What 19 people say about Emazulwini Restaurant
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Everything about this restaurant and it's offering is unique. The menu is very interesting. The chef cleverly takes many ingredients you may know about and grew up eating, but completely elevates them and creates new sensations, textures and flavours with them. The ideas the chef comes up with regarding how to use t...
Read full reviewEverything about this restaurant and it's offering is unique. The menu is very interesting. The chef cleverly takes many ingredients you may know about and grew up eating, but completely elevates them and creates new sensations, textures and flavours with them. The ideas the chef comes up with regarding how to use these ingredients are very creative and had my wife and i amazed and analysing the whole night. The menu also has clear thought applied to each course, what comes next and how these compliment the overall dining experience. There are wonderfully strong cultural elements to the food that make me so proud of what I was eating and how it could be presented in such an elegant, though provoking way.
The last little piece to add is that the atmosphere is different to what you'd expect from a normal dining experience. This place is currently located at the docks at the Waterfront which is very cool and different. There are huge ships being loaded and unloaded and we got to watch these giant commercial ships get hauled out by tug boats before they hit the open ocean...all while eating good food and sipping good wine. Its got a more exciting feel to it than the expected laid back generic restaurant vibe. If you're in the mood for it, its super exciting and fun.
10/10... One word to describe the food and the entire experience - "devine"
It was such an interesting evening with amazing food and a wonderful atmosphere!
It was a really delicious experience. The chicken gizard and lamb and sump were show stoppers. The lamp just made you feel warm and at home and nostalgic, and it was just so delicious.
Progressive african cuisine. Epic chef with authentic Ubuntu. Loved every did. Recommend you try this hidden gem.
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About Emazulwini Restaurant
Cuisine: Fine Dining
Emazulwini is a modern Zulu inspired restaurant which seeks to celebrate and showcase Nguni cuisine and South African ingredients.
Mmabatho Molefe runs the tiny harbour-facing restaurant called Emazulwini. Molefe was retrenched from Salsify At The Roundhouse during lockdown. With previous experience at Aubergine, she has used her skills to present traditional Zulu cuisine in a fine dining context. With her breakthrough restaurant Emazulwini (meaning ‘heaven’ in Zulu), she’s introducing Zulu dishes in completely unexpected ways to Makers Landing.
This inspired Mmabatho to reflect on her own Zulu upbringing in KwaZulu-Natal, and experiment with recipes that could represent the food she was raised eating, but with modern techniques and novel ways of presentation. The intimate space at Emazulwini affords diners the opportunity to taste dishes such as ox tongue in different preparations of tomato, isijingi (a sweet pumpkin porridge with orange caramel, roasted pumpkin and cinnamon), and an amasi (sour milk) dessert made with uphuthu (pap) and whey caramel.
“I want people to let go of their previous apprehensions, try new things, and hopefully change their minds about these Zulu-inspired dishes,” she says. Although cooking and serving cultural foods differently to how they are traditionally done, she has ensured that the flavours remain true to the original. “Usually Zulu cuisine is slow-cooked and braised, and all the flavour gets left in the liquid,” she says, “so I’m just preparing it slightly differently. It doesn’t have to be brown, heavy food. I’m adding fresh components, so that people are more inclined to try it.”
By delving into Zulu history and traditions in her quest to honour her heritage, Mmabatho is sharing her culture through the art of cooking, creating a contemporary appreciation for Zulu cuisine .
