Food Review: One step shy of a mariachi band

07 October 2015 - 02:03 By Siphiliselwe Makhanya

Ask a Durbanite to bring you a bunny chow and they'll present you with a hollowed out loaf filled with curry, usually chicken, mutton or beans. Ask a Johannesburger the same thing and you're living dangerously. The chances are they'll hand you a kota - bread filled with chips, polony, vegetable pickle, egg and cheese.Knowing that a dish can be so lost in translation once recreated far from its original home is why I entertained doubts about what was to be my first ever encounter with burritos at Durban's new Four15 Mexican restaurant.I use the term "original" loosely, because the eating house draws inspiration from the urban burrito culture of San Francisco's Mexican community.I tried the novelty South African version when I visited during Heritage Day week with a photographer.My "Boer"-ito was R72 worth of beef boerewors, rice, beans, cheese, spicy tomato and onion gravy wrapped in a roti-like flatbread called a tortilla.Served with sour cream and a side of pineapple salsa from the self-service cart,it tasted more like a hearty remix of two familiar meals in a wrap than an entirely new food experience.The rice and delicious beans were one meal; the juicy boerewors, onion gravy and spicy tomato another.The beans, agreed my fellow diner, were the soul of our burritos.He had gone for the Carnitas burrito, which is shredded pork, cilantro and lime rice, black beans, pico de gallo, sour cream and cheese.The portion he let me try was tangy, with the black beans overwhelming the pork.We had been wise to skip the "tastebud ticklers"- tortilla chips with your choice from a variety of dips.Two people can lunch well on a single burrito if they've had breakfast. I had barely finished half of mine before the beginnings of a food coma began to set in.The vividly decorated eatery's tip jars are probably the main casualties of its disorienting "fast-casual" service style.It's not new in South Africa, though it doesn't go by that name in township-style eateries. It is merely dissonant for a suburban diner to have to place one's order at the counter of what looks and feels like a sit-down restaurant, albeit one as casual as Four15.We may have been the only ones thus affected, but the "pay first" requirement is a reason we were on our merry way home before we remembered the tip - necessitating a drive back.The concept, said restaurant co-owner Michele Fourie, is one which has become popular in the US in recent years.She and husband Ken decided to adopt the style to add authenticity to the experience of the San Fran Mission District burrito eating experience they had learned and loved during their five-year stay in the US.Need to knowWhen to go: When you need somewhere vibey, unique and child-friendly to pop into for lunch. Doors open at 11.30am. They take reservations.What to drink: Toasted coconut shake, toasted s'more shake or the choc mint brownie shake. There's also a bar serving staples, Mexican beer, cocktails and shooters, as well as tequila drunk through special equipment. And bottomless cold drinks for R20.Whatever you do: Remember to tip.How much do you need: R25 to R68 for tortilla chips and a side order; R65 to R80 for a burrito or quesadilla; at most R35 for drinks or desserts.Where: 41 Mackeurtan Avenue, Durban North...

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.