When the cuisine just does not live up

Too pressured even for a short lunch this week, I decided to make up for it with a leisurely dinner.
We chose beautiful Amanzi (158 Enterprise Road) on the cold crisp night of the lunar eclipse. So it was fine to be seated outside on the veranda among gas heaters and burning braziers and the option of light blankets to keep warm. The setting is lovely in a lush garden full of ferns, palms and tropical flowers – with soft focused lighting and the welcoming sound of water.
Service was excellent – attentive and friendly but discreet – and the table lovely with white linen, bright flowers and a clever lantern which looked like a candle but wasn’t made of wax, so no mess.
If only the food had matched the setting and the service. It was a busy night with a large formal party inside and the veranda fully occupied. The menu looks interesting and we had a hard time choosing.  Looking back the starters still appear exciting – spinach feta and coriander samoosas in a plum sauce, sardines with tabbouleh, (both US$8) salmon and couscous fishcakes (US$12).
With such a wide variety of delicious sounding dishes we chose the ‘extravaganza starter platter’ (US$18 for two). Advertised as the chef’s choice this seemed a good way to sample the variety.
We got pork ribs, tilapia in batter, a couple of prawns, mini chicken kebabs, prawn toasts, all nice enough but tasting similar and lacking in punch. The peanut satay sauce lacked bite and the sweet chillie sauce was a good brand rather than home-made.
On a cold night I was tempted by the soups – especially the chicken pepper described as a fiery chillie soup from the beer bars of Lagos. Maybe it would have been a better choice.
But onto the mains –  where the menu is extensive including duck breast, thai green chicken curry, caramelised prawns, pork, steak – but hard to pinpoint a food identity.
My husband chose the lamb curry special – giving the chef another chance to show his skills – and I went for the lamb shish kebab served with a minted yoghurt sauce.
To be honest – if I am spending US$25 on a main course I want it to be something I can’t cook at home, and we were frankly disappointed by the ordinariness of the dishes. My shish kebab – cubes of lamb skewered with green pepper and onion with not much else in the way of spicing – lacked flavour. The yoghurt didn’t taste of mint. 
The curry was okay but you can get a better version down the road at the Sitar for half the price. Even the chocolate nut torte ‘a la Jamie Oliver’ (US$7), looked delectable but didn’t quite deliver on taste or texture.
Not sure what has gone wrong here. A friend who has been a big fan of Amanzi for years and who hosted her pre-wedding dinner there back in the bad old days of hyperinflation recalled that the food was much better when times were harder. She confessed that on a recent visit the duck was boring.
I hope it was an off night and not a case of complacency setting in. A restaurant like Amanzi helps boost our spirits but we need a cuisine that lives up to the ambience.
– g.jeke@yahoo.com