04 December 2009 FOOD FOR THOUGHT Missing pleasures By JUSTICE MALALA

I don't know about you, but just the awareness that in two weeks I will be out of Johannesburg and lying on a beach somewhere hot and nice, with a crazy tall drink with an umbrella in it, fills me with pleasure. Well, I will pass on the tall drink. My lovely wife is on a cost-cutting mission so I will be on water. How did we get here? I have not seen in a long time a more depressed SA. This is the week when, in the past, one would be dragging oneself from one corporate Christmas party to another. We would be on our knees from all the partying, arriving bleary-eyed at the office, only to have a nap under the desk and start work at midday. Not now. Work starts at 7 am and we are all numbers people now. "Where are the revenues?" ask the bosses. There are no Christmas parties anymore. A friend told me about a company that used to fly executives first class from Europe in the good old days. No longer. Nor is that company throwing Christmas parties anymore. Whoever thought a time would come when we would miss the humble old office Christmas party? These annual pilgrimages to an affordable restaurant used to be so commonplace that we could turn our noses up at them. Most were good for the entertainment value only: the shy lady from accounts in a clutch with the wild-haired intern behind the bushes, the tragic head of human resources having a desperate dop all by himself when everyone has left the party. The one thing we - as compared with our European and American friends - can gloat over, is that we have the 2010 World Cup. I was in eThekwini last week and saw the impressive stadium that had been built there. It is so beautiful you want to cry. Plus, it will bring a few jobs along with it. Seeing I was in Durban, I decided to eat out. That is when I fell upon an old favourite, the Japanese restaurant Daruma at the Southern Sun Elangeni hotel on the beach front. Readers of this column will know that Daruma is one of those old favourites of mine: when it closed down its Sandton branch years ago and moved to Pretoria, my heart - and those of many fans in Johannesburg - ached. Recently, the restaurant re opened at the new Southern Sun hotel in the Hyde Park shopping centre in Sandt on. The sushi is still of high quality despite some over enthusiastic flourishes, but the place is small and does not offer the full Daruma experience. The menu is slight and, though I am against long menus that mostly lead to chefs trying to do everything and failing at most things, the Daruma selection should be fuller to accommodate most cravings for a bit of Japanese food. Daruma Durban certainly does not hold back. The extensive menu offers everything from tempura to noodles, rice dishes, tepanyaki and, of course, sushi and sashimi. Though it is essentially a hotel restaurant, the place still manages to be different and to exude a feel of Japan. The staff is attentive and quite large, so one gets special attention. Plus, there was one big table and several smaller ones, the patrons tucking in amid much laughter and enjoyment. My resolve to stay thin wilted as I went through the menu. I ended up going for the Sakura assorted tempura (a small selection of prawns and vegetables fried in a special batter to a golden turn and served with a special tempura sauce). Believe me when I say it was divine. Unfortunately, the place closes at 10.30 pm. Now, I have always thought that when a customer is at the table and has had his first course, he should be allowed to finish the meal even if the restaurant is closing. Daruma Southern Sun Elangeni, 63 Snell Parade, Durban Tel: (031) 362-1322 Obama Excellent Good Poor Malema I had ordered sashimi (slices of raw fish) for my main course. Alas, the waiter hovered over me, told me the restaurant closed at 10.30 pm and said he had to give me my bill. I felt hustled and intimidated, so I paid my bill and asked for my sashimi as a takeaway. Imagine if I were a Japanese tourist here for the World Cup and I was rushed out of a restaurant like that. I would not feel good, would I? The mayor of eThekwini happened to be eating at this establishment that evening. He should have a word with management. This is no way to treat visitors. By the way, the sashimi was extremely fresh, extremely well cut and melt-in-the-mouth.