Photo: Itaisibanda, CC BY-SA 4.0 Guide
Best Zimbabwean food in Harare
Sadza, road-runner chicken, oxtail and braai meat, from garden restaurants to butchery bars.
Zimbabwean food at its best is home cooking eaten slowly, and the restaurants that do it well know that. Sadza is the centre of the plate, sometimes made from mhunga rather than maize, with road-runner chicken, oxtail, goat, hanga and relishes of mutsine, munyevhe or nhopi alongside. Portions are made for sharing across a table, and most of the eating happens outside on a lawn or under a tree, which is how a lunch turns into an afternoon.
Alexandra Park and Eastlea hold two of the anchors. KwaMurongo on Normandy Road serves traditional plates on the lawn and closes late afternoon, so plan for lunch. Garwe on Donald McDonald Road in Eastlea has been a gathering place for years, with chilli chicken feet and pumpkin seeds among the starters and meat platters built to suit the table. Belgravia has Gava's at the sports club, where sadza with road-runner chicken comes with a bar and grounds.
The braai is the other strand. Jongwe Corner on the airport side sells meat from its own butchery to grill on site, Motswako in Highlands pairs grilled meat with music and a VIP floor, and Duriro in Workington offers cheap drinks and a relaxed local crowd. These are drinking and eating places rather than restaurants, and they fill up at weekends. Modern African cooking gets its due at Upstate in Highland Park, Afropolitan on the Westgate side and, at the top end, Amanzi in Glen Lorne, where local produce meets ideas from elsewhere.
Prices sit mostly in the $10 to $20 band, with Organikks Ndizvo and Amanzi at $40 or more. Ring ahead at Gava's, whose website is being rebuilt, book a big table anywhere at the weekend, and at the braai bars pick an outdoor seat if smoke bothers you.
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KwaMurongo
KwaMurongo at 9 Normandy Road in Alexandra Park serves the dishes people grew up with: sadza from mhunga, road-runner chicken, hanga, goat offals and nhopi, with goat on the spit for big occasions. Most tables are on the lawn, so a family lunch stretches easily. $10 to $20 a head, daytime only, takeaways available.
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Garwe Restaurant
Traditional Zimbabwean food, a long-standing Eastlea gathering place.
Garwe on Donald McDonald Road in Eastlea is the long-standing home-style address, with roasted nuts, pumpkin seeds and chilli chicken feet to start, mutsine and munyevhe among the vegetables, and meat platters you build for the table. It calls itself down to earth and inexpensive. Open daily from 10am; private dining and online booking offered.
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Gava's Restaurant
Traditional Zimbabwean plates, sadza, oxtail and road-runner chicken, with a bar.
Gava's sits inside the Belgravia Sports Club on 2nd Street Extension and does the proper local plate: sadza with road-runner chicken, oxtail and the usual relishes, in sharing portions, with a bar and grounds attached. Group dinners and long family lunches fit, at $10 to $20 a head. Ring ahead, as the website is being rebuilt.
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Khaya Nyama Wombles
Khaya Nyama Wombles revives the old steakhouse name on Enterprise Road in Highlands, with steaks as the point and chicken livers, seafood and malva pudding alongside. A lounge bar, garden seating and a covered patio suit a celebration. Mains run from about $11 to $65 for the big cuts; closed Sundays.
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Organikks Ndizvo
Organikks Ndizvo in Chisipite puts Zimbabwean oxtail with sadza on an organic, halaal menu that also covers peri-peri prawns, curries and pasta, in a modern Afro-chic room with cabanas outside and a private dining space called Dare. It is a top-band night out at $40 or more, open Wednesday to Sunday.
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Upstate & Denga by Pariah State
Modern African grill, wood-fired pizza and cocktails at Highland Park, with a lounge upstairs and screens for the big matches.
Upstate, the restaurant half of this Pariah State pairing at Highland Park, serves modern African plates: small plates, burgers and salads at lunch, then dishes from the fire, seafood and evening plates at dinner. Denga next door handles after-work drinks and music. Book through Dineplan; Upstate opens 12.30pm to 11pm daily.
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Amanzi Restaurant
Amanzi at Amanzi Lodge in Glen Lorne keeps a short seasonal menu that pairs local Zimbabwean produce with ideas from around the world, in a relaxed room hung with contemporary African art. Pop-up chef events and wine pairings appear through the year. Top band at $40 or more, best kept for an anniversary; reserve online.
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Afropolitan Restaurant Bar & Grill
Restaurant, bar and grill at the Madokero Business Hub on Kirkman Road.
Afropolitan, on Kirkman Road in the Madokero estate on the Westgate side, mixes local Zimbabwean dishes with international plates and grilled meat, with a bar for sundowners. Families come by day and the evening brings live music and themed events, so check the social pages for what is on that week.
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Jongwe Corner Bar
Casual local bar on the airport side of town.
Jongwe Corner on Arlington Road, towards the airport, is built around the braai: buy your meat at the on-site butchery at reasonable prices and grill it among plenty of outdoor seating. Live shows run on certain nights and it gets crowded at weekends. Open daily 9am to midnight; suits a group rather than a quiet drink.
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Motswako Braai Lounge
Braai lounge in Highlands: grilled meat, drinks and music.
Motswako at 158 Enterprise Road in Highlands does grilled meat, drinks and music in landscaped gardens, with a braai area, a bar and a VIP section upstairs. Prices are reasonable and service quick. Smoking is allowed indoors, so take an outdoor table, and confirm the location, as the map pin sits south of Highlands.
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Duriro Bar
Bar and grill on the Workington side, by Mbare.
Duriro on Coventry Road in Workington, on the Mbare side of town, is braai-style grilled meat, cheap drinks, music and a relaxed local crowd, calmer than the city-centre bars and welcoming to families earlier in the day. No cocktail list, cash-friendly prices, and an afternoon that drifts into sundowners.
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