Moyo Birthday Dinner

This Friday night my friends and I went out for my very belated birthday dinner to a restaurant called Moyo.  I was told it would be a traditional African experience.  It was definitely a lot of fun and very interesting.  It is always hard to tell though how traditional it really is, but as far as I know (since I don't know much), it was an African experience. 

We had a bit of an issue finding the place.  For the first time since I got it, my GPS steered me wrong!  As my friends driving with me will attest to, I was quite upset at the thing.  Anyway, we found it eventually with the help of maps on phones. 

They bring you some flat bread to start with.  It was round with a hole in the middle (like a really big, flat doughnut) and had a lot of dried herbs, some crushed peanuts, and fresh coriander (cilantro I guess... the waitress called it fresh coriander) on it, with oil on the side for dipping.  Very tasty.  Many of us ordered the Tequila African Sunrise to drink.  Almost the same as the American Sunrise, but used black currant syrup instead of grenadine.  Delicious. For dinner I ordered the springbok shank with an amazing gravy, apricot and almond relish type thing, and cous cous.  I think I've had springbok three times now and every time it has been delicious.  I will definitely miss that meat when I leave.  As you can see, my plate does not contain vegetables.  South Africans are mostly into their meat, not so much concerned about vegetables, at least not for dinner at restaurants.  One of my friends, Welma, said that in the Free State (one of the provinces) they eat red meat for their meat and chicken for their vegetables.

My springbok shank and cous cous

Part of the traditional experience included getting our face painted while waiting for our food and listening to some men walking around in traditional dress playing what I can only describe as steel drums hanging around their necks.  They also came to sing and play the drums for my birthday.  They sang a song traditionally sung at any celebration or even sporting event.  The song is called Shoshaloza (you can youtube it).

Getting my face painted

Welma and Roz after getting their faces painted

Eliza, myself, and Catherine after getting our faces painted