A small food outlet at a fuel service station in Chatsworth south of Durban has been crowned the bunny chow king in the Coca Cola Beverages SA bunny chow barometer challenge. The popular bunny or bunny chow is an Indian-SA favourite fast-food consisting of a hollowed-out loaf of white bread served with a curry filling. The challenge is 15 years-old, and the winner receives a R50 000 store make-over.
Winning the competition has surely yielded positive results for this small business. Gregory Naidoo says he is proud because his outlet won the competition with a signature dish and is the first business in Chatsworth to get the accolade for locals. Naidoo says they are still overwhelmed.
“It will be overwhelming on the business perspective. Our sales have grown quite significantly and we think the future is very bright for us and we want to thank the brand that has organised the Barometer Bunny Chow which is Coca Cola. They have done an excellent job in helping us improve our brand,” Naidoo explains.
And the customers flocking into taste the bunny chow sing its praises.
Balan Rajoo and Terence Holmes are regular customers.
“It is very good you have to taste it to know it is the best we are regulars here and we are overjoyed. They won I would invite the people who have not tasted the bunny to come and taste it,” says Rajoo.
“It is the tastiest bunny I’ve every ate, the staff is friendly, and it is always nice to be back. I’m very happy that they won the moment you eat it, it tickles your taste buds, and you tongue start dancing from the taste of home spices,” says Holmes.
The proud chef, Mani Moodley, who is behind the scenes preparing the bunny chows says her secret recipe is passed down from generation to generation.
“It is something we learnt growing up from our grandparents. I am very proud of it. We have tried to play around with spices to get it where it is now over the years. We have perfected our recipe,” says Moodley.
Bunny chow remains one of the Durban’s signature dishes.
