There's not much of a culture of hotel dining in South Africa. Although top-end restaurants like the Mount Nelson's Planet, One&Only's Nobu and Five Hundred at The Saxon are starting to change things, by and large the man or woman in the street wouldn't dream of popping out to a hotel for dinner.
And more's the pity in Cape Town, where Mezbaan at the Hilton Cape Town City Centre dishes up some of the best Indian food I've tasted in the Mother City. Situated on the cusp of the CBD and the colourful Bo-Kaap, the hotel is finally settling down after a few tricky years as a fully halaal hotel, followed by some confusion over liquor licences as a Hilton property and an ensuing uproar from the neighbouring community.
So let's get that out of the way first. Mezbaan is a dry restaurant. Not a drop of chenin blanc in sight. But don't let that put you off; the food is worth the sacrifice, and you can always have a nightcap at the Signal Hill Terrace.
Mezbaan offers a suitably exotic ambience of heavy wooden furniture, colourful table runners and mosaic-clad pillars. Stained-glass windows and screed walls break up a fairly large room into more manageable spaces, adding a welcome dollop of intimacy.
But the attraction isn't in the décor or the service - which is attentive and friendly, with an undercurrent of hotel formality - it's in the menu. Head chef Muhammed Khan has been with Mezbaan since soon after it opened, and clearly knows his way around a north-Indian kitchen. Spices are bought from Atlas Trading next door and roasted on site, the blazing tandoor dishes out fantastic meat and breads, and the curries have just the right balance between spice and depth of flavour.
Starters include Indian-style conical samoosas, spicy and smoky tandoor chicken wings and an dhal soup of spicy yellow lentils. Ever-dependable butter chicken remains the best-selling main course, but then you'd be wasting an opportunity to stretch that comfort zone in the hands of a great chef. Rather try the spicy mango chicken with ginger, onion and chilli, or the classic Indian biryani.
Picking just one main course is no easy task, which is why the traditional thalis are perhaps the best option for hungry diners. Essentially a buffet plate for one, thalis - both vegetarian and meaty options are available - offer a tasting portion of half-a-dozen dishes.
The meat and fish thali includes tender lamb seekh kebabs, fragrant fish curry and lamb kadai. Vegetarians tuck into potato curry, dhal and delicious paneer tikka, with the paneer cheese made on-site.
To douse the fiery flavours there's a small selection of mocktails, including a delicious lemon mint that's a sugary cousin of the mojito, alongside good, thick, yoghurty lassis.
About the only exception on the authentically north-Indian menu comes at dessert, where a crème brûlée - admittedly, cardamom-flavoured - is a local staple too popular to leave off. Stick with the Indian options: gulub jamun milk dumplings, or kulfi ice cream.
There's a happy mix of curious locals and cautious hotel guests tucking into Mezbaan's cuisine. Visit on Thursday's good-value "Curry Cup" buffet night and you'll struggle to get a table. If it's simply good north-Indian food you're after, put aside any aversion to hotel dining and give Mezbaan a whirl.
- Hilton Hotel, 126 Buitengracht Str, (021)481-3700, www.hilton.com
