Photo: Itaisibanda, CC BY-SA 4.0 Guide · Date night
Date night restaurants in Harare
Quiet houses, garden tables and grill rooms for an evening for two, from Newlands to the city centre
A date night in Harare tends to mean a house rather than a hotel. The best-loved restaurants for two are converted homes on leafy roads in Newlands, Highlands, Glen Lorne and Chisipite, where you eat in a former lounge or out in the garden, and the room is small enough that the staff remember what you ordered last time. The city-centre hotels still hold the grand grill rooms for a proposal with a view over Africa Unity Square, but most couples head north of town.
Price is the first filter. The fine-dining houses sit at $40 or more a head, and that is before wine. A step down, in the $10 to $20 band, buys a very good seafood dinner in a Chisipite garden or a steak and a cocktail at one of the grill houses, and nobody will think less of you for choosing them. If it is a first date, a relaxed garden restaurant is easier than a set menu with flambe at the table; save the reservation-only rooms for an anniversary.
Book. The good houses have a dozen or so tables and fill on Friday and Saturday, and several close on Mondays or open only on set nights, so check the days before you promise anyone dinner. Most take bookings online or by phone, and the smaller ones will hold a quieter table if you ask. Parking is inside the gates at nearly all of them, which matters when you are leaving late.
Timing helps too. Harare eats early, and kitchens in the suburbs are often winding down by 9pm, so a 7pm table gives you the evening without the rush. Sunset comes around six, and a garden table booked for half past five gets you the light and the sundowner before the main event. Take a jacket in winter: the gardens are lovely, but June evenings are cold.
The list below runs from the special-occasion rooms to the easier, cheaper evenings, so pick according to how much fuss the night deserves.
-
Amanzi Restaurant
Set inside Amanzi Lodge on Masasa Lane in Glen Lorne, with a short seasonal menu built on Zimbabwean produce and a dining room hung with contemporary African art. Top band at $40 or more a head, and the natural choice for an anniversary. Tables are reserved online.
-
Victoria 22
A Newlands house on Victoria Drive that has become one of the city's established fine-dining addresses, with a European-leaning menu from a family of German and Italian heritage. There is a wine bar for a drink first. Expect $40 or more a head; book through the website for an anniversary or a proposal.
-
Classique 27 Fine Dining
Reservation-only fine dining in a Highlands house.
A small reservation-only dining room in a Highlands house, serving set menus of three to five courses with flambe finished at the table. Tables are well spaced, the pace is slow by design and you can even choose the music. Built for an anniversary or a birthday for two, not a crowd. Book ahead by phone.
-
La Fontaine Grillroom
The grill room of a five-star city hotel, kept for special occasions.
The Meikles grill room since 1958, now within the Hyatt Regency, with Victorian-style decor and a view over Africa Unity Square in the city centre. Premium steaks and French-leaning cooking at $40 or more a head, with the Can-Can bar next door for a drink beforehand. Booking is sensible and the hotel has parking.
-
Organikks Ndizvo
A Chisipite restaurant on Hindhead Avenue built around organic produce and halaal meat, with a wide menu from oxtail and sadza to peri-peri prawns and Thai curries. The Afro-chic setting has cabanas outside and a long whisky list at the bar. Top band at $40 or more; open Wednesday to Sunday.
-
Fishmonger Restaurant
Portuguese-style seafood in Chisipite.
Mozambique prawns, crayfish and line fish in the Italian Club complex on Enterprise Road in Chisipite, with a long wine list to match. You can sit in the cosy indoor room or out in the garden. Around $10 to $20 a head unless you order the prawns. Open Wednesday to Sunday only.
-
Alo Alo
Garden restaurant behind Arundel Village, known for its beef.
A house-like restaurant behind Arundel Village in Mount Pleasant, furnished by the owners with pieces from their own home, where most of the eating happens in the garden. Steaks are the reputation, with oxtail, lamb shank and butter chicken as regulars. Quiet and unhurried; book at weekends.
-
Organikks Patio
Indian and African menu, sharing the Masawara Urban Retreat address.
The restaurant inside Masawara Urban Retreat on St Michael's Lane in Borrowdale, reached by a path lined with aloes and eaten mostly outdoors on the patio. The menu mixes Indian and African dishes with sushi and a well-known vegetarian pizza. Pair it with a spa booking beforehand; parking is inside the gates.
-
La Casa Restaurant & Bar
Upmarket bar, lounge and restaurant in Chisipite.
An upmarket lounge and restaurant on Merlewood Drive in Chisipite with floor-to-ceiling windows and a view reviewers keep mentioning. The kitchen is pan-African, with Nigerian dishes such as egusi and red stew alongside grills. Calm enough for a date early on, livelier as the evening goes.
-
Kombahari at Rainbow Towers
Teppanyaki and pan-Asian cooking inside Rainbow Towers.
The teppanyaki restaurant inside Rainbow Towers in the city centre, where chefs cook at the counter in front of you and the meal doubles as the show. The menu runs from Far Eastern dishes to African and halal options at roughly $10 to $20 a head. Weekends are dinner only.
-
Bar Rouge Restaurant and Cocktail Bar
Cocktail bar and restaurant at Longcheng Plaza with a jazzy feel and regular live music, open every day.
A cocktail bar and restaurant at Longcheng Plaza in Belvedere with a jazzy feel, an extensive cocktail list and regular live music from local and visiting artists. The kitchen serves local and international dishes, and it opens every day, so it suits a date that wants a drink and a band rather than a formal dinner.
-
The Village Greek
Greek and Mediterranean cooking inside Sam Levy's Village.
Souvlaki, moussaka, mezze-style starters and baklava in Phase 3 of Sam Levy's Village in Borrowdale, relaxed rather than formal and priced at $10 to $20 a head. It works for a date that ends in sharing plates, and there is a second branch in Newlands. Closed on Mondays.
Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
More guides
All guides →Where to eat in The Avenues
Peri-peri chicken, Brazilian rodizio and the hotel grill rooms on the edge of the city centre
By This Is HarareWhere to eat in Mount Pleasant
Garden restaurants around Arundel Village, a Chinese kitchen with private rooms and live music at the sports club
By This Is HarareBest Indian restaurants in Harare
Tandoori, butter chicken and proper vegetarian spreads, from Gunhill to Belvedere.
By This Is Harare