At Ocean Basket

We can be slow starters when it comes to things new in the city. It’s taken almost a year to get to the new movie houses in Sam Levy’s Village. But on Saturday night we made our inaugural visit to the state-of-the-art Ster Kinekor cinemas in Harare’s most upmarket mall. Very Jo’burg – and familiar South African franchises Ocean Basket, St Elmo’s and News Café help to make any mall rat feel right at home.
Cinema Prestige is a hefty US$12 entry (others are $8) – but seats are plush red leather armchairs, set up in cosy couch duos and push back smoothly into reclining position.  Neat pullover tables for your coke and popcorn contribute to the feeling of being on a business class flight.  Bring on the champagne! But it was a great experience. Seats very comfortable — though sound a bit loud, especially for the ads beforehand, and air con quite cold — will remember to bring a shawl next time.

We went to see The Theory of Everything with Oscar winning performance by Eddie Redmayne as physicist Stephen Hawking. The cinemas aim to bring in the latest big films and they are usually on for only a week — changing each Friday. Not always easy to find out what’s on. Facebook page — https://www.facebook.com/sterkinekorsamlevysvillage — probably the best — though last week it was only updated on Sunday, a couple of days after the movies had shifted.
Borrowdale is certainly busy on a Saturday evening — with lots of teens and kids hanging around the car park and some keep fit fanatics still working out at the huge Pro Fitness Gym overlooking the open courtyard from three sides in front of the cinemas.  After the movie we found an enterprising group of buskers under the walkway playing good popular jazz.   Found out later they are called ‘The Missing Part’ — and are ready to perform for any occasion. All very lively. We opted for takeaways from Ocean Basket instead of sitting down. In line with the franchise, décor is bright with lots of lights, white tiles and mirrors, and it’s quite noisy.

Menu is extensive and obviously features seafood. I had the prawn special – 12 butterflied prawns for US$13 — with a side of choice. Mine was salad — a chunky affair of tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and feta. My husband chose a platter with prawns, mussels, calamari and catch of the day. Accompanied by chips and yellow rice it was pretty substantial for US$18 – almost double the SA price of ZAR110. We know we can’t compare —and by local standards Ocean Basket is quite reasonable. Website not yet updated with Zimbabwe prices.
Sushi menu is extensive, but as much as I love sushi — still seems like a better idea to eat it close to the sea. Takeaways were presented wrapped in foil – which kept in the heat, but made the chips soggy.  Facebook page has a number of complaints about service. We found the waitress not very well informed but the supervisor very switched–on, keeping his eye on the takeaways, the tables, the incoming customers and stepping in where the waitress seemed uncertain. Food came in under 10 minutes – and for us capped off our night out although we preferred to eat quietly at home with a glass of wine!
Ocean Basket was packed, and St Elmo’s was busy too. Outlets closer to the main road like O Hagan’s bar and Miller’s Café looked very quiet. Guess it’s all about what’s new – with more and more outlets chasing the same amount of disposable income. And Borrowdale seems like the only place with some of that!
g.jeke@yahoo.com