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80 Grant Avenue,
Norwood, Joburg
Tel: 011-728-8157
Lindiwe Sisulu *****
Cyril Ramaphosa ****
Mmusi Maimane ***
Ace Magashule **
Bathabile Dlamini *
— Shahi Khana *****
The advent of spring is supposed to inspire in one the urge to wake up every day and sprint to the garden to say howdy to the flowers, wink at the bees as they go about their beesyness and strut around with a bounce to one’s gait. You know the feeling? Exhilaration, joie de vivre.
I know it’s in the air somewhere, and has been for the past few weeks, but it continues to elude me. On my part dudgeon is bubbling up a bit; passions are rising.
It’s not even the Gupta brothers’ refusal to come to testify before the commission into state capture that gets my goat. Yes, the mere mention of the Guptas causes my bile to rise. But what can I do? If a man is showing you the middle finger from Dubai and you are stuck in Joburg, you’re better advised to take a deep breath and look for a target that’s closer to home.
As fate would have it, the target of my ire has just presented itself on a rusty platter: downtown Joburg.
While it would be an exaggeration to call downtown Joburg a proper slum, it would be irresponsible not to raise the alarm while one’s home city is on a clear, inexorable march to the gutter.
Forget the litter on the streets, the potholes, the nonfunctioning traffic lights and thugs strangling a man in front of cops. Watch out for the buildings, in the wake of the death of three firemen who got killed while trying to put out a fire in the Bank of Lisbon building. It has been established that nine buildings hitherto occupied by employees from various Gauteng government departments are not fit for human habitation.
I know there’s a budget for maintaining government buildings. What has happened to it?
If a man is showing you the middle finger from Dubai and you are stuck in Joburg … you’re better advised to look for a target closer to home
By all indications this is not an isolated incident. In April three children died and other people were injured when an old building in Doornfontein suddenly collapsed.
It makes me hot under the collar. And when I am hot under the collar, I suddenly become hungry. Bob Marley said a hungry mob is an angry one.
So on Sunday I decided I wanted to fight my way through a hot curry dinner.
My main man, Mojalefa Gwangwa, was a willing accomplice.
So off we went to Shahi Khana on Grant Avenue in Norwood.
We were in luck. They were serving an elaborate buffet. Not your boring Sunday afternoon hotel buffet with roast beef and potatoes. No, this was a colourful, spicy and aromatic smorgasbord. I tucked into the fried line fish and vegetable fritters in the starters section, while Mojalefa went straight to the main section. His plate looked like a miniature model of Table Mountain.
Being a Durban boy, once I was done with my starters I went for the hottest variety of lamb curry. It went well with a chilled chardonnay.
Mojalefa, sweating his way through his Table Mountain — which I surmised was too spicy for a Joburg boy — washed it down with a Windhoek draught.
I got a bit greedy, ordering naan bread in addition to my generous mound of rice. Needless to say, I couldn’t finish it all.
The whole feast for two cost R200, excluding beverages.
Shahi Khana’s ambience is simply great, especially for bigger parties — families or groups. Not for romantics who want soft music, soft lights and even softer conversation.
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