The Gossipping Gourmet: A peri-peri paradise of South African delights

It seems that summer has finally arrived and so have the tourists and the traffic. However, summer also brings the pleasures of alfresco dining. One of the nicer spots in town to have an airy repast or a breezy beverage is the Shebeen, the upstairs lounge at Mozambique.

Climbing the stairs, you enter the lounge through the bar area where the scene begins early and live music adds to the merriment. The L-shaped Shebeen is really a large outdoor terrace with banquettes along the walls, tile floors and an adobe fireplace. Keeping it cozy are glass panels along the low walls that hold back the ocean breezes while allowing you to view the treetops, the blue sky and the prismatic sunsets. The black and cream striped retractable canvas ceiling creates a tent-like atmosphere.

It’s always nice to have a choice when it comes to what you want to eat but the selection here, with four different menus, is a bit daunting. The sunset menu, offered from 4 to 7 p.m., is all appetizers. In July and August there is a $10 dinner menu that has four choices of entrée with sides. This great deal is available every night Sunday through Thursday and from 4 to 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Then there is the Shebeen menu, which is quite extensive including: appetizers, salads, sandwiches, wraps and a few entrées. Finally, you are presented with the full downstairs dinner menu. If you are so inclined, as we were, you can mix and match. However, it does require some effort, which we were happy to exert for the sake of our readers.

While we were working, the complimentary platter of pita chips and pepperdrop hummus arrived. Pepperdrops, or peppadews, are South African spicy peppers that are pickled in sweet vinegar. This generous freebie is quite delicious and as addictive as potato chips.

A creative combination of ingredients make magic together in the portabello stack, an architectural construct with layers of grilled mushrooms, hummus and tomato on a bed of avocado coulis, accented with drops of spicy peri-peri oil and a tiny gastrique of sweet and sour pomegranate molasses. That’s a mouthful and a tasty one at that! The flavors married nicely with none dominating.

Before we continue, it is necessary to digress for a moment to explain just exactly what’s in peri-peri sauce because it appears in some form or other in or on practically every dish on Mozambique’s menu. It functions as hot sauce, marinade, barbecue sauce, powdered spice and dipping sauce. This African original is a mixture of bird’s eye and other chilies, lime juice, vinegar, garlic, paprika and bitters.

We had an excellent Mediterranean salad that can be ordered in either a small or large size. It is chock full of tasty ingredients: salty Kalamata olives, hard boiled egg, sweet pickled onions, sweet and sour pepperdrops, feta cheese and croutons flavored with peri-peri powder, all served on a nice bed of greens. Chicken pops, salmon or prawns may be added for an entrée.

Curries are a classic Mozambican preparation, as a result of the Portuguese traders coming from India, bringing spices and slaves “” both of which influenced the native cuisine. Our seafood curry had shrimp, calamari and scallops swimming in a mild, pleasant but not particularly interesting or complex sauce. It was bit too thick and lacked the depth of flavor from seafood juices. We were also disappointed in the miniscule size of the accompanying dish of condiments, mango chutney, tzatziki and chopped tomato, coconut, green onion and banana sambal. Tasty, but it was hardly big enough to flavor three bites. We much prefer their vegetable curry with a myriad of veggies, apples, garbanzos and dried dates in an especially good curried broth.

From the $10 bargain summer menu, we chose the rotisserie grilled peri-peri chicken recommended by our waitress as the house specialty. It is indeed special, as it is as moist and succulent as you could wish. The chicken quarter had been marinated in peri-peri sauce then basted with it, while roasting. In addition, on the side, there was a small dish of more peri-peri. The sauce on its own is a bit overpowering but it was delicious cooked on the chicken. Nice crunchy vegetables, including two kinds of zucchini, cauliflower and red peppers as well yellow rice seasoned with peri-peri powder completed the plate. The other entrée selections on this special menu are prawns, lobster tail or salmon, all with two side dishes. We consider this a tasty deal for both the price and the palate.

Their take on the ubiquitous flourless chocolate cake comes with raspberries, poached apricots and vanilla ice cream. They lace their crème brulée with ginger and their bread pudding is macadamia, white chocolate and banana. Chocoholics can get their fix from the double chocolate brownie frosted with chocolate ganache and served with pistachio gelato.

Portuguese hot butter pudding sounded like something unique, so we gave it a try. It wasn’t a pudding in the sense of custard but more like bread pudding in texture. Butter and brown sugar were caramelized on top of the moist, cakey pudding, which had been saturated with brandy. Whipped cream provided the finishing touch. Our only complaint was that the boozy part was too rough and there was too much of it. We prefer to eat rather than drink our dessert. If we had finished the whole thing, we might have needed to avail ourselves of Mozambique’s complimentary shuttle service, a very good idea that other restaurants in town would do well to imitate. They will pick you up and take you home if you live in Laguna.

So, come to this peri-peri paradise and choose the kind of experience and the price range you seek from the snacks at the bar, to almost everything in the lively Shebeen to a more formal dinner in the downstairs steakhouse.

If You Go

What: Mozambique (949) 715-7100 mozambiqueoc.com

Where: 1747 S. Coast Hwy.

WHEN:

Steakhouse: 6 to 10 p.m. daily

Shebeen: 4 to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 4 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday; brunch 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday; all day menu 2 to 10:30 p.m.; sunset hour 2 to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Prices:

Appetizers: $3 to $13

Entrées: $10 to $39

Desserts: $8

Wine:

Bottles: $25 to $250

By the glass: $7 to $20

Corkage Fee: $20