We recently went to Madiba, a very popular South African bar and restaurant in Ft. Greene, Brooklyn. Despite having reservations, we waited for some time to get a table in the packed bar area - Madiba seems to not suffer from a lack of supporters in New York!
Thankfully, the drinks were cold and the atmosphere was fun, so the wait for our table wasn’t that bad despite the tremendous mass of people on a late Saturday night. After we got seated, I decided to defer to our waiter on what to order. He recommended for a vegetarian who likes spicy food, the vegetable Durban-style curry, and I decided to pair with the yellow rice with raisins.
The curry itself was very tasty and heavily (but not overly) spiced, with a rich and complex flavor that may be evident from its dark color. The side condiments - or sambals - were also pretty good and helped add diversity and lightness to the richness and heaviness of the curry and rice. I think the one downside of what I ordered is that the rice with raisins just wasn’t that memorable and didn’t add that much to the dish. I also generally don’t really like raisins, so don’t fully know why I ordered that rice to begin with.
I did try a piece of my friend’s roti that she ordered with her curry, and it was light, flaky and had a nice oil flavor that I think would have been perfect with my vegetable curry. So note to self for the next time we may find ourselves at Madiba, order the roti!
195 DeKalb Avenue
Ft. Greene, Brooklyn
Most accessible from the G train at Fulton or Clinton-Washington, and a longer walk (maybe 15 minutes?) from the downtown Brooklyn trains, including the B/Q/R trains at DeKalb and 2/3/4/5 at Nevins Street.