The Tastes of Durban Part II: The Journey Continues!
Paul Backus | Oct 15, 2007 | Comments 0
An especially enjoyable aspect of eating in South Africa is paying the bill. On my first night out on the town, a group of about 10 international students went to a restaurant called Butcher Boys. We had excellent steak dinners, a few appetizers, extra sauces for the steaks, dessert and some bottles of wine, and we couldn’t believe it when the bill came out to under $20 a person for the biggest spenders, tip included.
A quick explanation of the prices I’m quoting: one dollar is worth approximately seven Rand. Restaurant bills in the 120-160 Rand range are about $15 to $20.
Globalization has had positive and negative consequences everywhere, but in South Africa it affects menu selection for the better. Indian, Moroccan, burgers, steak, seafood and sushi: it’s all easy to find in Durban’s city limits.
One unfortunate aspect is the lack of authentic traditional African cuisine. On campus one night, there was a buffet of traditional regional dishes from around the continent, and it was one of my favorite meals out here so far. It looked like it took hours, if not days, to prepare and we stuffed ourselves to the brink of gluttony that night.
While I’m still on the topic of taste, I should mention that the Durbanites’ taste in popular music is as awful as the food is delicious.
The Sean Kingston tune I mentioned in Part I of this article is usually in heavy rotation
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