October 8th, 2008
As a child, a Cape winter holiday to Durban's warm sea and sunny skies was the highlight of the year. We stayed at The Elangeni Hotel on the then fashionable North Beach shortly after it opened and it was probably the stay that started my relationship with glamorous hotels.
For reasons I don't really understand, Durban is now seen as a little shabby and no longer an A-list destination. Like anywhere, there are parts that are decrepit but following a recent weekend stay we were again reminded of how entirely fabulous it really is.
Not only is the sun nearly always out, but Durban's sometimes searing hot curries are guaranteed to spice up any blues you may have.
Silverani Moodley says Durban curries were once poor-man's food. In the same way as French Provencal cuisine became the rage in the nineties, Durban or Natal curries are being elevated from their humble beginnings into a cuisine category of their own.
According to Moodley, of Silverani's restaurant in Durban, North Indian or Mogul cuisine is rich in butter and cream while the Durban curry is intensely flavoured, more fiercely hot and made with cheaper cuts than dishes from the Northern parts of the motherland.
People say Durban is home to more Indian people than any city outside of India.
While this may be hard to prove, the experience of shopping and eating in Durban, especially in certain areas, suggests this be true.
To approximate life in India, visit The Victoria Market which, although a shadow of its former glory, remains an exciting place to shop. Grey and Victoria streets in Durban central are as authentically Indian as Connought Place in Delhi.
At Victoria Market, exactly as happens in India, shopkeepers entice you to enter the store to browse. I found it charming as it reminded me of India but for JP with whom I was travelling, it was just an annoyance.
There are spice merchants whose mounds of masalas (mixed ground spices) attract your nose's attention before turning the corner. There is something for most tastes.
Don't be frightened off by evocative names such as "hot as hell" and "mother-in-law exterminator" as they sit beside the more sedate "lemon pepper" or mounds of rice spice that provide a flavour without the burn.
There are things shiny and sellers of garlands and brightly coloured plastic flowers. There are also many selling to the hawker trade. Joe R Haripersad of Joe's Corner Shop managed to sell me spices, soap and easy-use papadoms. He also told me where to find the best Bunny.
There seems to be agreement (on the Internet anyway) that the Bunny Chow was created in Durban in the 1940's, and probably takes it name from Bania (an Indian caste of traders and merchants).
What is unclear is if it began as a way for people to carry food to work without tiffins (those stainless steel interlocking holders that are ubiquitous in India), or if it was enforced take-out food as whites and Indian's couldn't use the same restaurant areas under apartheid.
Although she couldn't confirm, Silverani Moodley is adamant though that the first Bunnies were curried beans and the more affluent mutton came later.
The Victory Lounge, on the corner of Grey and Victoria streets since 1946, is unquestionably authentic. Now near crumbling, the red Coke tablecloths and plastic 
chairs provide the atmosphere. Most diners are eating Bunnies, mine is a quarter fried mutton while JP opts for chicken.
We break the first Bunny rule by using cutlery to eat and this must be the reason a group of eight black youths glared at us. All my apartheid-induced anxiety came to the fore as I feared being robbed. Our obvious otherness filled me with racist angst.
Thankfully, nothing happened but the experience detracted me from exploring the inner city further - a great pity.
The Royal Hotel proudly displays King Edward's arms above the reception desk. Although no longer in a fashionable part of Durban, the grandness of this iconic hotel is undiminished.
At the Ulundi Restaurant, decorated with large format photographs of the hotel's original palm court, they're offering Indian tappas, a refinement of the Thali-style of eating where many flavours are presented on the same plate.
Like Silverani's, The Ulundi is in the top three restaurants to be selected by a Sunday newspaper's Spice awards. Along with traditional delights they're serving a twist: biltong, blue cheese and caramelised onion samoosas.
Sungeetha Ramkissoon is a sous chef at The Royal. She reiterated Silverani's view that the Durban curry is redder and much hotter than in India explaining that red chillies are ground for the masala.
At any time of the year the heat in Durban is delicious. When Cape Town is shrouded in mist, Durban and its warm sea is welcoming. There is even a section of Beach at Sun Coast's Casino and Entertainment complex that makes umbrellas and loungers available.
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