An overcast Tuesday evening, and with no electricity at home, we decided to go out for dinner.
We had not eaten at the restaurant in the Bulawayo Rainbow on 10th Avenue for many years and were interested to try it. We were greeted warmly by the waiter who introduced himself and led us to our table. The restaurant is quite a large area and mostly seems to cater for guests staying at the hotel.
Once seated we were handed menus and requested the wine menu. To slake his thirst my companion ordered a Castle, served in a frosted glass, while we looked at the wines on offer. The wine list of local and imported choices was very limited, particularly as the Simonsvlei wines were unavailable, leaving only Nederburg.
We were taken aback to see that the South African wines on offer were priced at US$28 a bottle and the local Mukuyu wines were US$20. We chose a Nederburg 2011 Merlot.
The à la carte menu offered the familiar choices and was a little unimaginative. The main courses were steaks (sirloin was not available that night), a choice of bream or hake, chicken or pork chops or ribs.
The vegetarian diner had a choice of three standard dishes — vegetable curry, omelettes or a pasta dish. There are few restaurants in Bulawayo that have fresh ideas on how to cook for vegetarians.
The Loziba lists menu choices without a price; the prices are found at the back of the menu – an unnecessary system, prices against the meals when first listed would be easier to consult. There was a section on the menu for “junior guests”, limited to the buffet, steak, chicken or fish and chips.
The only choice as a starter was homemade mushroom soup, which was creamy and quite tasty. For the main course there was no fish or vegetarian dish on offer and the choice was between beef, chicken and pork. I opted for the roast chicken. My companion was encouraged by the look and the aroma of the sizzling roast beef, served with yorkshire pudding.
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There was a good selection of vegetables; carrots, green beans, courgettes and roast potatoes. There was nothing special about my chicken, it was just OK. The beef and yorkshire pudding were a let-down with the beef being tough and the Yorkshire pudding flat our overall impression was that the menu was a little tired and the décor was unimaginative – it did have an African feel with local art, but somehow it didn’t quite hang together.
Family Restaurant 3 Plates Expect to spend US$30 to US$50 per head Bulawayo Rainbow Hotel
