Shah’s, Cape Town: Take-Away Review

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Shah’s Roti

Shah’s
90 Plein St.
Cape Town | Map

Specialty: Huge rotis wrapped around delicious, spicy curry
Tel: +27 (0) 21 462 1880
SA Blog recommends a look inside? Definitely

Further Insight & Opinion
If take-aways had older brothers to look up to, then Zaiba’s would look up to Shah’s, a bustling eatery just a few steps down from the Plein St. gates of Parliament, where the local COSATU leadership likes to chain itself up during protests. Perhaps the leadership gathers afterwards in Shah’s upstairs dining room for an early, post-chaining supper. It’s a good hideaway from all manner of those who might seek you - bosses, traffic cops, angry Parliamentary security officials, and so on.

Shah’s is presided over by the enterprising Munaf Dalvi, a qualified electrical engineer who wears an estate agency’s nametag - and incidentally owns and manages two take-aways. (The other Shah’s, equally busy, is in the Riebeeck St. Absa building; map.) In truth, Munaf is an industrious entrepreneur. He arrived in Cape Town from Mumbai in 1993, moving here to join the South African side of his family. Like many Indian Muslims at the Cape, his family and home language is “Cockney”.

Shah’s motto is Flavour that lingers. The recipes are Munaf’s own: “Freshness is key,” he says, and business is good. Although Munaf maintains that there is a world of difference between his Indian food and Cape Malay cuisine, the locals nevertheless love his take-aways - and some of his more important customers, MPs from across the street, take his food with them to Pretoria.

TOP DISH: Steak Salomie, R19. (Very generously proportioned – two can easily share one without knowing the difference. The rich, flaky roti, which Shah’s calls a “salomie” in deference to local custom, is a prize-winner.)

This piece originally ran, in edited form, in the 1 Nov 2005 Cape Times (”Review”). It is reprinted with permission.