Chow and Booze

There just has to be an article on the food and, especially for Avinash, the local brews. No Avinash, no weird potions that'll turn me into some creepy animal (Hey, I know a few guys like that!) or even worse, into half IT-er half snake, a Boa Contractor!

The local brews I've seen so far are actually all beers. Maybe you'll find some home-made moonshine out in the rural areas, but here in the city it is Laurentina, 2M and Manica beer. All locally brewed and I must say, very very good. The first two are the most popular. Laurentina, or as I call her "Loira" meaning Blonde, is slightly softer, more buttery. 2M or as I affectionately call them "Dois Malucos" (Two Crazies), is a dryer, more 'gassy' beer. The blonde also has a raven haired sister which looks and tastes like a Guinness.

The locals love their beers and rightfully so. You will hardly see a Heineken, Bud, Fosters or whatever non-Mozambican beer here in the bars. I've actually only seen these in the hotel bar where new guests are not yet brave enough to try something they do not know.

As for the food? Yes! Especially if you are into sea food (and I am!) you will find this place paradise! I already wrote before about the shrimp being the Rolls Royce and it has lived up to its reputation. Hubba Bubba Bubba! I've had fried shrimp, cooked shrimp, curry shrimp, baked shrimp, raw shrimp, pepper shrimp, grilled shrimp, cajun shrimp, boiled shrimp, shrimp on a stick, butter shrimp... (no, I'm currently not scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush).

Other than shrimp you can enjoy all relatives of the shrimp: langostinos, lobsters and prawns. Other sea-food greats are clams (as a starter), barracuda, garupa, lengua and sole. If you're not into sea food then there's always the local churrascaria. Yes, a Brazilian crossed the Atlantic and opened up a Gaucho style churrascaria, appropriately called Rodizio. Those of you that have been to Brazil (or to Amazonia restaurant in Aruba) know what I am talking about when I say: You will be attacked by meat!

Being a former Portuguese colony it is obvious this place and its food is very influenced by the Iberians. Many Portuguese restaurants can be found which blends in well since their kitchen also relies heavily on fish. Watch out with a Portuguese restaurant though! When you get seated at your table they tend to immediately put 10+ little dishes in front of you, almost as if it concerns welcome snacks. Obviously, as you and I know, nothing in this world comes for free. But one of our Dutch colleagues had to discover this the hard way. A Dutchman! Somebody coming from the land where a customer has to pay separately for mayonnaise and even for a toilet visit! How could he not have known!

He went to one of those restaurants by himself and was so grateful for all the snacks, he tried them all! Of course one main course and coffee later he was presented the bill only to see all these not-so-free gifts listed on it. This happened 5 days ago and he is still complaining about it now. Oh well, food is quite cheap here. This huge bill of his, the largest I've seen so far, totalled 875 Meticals (=25 Euros).

There's also this fish market here where you can go, buy a kilo of whatever and then walk to the back where old ladies will cook your fish or prawns over an open fireplace for less than 2 euros per kilo. Finger lickin' good!

Other often seen cuisines include Italian (of course) and Thai. I do not know why this place has 5 known Thai restaurants, but only half an Indian and half a Chinese restaurant. For some odd reason the Indian restuarant here serves a full Chinese menu. That basically means that this tiny 20 seat restaurant has a target group of around 2.5 billion people! The owner must've been thinking "Hmmm, how can I start a restaurant that appeals to as many people as possible?".

The most popular restaurant with the Dutch colleagues here is Mundos, which is basically a cross between a sports bar and a Scheveningen beach restaurant (but then without the beach). The food is typical cafe-food and therefore quite boring, apart from their pizzas. Those are actually very good. I prefer to go there when there's something on. I've been watching the Copa America, Wimbledon and even the FIFA Youth World Cup (being played in Canada this year)!

Well, all this talking about food has made me hungry again. Bom Apetite!

PS: My Argentina is in the final again of this Youth World Cup and with one of the players that was in my team in 2005. Sergio Aguero, now with Atletico Madrid but back then a dreamy little 16-year young kid, is the captain and they play the final against the Czech Republic this Sunday. For those of you who have no clue what I am talking about, have a look at these pics.