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The Epicurean
Many visitors to Zimbabwe ask for a chance to sample traditional Zimbabwean cuisine while they are here, and over the years I have noted that an increasing number of dining venues have been created to offer local cuisine to international guests, either as the primary or secondary targets of the venue concerned.
There’s a great deal of discussion and debate in the food-writing community, and among gastronomic enthusiasts, as to the merits of all these places and even the suggestion that there should be a competition for the title of “best traditional restaurant”. I think it is a suggestion well worth thinking about, so I am hereby throwing down the gauntlet to the food and beverage suppliers of Zimbabwe to perhaps create such a competition in 2019, and to make it national, and not just in Harare.
Local beverages are also the subject of interest for visitors, and a lot of them ask to see and sample local beers and other products, including wines. Sadly, our wine industry took a turn downwards in the past 20 years and we no longer have the selection of wines produced locally that we did in the 90s.
Thank goodness for Bushman Rock estate, which continues to provide a selection of their own wines, and I have on a number of occasions seen Mukuyu wines on supermarket shelves; let’s hope this is a sign or resurgence on the part of Mukuyu Winery. I really hope efforts underway to revive agriculture include efforts to revive grape-growing and a boost to local wine production.
I got to thinking about all this when dining at Harare’s Café Afrique restaurant, situated in Cresta Oasis Hotel and Apartments in the busy CBD. The whole hotel has undergone a multi-million-dollar refurbishment, now almost complete, and within this context the restaurant — which was started back in the late 80s or early 90s — has also enjoyed a makeover.
It is looking great, with new furniture and fittings, a whole new serving station for the buffet, and even a new private dining room, suitable for small to medium size groups wanting to have a meal in a secluded spot, but close enough to the buffet and the other diners to offer a feeling of being part of a greater whole.
I have eaten at Café Afrique many times in recent years and have always been delighted by the ambience and the genuine friendliness of the team there.
As before, the food remains of a high standard and the pleasing ambience is retained, with a whole fresh look about the place. All too many folk from Harare’s northern suburbs don’t dine here, with custom mainly coming from in-house guests or delegates at the many conferences hosted by the hotel.
After yet another delightful lunch at Café Afrique I urge all of these folk to give it a go; it is easy to get to and the new car park offers great security, day or night.
The theme is mainly Zimbabwean, but with occasional forays into the culinary treats of other countries across the continent, the latter linked to national days.
I understand general manager Crispen Chimumvuri plans to re-establish these special cuisine weeks that in the past 10 years have featured the food styles of Zimbabwe (April), Ethiopia (May), Mozambique (June), Botswana (September) and Zambia (October). Café Afrique is, in fact, the in-house restaurant for guests staying at this busy hotel, including long-stay guests in the Apartments block.
As a result, this is where breakfast, lunch and dinner is on offer for them. Conference delegates eat here, too and casual diners are always also welcome. The restaurant overlooks an attractive pooldeck terrace, where at lunchtimes there is a traditional lunch special offered here at very low cost, and I understand guest numbers go well over 100 on some days.
An excellent a la carte menu is sometimes available for lunch and dinner, serving general international dishes; but, as I have said before, I recommend guests look out for the availability of the extensive buffet offering of a fusion or mainly local foods, supplemented by some western-style dishes, such as the salads. A reservations check will confirm for you when the buffet is not on offer.
When my guest and I dined there recently, we started with a garlic soup, and then for main course we selected from a huge number of principal and supplementary dishes on offer, with a creative mix of colours, styles and flavours.
It was an excellent offering and it was served to us personally by the hotel’s very competent and charming Executive Chef Petronella. Desserts are not really a traditional food style, but they are on offer in abundance, and we chose a mix of cake, mousse and fruit salad.
If I have a caution to offer, it is one that I must extend to a great many dining venues in Zimbabwe: please avoid dominating soups with cornflo0ur, although I know this to be necessary for extending soup portions economically. A little really does go a long way and a soup that is dominated by cornflour becomes unpalatable.
Prices have, of course, gone up in our inflationary environment, but I think at any given time the meals at Café Afrique are competitive and could accurately be described as value for money. This remains in my view one of our star traditional restaurants and I feel very much at home in its welcoming and stylish environment. Café Afrique is on the ground floor of Cresta Oasis Hotel and Apartments, now accessed through the grand new entrance on Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, between fourth and fifth streets.
Epicurean really want to know readers’ views on which are their favourite traditional restaurants in Zimbabwe, and why? This, and other feedback, to [email protected]
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