A culinary dream come true for Nkobongo taxi rank chef
Nhlanhla Nzuza may have moved up in the world but her speciality dishes, like nhloko (head meat) are still on the menu.
The dream of owning a restaurant by the age of 35 came three years early for Nkobongo resident Nhlanhla Nzuza (32), when she recently opened the doors of Nhla’s Kitchen and Take Away in KwaDukuza town.
Nzuza had been cooking at the Shakaskraal taxi rank since 2012 after resigning from her office administrator job at a factory in Shaka’s Head.
“I got tired of working there and I decided to start my own business. I wanted a restaurant but I could not afford one. So cooking at the taxi rank was the best option I had. I do not regret it because I was able to save enough money to open my restaurant,” said Nzuza.
The mother of two says she understands that moving away from the taxi rank might be challenging for her business, but she is prepared for the challenge.
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You can now find her on the corner of EV Mahomed and Mahatma Gandhi Street.
“It is so exciting to open my restaurant at 7am and start cooking, unlike before when I had to wake up around 4.30am Monday to Friday to get the food going,” she said.
Although she has moved out of the taxi rank, her menu has not changed much. Her best-selling dish is still the beef curry and phuthu.
Her menu includes pap and nhloko (head meat) for R35, beef or chicken curry with rice or phuthu. You can also enjoy a tasty bean curry with fried beef. For this, you have a choice of medium (R25) or large (R35).
She also makes a lip-smacking breakfast of an egg and mayo or a cheese and tomato sandwich (with four slices of bread) for R15 (toast) and R12 (untoasted) and a cup of coffee or tea for R5.
“So far I am very happy with the response I have been getting since I opened the restaurant. Every day I get new customers and good feedback about the food.”
She said what keeps her going is the love of cooking and she takes every criticism seriously.
Her fiancé and her parents are very supportive and that makes it easier for her to balance her business and home duties.
“I do not have to worry about preparing the kids for school because their dad does that for me.”
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