Meal in a minute Digest this mini-review in 60 seconds
Jabula Restaurant,1 South Pier Road, Ellesmere Port, CH65 4FW. 0151 355 1163, www.jabula-restaurant.co.uk
Style of venue This South African restaurant enjoys a secluded waterfront setting near the National Waterways Museum. It’s a popular place - the night we visited it was near full. If you visit during the summer Mersey Ferries will be running direct to Jabula.
On the menu Owner Annemarie Groenewald has put traditional South African cuisine at the heart of the menu. Crocodile, wildebeest, springbok, kudu and ostrich all feature. If you’re not feeling brave there are steak, fish and pasta dishes as well as a delicious Portugese chicken. Jabula is open from 10am to 5pm as a caf� with lunch, which includes South African treats like pap and wors or vetkoek, served between 12noon and 2.30pm.
We enjoyed starters of crocodile bites (�6.20) and roasted goats’ cheese on puff pastry (�5.20) with mains of a sweet and spicy beef Durban curry (�9.50) and roast wildebeest with boerewors sausage (�15.95). Portions are large so there wasn’t room for a dessert!
D�cor There’s a tribal feel to Jabula with pictures of lions, elephants and other wild animals as well as traditional South African items hanging on the wall and hundreds of twinkling lights. Look out of the window and you have lovely waterside views across to Liverpool.
Ambience Welcoming and intimate. It’s perfect for a meal for two but it’s equally popular with large groups celebrating special occasions.
Service Attentive and friendly staff explained the more unusual items on the menu.
Cost Our two-course dinner for two, with one of us enjoying a few glasses of wine, came to just under �50. Excellent value for fantastic food.
Emma Mayoh
