16th July '08 - '1908' Restaurant

In celebration of 2 birthdays in our group, we decided to have a special dinner and to try out '1908'. Unfortunately we ended up having a VERY disappointing evening, this was partly our fault. We arrived without having booked and found that the entire venue was booked for a private function but the hostess made us feel as welcome as she could and placed us at a table outside in the courtyard. The weather wasn't too cold and the table was beautifully set but a very attentive waiter, the sad thing was that we never experienced '1908' at all. We had a nice meal, the Xacuti Curry was tasty and reasonably priced, the pizza was good and also reasonably priced and then came the horror or all horrors ...... the men ordered a whole chicken and one of our lady's ordered a half chicken. The chicken was tasty but the price charged on our bill was enough to make you feel like you'd choked on a chicken bone! '1908' tried to charge us 420Mtn for a whole chicken. Admittedly there had been a little confusion - we were presented with 2 menus when we sat down - the outside menu and the a la carte menu. The outside menu priced a half chicken at 85Mtn, which is very reasonable and the a la carte chicken just said 'grilled chicken' 210Mtn. So comparing the 2 menus we understood that 'grilled chicken' was a full chicken at that price .... we have never paid more than that for a full chicken anywhere in Maputo so far. On presentation of the bill the waiter tried to tell us that the 'grilled chicken' was a half chicken and that the boys had all ordered double portions and so were charged double and we were charged the 'grilled chicken' price of 210Mtn for the half chicken ordered! It took quite a fight to eventually come to an agreement on price so it was a sad end to the evening. I do think we would try and go there again but it would be with caution. The menu was reasonably priced so we don't understand the logic on the Mozambican staple, 'Frango'. '1908' is situated on the corner of Eduardo Mondlane & Salvador Allende and our recommendations would be: 1. Book before you go (Tel: 21 424 834) and 2. Don't have chicken until you confirm the price! The one consolation is that everytime I've tried to book a table at '1908' the restaurant has been full and they do cater for a lot of functions.

Gelati, Ice Cream Parlour

This Ice Cream Parlour can be found on Julius Nyerere next to the Xenon Cinema and they serve the yummiest, creamiest ice cream in some absolutely delicious flavours. We often find ourselves there after dinner for a little dessert. The boys have discovered the Whisky Cream flavour and they love it and us girls seem to stick to the various chocolate flavours, as girls tend to do. 'Mecroche' tastes like Ferro Roche chocolates and it gets the taste buds going just thinking about it. There are fruity flavours, lots of different chocolate flavours and several unusual but delicious looking flavours. You can have a taster, they'll allow you 3 tastes with those little tasting spoons. Gelati is an absolute must if you like ice cream, it's a truly YUM experience.

2nd July 2008 - Vintage India

After an interesting Indian evening at Khana Khazana, we decided to try Vintage India to see how their food and ambience compared.

We had a slightly over-ambitious waiter who enjoyed pointing at each of us in demand of what we would be ordering which was a little overbearing but until our food orders were taken he was most efficient. Thereafter however, he seemed to disappear into the kitchen not to be seen again until our meal was served. The drought did not go down well.

The food was excellent though, the selection of dishes on the menu were clearly described with heat indicators and various choices of meat with which to have your sauce. We chose Prawn Vindaloo (not outrageously hot); Chicken Xacuti; Tawa Chicken; Chicken Hyderabadi; Chicken Rogan Josh and Chicken Kolhapuri and all the dishes were delicious. The Jeera Rice was also very tasty but all dishes are served with steamed rice so once again there was too much food on our table.

Pricing was pretty average at 500Mtn per person including our drinks and starters. The 2M was top of the pops as usual and the Nederburg Duet was very smooth. A small tip with regard to the possibility of a drought is to order 2-3 beers each and ask for a wine bucket to keep them cool.

Vintage India was very busy and there was a nice ambience and it is definately worth a visit before you venture to Khana Khazana. Vintage India is situated on Julius Nyerere No. 450. There are also branches in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg.