Sample the best of Harare

 Eatout’s stated goal is to position Harare as one of the top dining destinations in the nation by increasing awareness of the many dining opportunities found here, as well as stimulating business and revenue for restaurants throughout the city.
Back in winter it seemed like many of the participating restaurants were struggling. Both the Indian Food Joint and Pagokoro closed down soon after and Pagokoro’s normal menu was cheaper than the restaurant week special.
This time round it’s the more established outlets participating, and certainly with the more expensive restaurants the Restaurant Week deal of between US$20 and US$25 for a two or three course meal is very good value – being the price of a main course in restaurants like Alo Alo and Emmanuels. The website works better too with menus from all participating restaurants visible. As usual I find Eatout’s booking service very efficient and much easier than trying to find restaurant numbers in outdated phone books.
Fishmonger menu looked very good value with menus ranging from US$15 to US$25 all of them including dessert but we decided to go to Emmanuels as it is a place not yet visited. Arriving on a suddenly cool, drizzly night  we found a bright welcome and a cosy interior with  shelves full of old books and naval instruments! I am sure there would be something to browse for a Bronte guest on a rainy day. It is nice to enjoy tables dressed to excess with white linen and lots of glass. We chose the US$25 menu which included dessert.
The menu impressed – specially printed for the occasion and describing dishes in very flowery and poetic language. My husband chose impala carpaccio to start – whisky marinated impala fillet with ginger and herbs – seared then chilled – served on bitter leaves with parmesan shavings and herb oil. Wow! Tasted as good as it sounded. My starter was even more complicated – salmon ravioli resting on poached prawns served on lemon grass nage with garlic and chillie fried calamari. I had to look up nage, which turns out to be a broth, flavoured with white wine, vegetables and herbs in which seafood is poached. The dish was absolutely delicious and looked gorgeous too.
Roasted tomato soup enriched with vodka gastric sounded more disturbing and also had me reaching for my culinary dictionary where I discovered that a gastric is not a stomach upset but a mixture of sugar and white vinegar cooked until the caramel turns a golden brown – I assume in this case with a shot of vodka.
Mains included seared salmon trout topped with olive tapenade – my husband’s sublime choice – braised lamb and chicken in wine. I went for the complicated sounding vegetarian dish – sundried tomato risotto ‘pithivier’ – a vegetarian pasty (Yes I used the culinary dictionary again!) puff pastry wrapped around arborio rice combined with shallots, garlic, sundried tomatoes, cream, white wine and parmesan cheese served with wilted spinach and tomato ragout.
It did taste good but felt over complicated and concocted out of necessity to have a vegetarian dish on the menu.
I would have liked the caramel crunchier on the amarula crème brulee but it had a luscious smooth flavour and the New York cheesecake was very good. All dishes looked gorgeous and the Nederburg Baronne  (US$21 for the bottle) was a lovely accompaniment to the meal.
All in all an elegant evening out and a good recommendation to make restaurant week a regular Harare event.
– g.jeke@yahoo.com