Durban has the most distinctive food culture in South Africa — 200 years of Indian cooking fused with local ingredients, the bunny chow street food tradition, and the shisa nyama township grill that defines South African social eating.
The heart of Durban's Indian food culture — 170 stalls of spices, curry powders (masalas), dried chilies and the ingredients of Durban curry.
A quarter or half bunny (white bread loaf hollowed out, filled with bean or mutton curry) at the Grey Street institution. The defining Durban food experience.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideDurban's Indian bakeries make the finest rotis and samoosas in Africa — the samoosas (triangular fried pastries with spiced potato, chicken or lamb) are a Durban institution.
A proper Durban curry dinner — the lamb or chicken in a sauce that is more complex, more acidic and hotter than anything else called "curry" in the world. With roti or bread.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideIndian sweets (mithai) — gulab jamun, halwa, burfi and jalebi from a late-night sweetshop in the Indian Quarter. Sweet end to the most Indian day in Africa.
The beachfront fish fryers (open-air vendors) along the Golden Mile sell grilled snoek (Cape pike), prawn skewers and calamari rings — the cheapest fresh seafood on any South African beach.
Mozambican-style prawns (whole, peri-peri or garlic butter, served with chips and salad) at a Durban seafood restaurant. The Mozambican prawn tradition in Durban is unique in South Africa.
The most social way to eat in Durban: select your raw meat from the butcher, choose your marinade, then eat it grilled at a communal table with Zulu music, beer and conversation.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideRoasted mielies (corn on the cob, Zulu-style with salt and pepper) from a beachfront vendor at midnight. The simplest and most satisfying ending to a Durban food day.
Artisan cheese, KwaZulu-Natal biltong, craft beer and local vegetables from the Shongweni market area.
Traditional Zulu food at a valley restaurant — amadumbe (taro root), umqombothi (sorghum beer), mogodu (tripe in peanut sauce). The most distinctly Zulu food experience near Durban.
The beautiful N3 descent back into Durban and the Indian Ocean basin at sunset.
A final Durban curry dinner with all the trimmings — roti, samoosas, the curry, the chutney, the raita. The food that defines this extraordinary city.
A cold Lion Lager on Galle Face Green at midnight. The most Durban way to say goodbye.