18th June '08 - Khana Khazana

It was wonderful to enjoy a restaurant in Maputo that is slightly off the beaten track. Khana Khazana is a typical indian style restaurant with round tables and white table linen. We had wonderful service from both the Maitre D' and the waitrons and we ate a feast of tasty, relatively authentic indian dishes. We got incredibly carried away much to the delight of the Maitre D' and ordered far too much food under his gentle skills of persuasion. We had starters of a paper roti and Bhaji's which were wonderful, unfortunately the accompaniments were an excellent green chilli pesto and 'KETCHUP' ...... oh dear ...... For our main meal we each ordered a dish with side dishes for the table and shared. This proved to be far too much food so we had loads of leftovers. We had a chicken korma, butter chicken, chicken marsala, do plaza, a prawn curry, a balti dahl with 2 types of rice and the seven breads platter. All the curries were tasty but lacked the kick you would expect from some of the dishes. Unfortunately the restaurant was quite quiet and didn't serve draft beer and they ran out of cold 2M bottles. There was no South African wine on the menu so we had the J.P. Chenet which was not bad. Our total bill was a little high due to our overambitious ordering. The seven breads dish was way too much and we could have easy done with only 4 main dishes to share between the 6 of us. Khana Khazana is situated at 580 Patrice Lumumba Avenue, near the Monte Carlo Hotel in Maputo. It is definately worth a visit.

11th June '08 - Cristal

We had a wonderful evening laden with surprises! As we arrived at Cristal Restaurant we noticed that they were inundated with crowds on their patio and pavement area. Initially we thought there was no way we would be able to get inside and started to feel disappointment rise, but as we got closer we realised that Cristal has 2 massive screens and were showing the Portugal vs. Czech Republic game of the Euro 2008 and with a 3-1 victory there were lots of victory shouts. This created the most wonderful ambience inside, it was great fun. When we walked into the restaurant it wasn't anything like we expected. It wasn't the typical cafe style restaurant, it was classy with linen table cloths and an upmarket feel. We were served delicious hot bread rolls with butter (which we were billed for, thought this was a little cheeky) and ordered our meal. Only one starter was order - rissois and chamussa, which were really good and for mains we had an interesting selection of meals. We had exotic prawn curries that were different but very tasty, it was a sweet curry. We also had a seafood rice dish which could be described as a Mozambican gumbo. It was made for 2 but was a huge pot of food and our other 2 diners had meat - 1 had a fillet steak and the other a prego steak and both enjoyed their meals. The only item missing from the menu was Mozambique's famous whole/half chicken. Service was good initially but faded away until we had to demand attention. The average price of our main courses was 260MTn. The girls enjoyed a Boschendal Lanoy which was not listed on the menu but available when we asked if they stocked any South African wines. Cristal is well known for its pastelaria which stocks a wonderful selection of breads and delicious pastries, my favourite being the Pasteis de Nata and the bakery stays open until late at night. This was a great opportunity to buy fresh bread for breakfast the next morning.

Cristal is situated on 24 Julho, no. 554 and is easily recognisable by its large bright blue awning. Cristal also has a coffee shop within its pastelaria which makes it a great place to connect for a quick coffee.

7th June '08 - Mundo's

Where better to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon in Maputo and to watch rugby on the BIG screen ..... but Mundo's. Mundo's has a wonderfully laid-back atmosphere, a nice buzz and serves great 'pub-grub'. The service was efficient and attentive. The food was above average, tasty and prices were what you would expect in Maputo. The starters were appetising, we chose nachos and garlic pizza breads. The pizza starter was very more-ish. For mains we shared pizzas that were made with a delicious, thin, crispy base, there was an order for a whole chicken and a thai chicken wrap. The whole chicken won lots of praise. The boys continued supporting CDM enjoying the 2M drafts, while the girls once again enjoyed the red wine on offer, Tall Horse. The prices were slightly above average but by no means expensive. We had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and the cherry on the cake was South Africa's win against Wales. Well Done Bokkies!!! Mundo's is situated at 657 Julius Nyerere Avenue, Maputo.