Aunty Meg’s Kitchen

It was love at first sight when Meg Barathlall walked into the former Kutchi Deli Parwana site in Ebenezer Place. After eight years of serving South African Indian flavours through her catering business, she took on the corner spot and turned it into Aunty Meg’s Kitchen, the South African-born chef's first bricks-and-mortar restaurant.

Parts of Parwana remain, including the coke bottles lined up along the front window and the signature blue-tiled serving counter. But Barathlall, who runs the venue alongside her children, refreshed the space and added artefacts to reflect her family’s South African and Indian heritage.

Barathlall was born and raised in South Africa before migrating to Australia in 2005, and the menu is filled with the food she ate growing up. There’s bunny chow (a hollowed-out loaf of white bread filled with either beef, chicken, lamb or vegetable curry) and breyani (a rice dish with lamb or veg). Plus, fried snacks such as samosas, vetkoek (fried bread stuffed with mince), roti rolls filled with lamb meatballs or curry, and koeksisters (a type of fried doughnut drizzled with syrup). The morning menu includes roti rolls and a mini boerewors roll (South Africa’s answer to the hot dog).

As for drinks, the shop is only serving coffees currently, but Barathlall says she’s looking to expand the menu with mango lassis and potentially alcohol, once she gets a liquor license.

Barathlall will continue to run her catering business at various markets and events, such as the Semaphore Community Market.