BILLY SUTER took up an invitation to sample the menu at Umhlanga’s newest restaurant focusing on Indian cuisine – The Host. Already doing brisk business in the heart of this thriving coastal suburb, the restaurant is across the road from the Radisson Hotel, in attractive premises in Lighthouse Road.
THERE has been a fair bit of buzz on social media about the new restaurant that opened at the beginning of July at 12 Lighthouse Road in Umhlanga. And great news is that SoSuterBill is giving away a R1 000 meal voucher to spend at this new find! See the end of this post for competition entry details.
The Host is under the watchful eye of friendly owner and host Vivek Moodley – and if that name rings a bell, you probably recall Durban-born Vivek from his popular Malis Indian restaurant which first opened in 2013 in Morningside. It was named after Vivek’s father, now retired, who owned several local restaurants.
Vivek sold Malis Indian Restaurant (now permanently closed) six years ago, when he decided to emigrate to Canada. Now, however, he is back in South Africa to focus again on delighting hungry customers at The Host, the sign above which promises Authentic Indian Cuisine.
Vivek is proud of the fact that the restaurant continues to tread a similar path to Malis, offering choice North and South Indian foods. He adds, however, that “The Host is new and improved with better items”.
Vivek chose to call his new baby The Host, he says, because he wanted a place where people would feel as if they were being invited into his home: “I give personal attention and it’s about a host making people feel at home. Everyone is not just a number here. Once you enter The Host you are family”.
Everyone gets a warm welcome on arrival at the restaurant, where a well-lit, prominent bar is a showpiece in a setting of dark-wood-and-white-tile flooring and dark-wood tables and chairs.
Decor is in shades of chocolate, brown, wheat and beige. The same colours extend to striking, jungle-themed wall murals; and there are fun bursts of blue in the peacock-tail-inspired print covering the front of the bar. The onion-shaped-dome-door at The Host’s entrance is carried through in small wall alcoves housing flickering candles. Very nice.
Vivek, ushering my partner, Gordon, and I to our table, explained that he has employed three seasoned South Indian and North Indian chefs with 15 to 20 years of experience to prepare the dishes – all prepared fresh, as you order, he emphasised. Menu items have been carefully chosen by Vivek and his team, and each item has an authentic taste, he added.
The menu covers an impressive range of vegetarian and non-vegetarian choices, embracing both meat and seafood options, as well as Indo-Chinese selections. Not your run-of-the-mill curry and rice eatery, this.
Starters, ranging in price from R110 to R220, include Panner Tikka, comprising five pieces of home-made Indian cheese marinated with various spices, grilled in a tandoori oven with bell pepper and onion pieces, and served with a mint chutney on the side.
A variety of dishes with boneless chicken pieces also appear on the starter menu, and also here is Malaysian Chips (potato chips deep-fried and sauteed in a Malaysian sauce with peanuts). There’s also Gobi 65, which is cauliflower marinated with South Indian spices, deep fried and served with onion pieces and mint sauce.
Gordon opted for a mild-to-medium-heat version of Vivek’s personal favourite starter, Prawn Chilli, which was a big serving, ideal for sharing. It is the priciest starter dish at R220, but Gordon got eight very plump and yummy prawns battered, deep dried and sauteed in an Indo-Chinese sauce. I stole two of the prawns for myself and can agree with both Gordon and Vikek in labelling it as a winner.
I also made a spot-on choice opting for a starter I’ll have again: Mushroom Manchurian, a sizeable portion of battered, crumbed mushrooms sauted in a delicious, sweet-salty-spicy Manchurian sauce. Also perfect for sharing.
I almost chose the Paper Masala Dosai, which I love. It’s a paper-thin, crispy, rice paper filled with yellow potato and various chutneys on the side; and a good few of them were going to tables around us the night we were at The Host.
I was persuaded to give Vivek’s favourite mains dish a go – Lamb Pepper Fry. A little hot for my palate (I should have asked for a milder variation), but delicious. It features beautifully tender cubes of boneless lamb in South Indian-style spices, with chopped onion and freshly ground pepper spice.
This dish is dry fried, with minimal or no added liquid, resulting in a meal that is not saucy or gravy-based. The meat is typically cooked until any moisture evaporates, leaving behind a flavourful, slightly crisp exterior. I had it with Jeera Rice, which costs extra. Lovely rice – cooked with jeera (cumin), coriander, cashew nuts and spices.
Gordon and I shared the rice – and we also shared a garlic naan bread. His mains selection was Lamb Chettinad, a tomato-based lamb curry, reddish in colour and spicy in taste, which I think I enjoyed a little more than the Lamb Pepper Fry.
I am keen, on my next visit, to try one of six Dum Biryani options available – either prawn, lamb, chicken fish, paneer or veg. Each is cooked with freshly ground spices and basmati rice in a clay oven.
Mains dishes range in price from R125 to R230. Menu items that caught my eye include a butter chicken that gets high praise from Vivek and which he says is a big crowd-pleaser already. I also liked the sound of Lamb Rhogan Gosh, Madras Chicken Masala, Chicken Tikka Masala Curry and SQ items such as Kerala Fish Curry, Crab Chettinad, Fish Tikka and Fish Chettinad.
Puds are limited to five choices, ranging in price from R50 to R85. Among them are vanilla ice-cream, chocolate ice-cream, Kulfi, Mango Lassi and Gulab Jamun with ice-cream (deep-fried dough balls soaked in a sweet, aromatic syrup). We went for the Kulfi and it was great. This traditional Indian frozen dairy dessert was much creamier than expected. It’s made by simmering milk, sugar and flavourings such as saffron, cardamom and pistachio.
The Host is open seven days a week, from noon to 10pm, and seems set for great success. Vivek, who is assisted on the floor by his brother Keertan and his cousin Trevor Maistry, says business is booming beyond expectations.
I wish the team well – the food is remarkable. However, I would suggest that more waitering staff be considered should patronage grow (waiting too long for plates to be removed from a table is a longtime pet hate of mine).
The contact number for The Host is 076 780 8339.
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WIN A R1 000 UMHLANGA RESTAURANT VOUCHER!
Care to put yourself in line to win a voucher allowing free dining, to the value of R1 000, at Umhlanga’s new The Host restaurant, specialising in authentic Indian cuisine?
You simply have to be a follower of the SoSuterBill site to win. At no cost.
If you are not already a follower, click on the word ‘…..SoSuterBill…..’ that appears under Billy Suter’s face on the red curtain at the top of this post. Next, scroll down a little and leave your email address in the blank space alongside the ‘Subscribe Free’ banner. You will then be a follower, and receive email notification whenever a new story is filed on the site.
Once you have subscribed (there is no cost), send your NAME and PHONE NUMBER via email (NOT THIS SITE’S CONTACT FORM) to sosuterbill@gmail.com and place the words ‘THE HOST GIVEAWAY’ in the subject field.
Note that the competition closes at 6pm on Wednesday, July 30, and the winner will be contacted soon after. His/her name will be posted in this spot thereafter. THE LUCKY WINNER IS T ALLISON.
NOTE: PLEASE READ ENTRY DETAILS CAREFULLY AS SOME PEOPLE ARE ENTERING COMPETITIONS INCORRECTLY.
ALSO NOTE THAT ONLY ONE ENTRY PER SUBSCRIBER WILL BE CONSIDERED.
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.....SoSuterBill..... 