I am re-starting this blog. I hate giving excuses, so I have no excuse for why I stopped blogging before except that I’m going to try this again.
As a disclaimer, I have absolutely no knowledge of nor prior experience eating South African food. That’s what The Shebeen serves, and I love it! I have no idea if what I ate is authentic, but I know that I want to come back and try everything on the menu.
My first time at Shebeen was for lunch with my friend LM. She got the curried corn chowder with some type of sandwich (I forgot), and I got the sadza cakes, which are polenta cakes in a buerre blanc.
Curried corn chowder and sandwich
Sadza Cakes
Sadza cakes: delicious! Polenta is starting to rise up on my list of yummy foods. But I’m not a big cheese person, so by the end I’d had enough of the creamy cheesy flavors was. I think half the portion would have been perfect.
My second time at Shebeen was for one last dinner with my lovely apartment-mates before we all left for the summer. We got a LOT of food.
Sampler
Appetizer: Sampler of samosas, chicken satays, tempura eggplant with mango chutney, peanut sauce, and banana “ketchup”
The samosas were my favorite. The filling was of beef and lamb and had a slight hotness to it, so hands down my favorite. The chicken satays were average, not bad but not mind-blowing either. I’ve never had tempura eggplant, so I was surprised when I saw it and then that I really liked it too. I honestly don’t remember much about the sauces….
Peri peri chicken with vegetables and mash
with yellow rice and lentils
Peri Peri Chicken: JYM and I both got this but with different sides. She got the yellow rice and lentils, while I went with vegetables and mash. The portions were huge! I finished maybe ¼ of my chicken and took the rest home. The chicken didn’t look it but it was SPICY, and I love all things spicy so it was a homerun in my book. The sides were all very flavorful too, so I was a happy camper.
Ginger Salmon Filet
Ginger Salmon Filet: I think JW really liked the mango chutney but said that the salmon was rather bland, so that’s a little disappointing. I tried some of it and would agree.
Durban Spiced Chicken
Durban Spiced Chicken: skewers on sugar cane and mealie pap (South African grits) with voodoo sauce (SPICY!!!) I tried this too, but I can’t recall whether or not I liked it. I do remember the mealie pap being AMAZING! I’m definitely getting the mealie pap next as a side.
Oh and I almost forgot. Their BUTTER was so good. It had a sweet tinge to it, and paired with some bread, we were sold. I ate so much bread while I was there just because of that butter, and I don’t even like bread.
Next time, I want to try their lamb curry and the shepherd’s pie.
Shebeen Pub and Braai
247 Ridge-McIntire Rd
Charlottesville, VA 22903
