You eat at Mesopotamia Kurdish Restaurant on low copper tables with kilim cushions, the first Kurdish restaurant in South Africa. The kitchen cooks over a tandoori wood fire, serving dishes like meze and kebabs, all halal. Belly dancers perform most nights, moving between the tables.

The room is lined with hand-made kilims and Kurdish artifacts, and you can order shisha after the meal — the tobacco mixed with molasses or honey, smoked through a water pipe. Tea comes from a samovar, poured into small glasses. The restaurant takes bookings for parties and events, with space for groups at the larger tables.

The tandoori oven is the reason some dishes taste as they do — the heat seals the meat quickly, keeping it moist inside. You can watch the cooks at work through the kitchen pass.