Joita’s Portuguese Restaurant
Where: Shop 52 Lighthouse Road, uMhlanga
Open: Tuesday to Saturday noon to 9pm, Sunday noon to 3pm
Call: 031 561 3577
We’re sitting on the terrace at Joita’s in uMhlanga. The buzz is palpable, big convivial tables all having fun and all tucking into platters of prawns and peri-peri chicken. It’s a really sociable space with efficient waiters on the hop keeping everyone well fed and well watered.
I’m with the bridge set for a casual dinner. We like to meet periodically now that we no longer see each other at the physical bridge table. One couple were leaving for a much-delayed ‒ thank you, Omicron ‒ trip to India to see family, so we were also saying bon voyage.
I’d warned the gang the menu was simple. Basically peri-peri chicken or prawns. If you can’t handle the hot stuff, there is a lemon and garlic option. Joita’s has always been known for its proper peri-peri, the chicken cooked in much the way it would be in Mozambique. It’s been marinated in the sauce in advance and cooked over the coals. It’s not swimming in some horrible hot sauce that’s been added later. It may be simple stuff but the results are worth it.
Actually there’s more to it than that. I ordered some starters for the table. There’s traditional peri-peri chicken livers which look inviting, plus caldo verde, literally green broth but a spinach, potato and chorizo soup. There’s pickled octopus and sardines and mussels in a light chilli, garlic and tomato sauce.
Prawn rissoles are another Portuguese classic. They come in threes (R60) but you can always add one (R22), so I order seven for the table, forgetting one of our party was highly allergic to prawns. Fortunately we stopped her eating it and didn’t have to make an unscheduled dash to the emergency room. The rissoles were good and crisp and at least tasted as if there were some prawns in them.
We also enjoyed the trinchados, with the meat especially succulent and the olive oil and chilli based sauce tasty without being explosive. I think here the steak had been cooked and then sliced, maintaining its moisture and flavours. We also enjoyed the round of chorizo (R80) that came flaming in alcohol. And the hot crispy bread rolls. We mustn't forget those.
Traditional Portuguese dishes like bacalhau (dried codfish) and feijoada (a pork, chorizo and bean stew) feature, but two of our party went for the baby chicken (R150) one with peri-peri and one being timid and opting for lemon and garlic. Both were good. Another had a classic Portuguese steak topped with a fried egg (R150), which was cooked perfectly to order, and he really liked the fact that it was served with a side of gravy. Another had a quarter chicken and salad.
Then there are any numbers of combos. Chicken with livers, or giblets, or prawns or calamari or chorizo. I knew I was ordering too much food but opted for the half peri-peri chicken with calamari (R180), which was excellent. Succulent but not fiery chicken, tender calamari and great chips. And the chicken breast made for an excellent and tasty chicken mayo sandwich the next day.
Perhaps Portugal is not best known for its desserts, but it is known for its pasteis de nata (R15), little custard pies usually eaten for breakfast with coffee. I’d had them previously and know they’re good. But for one of the bridge players they came up trumps. Another tried what was called biscuit cake (R40), a cake formed from layers of biscuits soaked in coffee and interwoven with cream. A variant on the French Napoleon cake or the Italian tiramisu. This was pleasant, without being memorable.
I really enjoyed the flam (R45), basically a cooked, set custard topped with caramel sauce, a crème caramel if you will. It’s such a wonderfully retro dessert, light, easy to make and serve, reassuring. The caramel had a proper bite of burnt sugar to it, not just some sweet sticky sauce. I’m surprised more establishments don’t offer it instead of the fancier brûlées. On the dessert menu is a glass of Port, which Joita’s maintains goes with any dessert.
I also enjoyed the coffee, served in a very Portuguese style as a very dark roast. Our waitress persuaded me to finish in true Portuguese style by joining it with a brandy. Now there’s a bright idea. The Dom Pedro (R46) also got the thumbs up.
Food: 4
Service: 3 ½
Ambience: 3 ½
The Bill: R1 972 (for seven)
The Independent on Saturday