EatOut
Wednesday August 8, 2018
By Dennis Molewa
There’s a new kid on the block. Safari #7,
a Somali take-away restaurant, has opened on Long Street in Cape Town,
selling traditional eats in an accessible location. Even cooler? If you
can’t afford anything on the menu, you can let them know what you can
afford and a plate will be created for you accordingly.
Jack-of-all-trades Abdi Hussein is behind the new spot. He was inspired
when, after having lived in New York since 1995, he returned home in
2016: “I was beyond intrigued by our rich food culture and its southern
Arabian, Italian and East African origins. Somali cuisine resembles
their attitude exemplarily well: resourceful, mystic, unique.” Items on
the menu include shawarma, suqaar (sliced beef marinated and sautéed
Somali-style on a bed of savoury rice), kaluun iyo baris (fish and
rice), homemade chapatis (flatbread) and pancakes served with different
meats and vegetables spiced with fenugreek, gloves and sumac. Must-tries
are the homemade sorbets, cardamom- and cinnamon-spiced Somali coffee
(qahwe), and irresistible Somali chai tea (Shaah) served with freshly
baked baklava.Situated in the African Mall on 98 Long Street, the new restaurant is
just upstairs from his other business, an African fragrance, cosmetic
and herbal tea shop named Frank & Myrrh. The two are linked by the
membership cards Abdi has also introduced: get one for R100 (or for free
on your eleventh visit!) and you’ll pay half price for all dishes on
the menu, plus receive a 25% discount on tea and perfume at Frank &
Myrrh.
Other past ventures of Abdi’s include modelling, acting, voice
artistry, teaching, studying bio-chemistry and touring America with
artists like Chali 2na, Erykah Badu, Wu-Tang Clan, Mos Def and Talib
Kweli. For now, though, Abdi is determined to lead authentic Somali
cuisine out of the shadows and into the well-deserved limelight.
Safari #7
can be found in the African Mall on 98 Long Street and is open for
breakfast, lunch and dinner 8am to 11pm from Mondays to Saturdays and
8am to 9pm on Sundays.