The best bunny chows in Johannesburg

Curry & All in Morningside is worth your time. They understand a good bunny chow needs to come hot, generous, deeply spiced and ready to ruin whatever plans you had for a productive afternoon. Sitting in the heart of Sandton, opposite Morningside Mediclinic, this spot has built its name on proper Durban-style comfort: curries, biryanis, roti rolls and, most importantly for our purposes, bunny chows.

For this list, I’d go for a beans/vegetarian option, as a tribute to where this dish comes from. Before every bunny became a mutton-flexing, gravy-dripping meat festival, there was the humble vegetarian bunny: beans, bread and masala.

Address: 4 Hill Road, Morningside, Sandton

Fast becoming a firm favourite among Durbanites craving home, it certainly helps that they have a Durban coastal town in their name, but it also means they need to live up to it, and to me, they do.

There’s a lot that goes into making a bunny chow taste authentic. In addition to the white bread needing to be soft and fresh, Durban masala is all about how the spices are sourced, roasted and mixed. It's also about the braising.

Ballito Bunny gets that balance right. It is big-flavoured, practical, messy and deeply satisfying in that specific way only a proper bunny can be.

Address: Blueberry Square, Honeydew, Roodepoort.

This spot is in Lenz (Lenasia) South with another store in Mondeor. With over 30 years in the game, it was started in the early ’90s by Aunty Shamla and her husband, Keith, who set out to offer authentic South African Indian flavours in Gauteng.

If you get a mutton bunny, get it with the bones. It might sound like more effort to eat, but you’ll look like an amateur if you don’t know that that’s where the real flavour lies.

Bedford Bunny also has that relaxed, almost Durban-like comfort, with local products like chilli sauces, chutneys, and chips on the shelves, not to mention a proper community feel.

Address: Duxmed Centre, 2852 Sheffield Road, Lenasia South

This list could not only be about restaurants. Because when you talk about authentic Durban Indian food, you have to talk about home cooks. That is how I was led to Hazel, in Centurion, founder of Spicy Aunty.

Hazel’s story is exactly the kind of story that makes food taste like more than just food. A mom who turned back to her Durban roots after difficult times, she now serves real KZN flavour with spices coming straight from Durban.

From biryani to butter chicken, samosas to a proper bunny chow, this is homemade, no-compromise cooking.

Spicy Aunty is a testament to the idea that it really is your mother who cooks best, but if she’s not around, The Spicy Aunty has your back.

Area: Centurion
Order via Whatsapp or call: 084 261 4751

Aunty Pree’s is very special to me. She cooks not only for her customers but also as a tribute to her late husband, who encouraged her to chase her dream.

She’s also inextricably linked to the history of the bunny, with her father having run one of the restaurants where the food was first popularised.

As Indian South Africans, during apartheid, they used to get bunny chows handed to them out the back, as the laws of South Africa prevented them from ordering.

I first came looking for crab curry because, for me, crab curry has to be Durban Indian style: messy, hands-on, heat-building as you crack the shells and pull sauce from places cutlery could never reach. But the bunny chow is what I keep coming back for, and of course, a hug and chat with Aunty Pree.

This is the kind of place that reminds you why people line up for food that tastes like home. Joburg can argue with Durban if it wants to. Aunty Pree came ready.

Address: Blandford Manor, 106A Hyperion Drive, Noordhang, Randburg