.com
LITTLE HAVANA Up the road from the Oyster Box, in gentrified Umhlanga, is Little Havana. Opened in 2012, it is a feast for carnivores – there is an in-house butcher and staff bring out platters of juicy cuts for diners to choose from. All the beef is hormone-free, free range and grass fed. There is also a good selection of South African wine, and in fine weather you can sit out on the veranda.
Open daily 12pm-5pm, then 6pm until late. 16 Chartwell Drive; tel; +27 315 617 589; littlehavana.co.za
MOYO USHAKA To get a flavour of Durban’s beachlife, head to Moyo, which has a restaurant with al fresco seating (attached to Ushaka Marine World) and a bar on a pier over the sea. A relatively casual affair, the food is tasty and portions huge. Exotic highlights include crocodile pies, fried mopane worms (hand-picked in the wild), Nigerian koftas with chakalaka relish, and warthog potjiekos (hot pot).
Open daily 11am-11pm (from 8am at weekends). 1 Bell Street, Ushaka Marine World; tel +27 313 320 606; moyo.co.za/moyo-ushaka