THIS year saw some memorable dinners in Durban, some memorable for all the wrong reasons, including a terrible Mexican experience in Florida Road. Cold cheese, gritty gravy, soggy tortillas, uncomfortable chairs and no booze –‒ this had them all. The restaurant can remain nameless; it might not even be there today.
But, sadly, Durban’s Florida Road, with two notable exceptions (read on), is not exactly a beacon of excellence. There are too many chains, too many indifferent experiences, which are often expensive, too many sushi menus and burger joints and too many steakhouses. Little that is original, or exciting, or going to blow your hair back.
Chartwell Drive in uMhlanga suffers much the same conundrum, hundreds of restaurants forming another medley of mediocrity, often over-priced.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. One thing Durban does well is its coffee and I’m going to start with its many coffee shops,
