Experience the Elegance of Short Ribs at Dukkah Restaurant

Dukkah Restaurant & Bar

Where: 59 Florida Road, Morningside

Open: Daily 9am to 2pm, kitchen closes 11.30pm

Call: 031 271 3531

Dukkah has to be one of the smarter restaurants south of the Mngeni. It is an ode to simple understated elegance, and beautifully designed. The lighting is warm, the chairs comfortable, the art murals dramatic, the lighting ambient without being dim, the vibe relaxed without being noisy, even when the large party upstairs launched into an impromptu happy birthday, it didn't intrude. 

The marble topped bar is even more impressive with a display of premium and super premium labels proudly displayed behind. There’s a double-volume display of wines to the one side. I wonder how they get to them until the restaurant manager assures me there’s an opening from upstairs.

We soon find a spot to watch the goings on. Then an elegant amber gin arrives complete with fruit and herbs, a more prosaic beer for the Glass Guy.

There is also a small brunch menu, available until 1pm. This includes a couple of benedicts and a full English breakfast along with a naan breakfast sandwich, chourico and tomato shakshuka and omelettes. On the sweet side there’s French toast with berry compote, fried banana and cinnamon, and pancakes with choc chips and banana. There are also a couple of burgers.

A small sushi menu covers the most basic options including salmon roses, crunchy rainbow rolls, prawn avalanche and fashion sandwiches. There are also some bigger table platter options to share. I still don’t get this need for what is essentially an upmarket grill room to offer sushi. Maybe it’s there to soak up the booze.

Starters include the likes of marrow bones, or Thai fishcakes with a noodle and coriander slaw. There’s a “healthy chicken soup”, saute chicken livers and what are called “suicide wings”. We ask our waiter if they really are suicidal and he says yes. Lime and chilli calamari, west coast mussels and a mezze platter could complete the picture. There are also some salad options.

I enjoyed the Korean pork belly bites (R132) which were rolled in a nice stick and spicy Asian sauce and tossed with some crunchy veg pieces. The Glass Guy went light with 2 fresh oysters (R33 each) which were served with a Vietnamese dressing he enjoyed. 

For mains there are some pasta options like seafood linguine and risotto frutti di mare which tempted me. Salmon is teriyaki glazed with sesame seeds on Asian noodles, while prawns get a garlic and paprika butter treatment. There’s a debaoned half chilli chicken and duck confit. The lamb rack of loin chops certainly looked good at the next door table. Oxtail and fillet bordelaise feature. On the grill there’s a full selection of steaks, lamb chops and sticky pork ribs.

The Glass Guy went for Mbavu (R336), braised short rib with chakalak and coconut rice. The short rib was meltingly tender, in a wonderfully deep beefy sauce. He gave it top marks. I enjoyed my seafood curry (R336) even if it was milder than anticipated. It was a generous portion of fish, prawns, mussels and calamari cooked in a creamy coconut milk curry with North African spicing. It came with crisp papadum, coconut rice and sambals. For lunch this could easily be shared.

The short dessert menu included a rooibos and vanilla panna cotta with berries etc which we both fancied. Sadly our waiter informed us the kitchen was out that evening. Instead I tried the cardamom creme brulee (R105) , a lovely sliver of set custard that really tasted of cardamom and had the thinnest and finest of sugar crack on top. I also enjoyed the pistachio ice-cream. The Glass Guy enjoyed his passionfruit cheesecake, although it was more a fridge tart than a baked cheese cake.

The coffee was good too. We debated a night cap before dividing to be good boys. We didn’t want a midweek humdinger.

Food: 3 ½

Service: 3 ½

Ambience: 4

The Bill: R1600 for two including tip. A 10% service charge was added to the bill - we just rounded it up.