NABC - Christmas dinner, 27 November, Gaby's Tosca

The boys gathered for the last dinner of the year at Gaby's Tosca in Durban North , with the exception of Paul B who was in China, Jay had his company Christmas party and Kane? Well we're all still guessing, he'll have to update us at the January dinner, with force if we have to!


Greg, Paulie, Max, Little Sol, Solly, Grey and I were all there and more than made up for it!



The shots are bad and very grainy, but photo quality wasn't the priority of the night.

We had assorted mezzo to start with the usual Portuguese suspects like Peri-Peri chicken livers, grilled calamari, chili steak strips etc.

The food was real simple but really, really great!

Chicken as Peri-Peri spatch-cock or half bird with prawns.

Espatada of beef.
Grilled sardines!

Portuguese steak!

Yum-Yum-Yum!

22 November - Simple Seafood Lunch

Soni had been craving seafood, so whilst doing some shopping I was lucky to find both fresh scallops and clams. It was unbearably hot so there was no way I was spending hours in the kitchen, so this is what we did:

Pan fried Scallops with Mozambican Masavaroo.

Clean the scallops, season with salt and lemon juice and flash fry in butter and olive oil until just done. Put them back in their shells and dress with the chili and serve with lemon wedges.

Spaghetti Vongole

Make a Soffrito:

Take a small bunch of Italian parsley, 3 anchovy fillets and a handful of spring onions, chop finely. Crush 4 garlic cloves and chop roughly. Zest 1 large lemon and braise lightly with all the above.

When the onion is translucent, add white wine to taste (about half a bottle should do), as well as 3 or 4 chopped Roma tomatoes. Season.

In the mean time, whilst the tomatoes soften, ensure the clams are well rinsed and clean. Add the clams to the tomato mix with a handful or so of stoned Calamata olives, seal the pan with a tight fitting lid and steam on a moderate heat for 6 to 8 minutes or until the clams have opened.

Add some freshly chopped parsley and a dash of cream.

Serve on al dente Linguine - Enjoy!

22 November - The best FLATTIE in Durban.

For those who are in the know, in this case Brad Evans, the best flattie (spatchcock chicken) in Durban is at the Ski Boat Club at the Point. In young Brad's own words "Finger licking, best chicken in the whole, entire world! ".

Well he was so right! Juicy, succulent and made even better with a side bowl of the chef's own curry sauce to dip with. Add a few fries and what more could a young man want after a morning in the surf and sun?

The folks all had a few beers to wash this down with, so everyone was happy in the sun!

For those in Durbs, this is a great family venue, no airs and graces, cheap and cheerful, with the best view in Durban.

15 November. Dinner @ Beanbag Bahia

Beanbag Bahia, in Umdloti, north of Durban - The sister restaurant of the Durban stalwart Beanbag in Windermere rd. Soni and I went for dinner with our mates Liz, Greg and Elsie.

The setting is awesome, right across the road from the beach, at night though there is no view, but still the sound of the crashing waves as background.

The interior design is great, a retro feel with tropical wall paper, contemporary lighting and a mix of modern moulded ABS chairs as well as a sence of nostalgia provided by great fifties rattan chairs. This was aproject of the internationally reknowned design team at EGG designs, husband and wife team, Greg and Roche Dry.

We started with a mix of Oyster shots, raw oysters in a Bloody Mary, and the warm Caprese salad, cherry tomatoes and bochoncicni in abalsamic vinegrette on rocket leaves. All Bloody marvelous!

The mains were spicy calamari, served with couscous, Prawn pasta and slow braised rabbit on polenta. Whilst the calamari was great, the balance of the mains were at best ok (WITH ABOUT 3 PRAWNS PER SERVING!), and the rabbit tough and very difficult to eat out of the oversized bowl it was served in.

The service was intermittant, if that.

The evening was great fun tough, due to the copiuos amounts of red wine (great one Liz!) and awesome company and conversation.

I have however, only heard great reports from everyone that has gone there for lunch, it must be the view, so to be fair we'll give it another go - For lunch this time!