Daruma, Durban

There’s a Daruma in Pretoria too, and this Durban sea-side one is on the ground floor of a big hotel but has a separate street entrance. The interior is rather formulaic, but neat in blonde wood, piped Japanese music quite loud. Choose to sit at a table (many with dividers for a more private feel) or at the sushi counter or at the many tappanyaki tables (where I saw a very Zulu-looking “Japanese” man wielding the knives). The menu is a “best-of” from Japan also with a few set menus. I sampled from the sushi menu very happily, the quality was very good, the rice fresh and textured, the nori crisp. The tempura was also very good indeed, and a small sample of the teppanyaki has me thinking that this is a good option if you’re in Durban and want to eat Japanese… strangely few sushi spots here for a city by the sea.

When I got back to my car, parked on the beach road in front of the hotel, my driver’s door had been jimmied. The car guard was interestingly absent. So beware.

Holiday Inn Elangeni, Snell Parade. 031 337 0423

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