Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Middle East flavours entice
SHEGO is a new city restaurant specialising in Middle Eastern food, which opened its doors late last month in Green Point Main Road.
Arriving there at 6.30pm on a balmy Cape Town evening, the restaurant’s setting looked familiar.
It is situated in the space that housed Kenny Kunene’s popular ZAR nightclub a few years ago.
The restaurant has a dozen cosy blonde wood tables inside and half a dozen outside overlooking Main Road.
The menu is divided into five sections: a selection of mezzes, main courses, grills, desserts and a separate breakfast menu.
Before investigating the mezzes, we ordered the ayran ( R20), described on the menu as a “salty yoghurt drink”.
The friendly waiter warned us that some customers didn’t like the taste – apparently having managed to misunderstand the very apt menu description.
It turned out to be just as described.
It is a glass of salty room-temperature drinking yoghurt, served with a straw.
“I feel as if I am ingesting lots of probiotics,” said my dining colleague.
After assuring him we were “non-vegetarians”, we asked the waiter to chose us a selection of appetisers for the six-mezze platter (R160).
The platter, which is enough for two or three as a starter, or for one as a main, was the highlight of the meal.
The waiter selected for us falafel balls, hummus, lentil kofta (balls), shego kibbeh (lamb mince coated in bulgar wheat), vegetable and cream cheese roses, and grilled halloumi cheese.
The kibbeh were crispy on the outside and soft and spicy on the inside, and the falafel – which came in the form of tiny muffins, were crunchy and chewy.
The garlic-heavy hummus was very good, especially on two soft Turkish breads.
Shego’s main course features classic tastes of Middle Eastern cuisine, including lamb, eggplant and yoghurt.
I ordered the manti (R95) which is minced Turkish beef ravioli served with a garlic and yoghurt