Botha’s Hill Market founder Nathalie Lange has stepped up to fine-tune its game, bringing a new addition to the market that will please sushi lovers.
The market started as a place to help people promote their handiwork and make an income.
Now Lange has launched the Dragon Sushi Bar, which is intended to cater for that craving you might have when you hear the word “sushi”.
We stopped at the sushi bar around lunchtime last week. When we arrived at the bar, it was quiet, which was understandable as the place had just started operating, but business soon picked up.
They have some amazing and reasonably priced sushi dishes and the chef, Velile Mpontshane, was friendly, offering suggestions on which sushi to try first.
Since we were not sushi lovers, it was great to see that the menu had non-sushi options and included items such as fortune cookies, dragon fruit sticks and dragon ice cream.
The chef gave me a vegetable rainbow maki roll to try first and I enjoyed it.
We also tried the salmon and avocado rainbow dragon sushi and the prawn, tuna and salmon rainbow dragon sushi, which were to die for.
The sushi was so good that I found myself asking whether I hadn’t liked sushi because I had never tasted such good stuff.
After gorging on the Japanese delicacy, we had the dragon ice cream, which is double spoons of pistachio ice cream with some vanilla.
Lange said everything they did was different from what you would find at any other sushi bar.
“Dragons are traditional in oriental culture, whether Japanese or China, so the dragon is a typical theme.
Botha’s Hill Market founder Natalie Lange and sushi chef Velile Mpontshane. Pictures: Bongani Mbatha
“In visual terms it gets us to distinguish our sushi bar from any other. Nobody else is doing what we are doing. We make our own sauces, sushi designs and do our plating,” she said.
The presentation at the Dragon Sushi Bar was one of the best of any I’ve seen.
Dragon Sushi Bar made it fun to eat sushi. I just hope that they improve the look of their establishment in terms of décor at the bar and add some music.
There’s more fun to be had after you’ve enjoyed your meal. You can take a walk around the market and check out some of their crafts, food offerings, saris and books.
Surprisingly, for a small place like the Botha’s Hill Market, it was a great experience.
If you’re looking for a place to unwind and enjoy sushi, you can’t go wrong at the Dragon Sushi Bar.
* The bar is open every day from 11.30am until 6pm. The market is at 33 Old Main Road, Botha’s Hill, Outer West Durban.