Mouth-watering makhaya chicken at Pamugoti Traditional Restaurant in Highlands.

Makhaya chicken and multi-grain sadza at Pamugoti Restaurant

A GOOD reason to terminate your lease in the Avenues, pack your bags, and move to Highlands, would be your proximity to Pamugoti Restaurant, the place ‘where Africa meets’. This traditional African Restaurant, opened recently in miombo woodlands off Ridgeway South by human resources practitioner turned restaurateur Faith Chinogurei, serves all your favourite dishes at affordable prices.

Last week I joined a group of food hounds for an early lunch at Pamugoti, literally the place of the wooden spoon. Choosing to name a restaurant after a flat-sided wooden spoon, essential in making sadza and in stirring a pot of stew, suggested that we were about to taste the real deal, with no short cuts taken.

Shaded by msasa trees, Pamugoti has a thatched roof and cement floors. Comfortable artisanal chairs and tables are made of wood, and hand made woven table mats look attractive and add to the feeling of being in the remote reaches of Murewa or Nyamaropa. Kundai, our friendly and attentive waiter took orders for drinks, and told us the menu choices for lunch.

No oxtail or grilled bream was available, but there were plenty of other alluring options. Unable to decide between beef bones or mazondo, I finally opted for the ever popular road runner, aka huku, aka chicken. Having tasted free range road runner stew served in round Shona kitchens from Mudzi to Muzarabani, and in numerous Harare restaurants, I can recommend the mouth- watering makhaya chicken, braised in its natural juices. Served with multi-grain sadza made with mhunga, rapoko and maize, with muriwo and beans on the side, this was a winner.

Road runner with mixed grain sadza at Pamugoti

Two diners at our table ordered slow-cooked pork trotters, served steaming hot in a deliciously gelatinous tomato gravy, accompanied by sadza nemuriwo. Casting an envious eye on my neighbour’s plate, I was momentarily tempted to offer a chicken thigh in exchange for a trotter. Also on the menu are guinea fowl, goat offal, rabbit, quail served with fondant potatoes and braised local goat, served with samp and beans. Vegetarians can enjoy sadza, zviyo, mhunga or mapfunde, with organic muriwo and braised beans.

Although Pamugoti has only recently opened, patrons continued to arrive for lunch, proving that good news travels fast. $10 is the average price for a meal, with oxtail priced at $15 and quail at $18. Soft drinks are available, and while there is no liquor licence at Pamugoti, diners are welcome to ‘bring their own’.

Head chef Hama, who worked previously at Cee Cees at Celebration Centre and at Crowne Plaza Monomotapa Hotel, now the Legacy Monomotapa, is assisted by two experienced sous-chefs, whose speciality would appear to be traditional Zimbabwean cuisine. These talented chefs are planning a Christmas braai at Pamugoti, so keep in touch to obtain all the details.

Should you want a coffee or slice of cake after your meal, walk over to Mustard Seed Restaurant next door , also owned by Faith.The multi-talented Faith Chinogurei, who is also a human resources trainer and consultant, looks assured of success at Pamugoti, her new traditional restaurant.  – A Matter of Taste with Charlotte Malakoff

Pamugoti Restaurant
27 Ridgeway South
Highlands
Harare
Tel: 0242 498139
Open every day, 11 am – 9 pm