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7 Bessemer Road
Graniteside
Harare
773877
0774116046

Arnaldo's - Portuguese delights in the 'sites Found in the centre of the industrial area of Graniteside at number 7 Bessemer Rd, Arnaldo’s is such an oasis of good food and peace.  The industrial area is not quite synonymous with good up-market speciality restaurants like Arnaldo’s but rather with dusty masculine, Mereki type Sadza places where executives and blue collar workers all sneak in for a quick lunch of sadza and mabhonzo (bones) or sadza and maguru (offals) and a secret sip of the wise waters.  Arnaldo’s is a speciality Portuguese Restaurant that focuses on chicken and sea food dishes.  The restaurant is made up of a thatched shed adjoined to a conventionally built office block, kitchen and warehouse.  The thatched area provides spacious and relaxing seating arrangements.  The neatly laid out tables with maroon and white overlays create an extremely welcoming environment.  The walls, which look recently re-done are indeed awash with pictures of Portuguese grandeur - ships, beaches and different kinds of fish - which indeed helps to get one into what I could call an Oceano mood.  The bar and the wine cellar are tucked away in the south western corner of the restaurant and one can easily see the drink selection from their table. It is exciting to note that Arnaldo’s traditional lunch time buzz is now coming back, as shown by the number of executives coming in for lunch with clients or just for a different offering from their work place cafeteria (which inevitably after a couple of months becomes monotonous, employees eating there because of its low price or because there is no nearby alternative).  Ever heard of customer detention?  Clearly the management team running Arnaldo’s is now is on a mission to reinstate the restaurant in the forefront of the business dining scene!  When we visited Arnaldo's for lunch, we were greeted by a very welcoming waiter, Ephraim, who ushered us to a table for two with speed.  We had failed to book in advance as the phone was not working.  We scanned through the well written menu which testified to the restaurant’s illustrious culinary profile.  The wide range of starters which included Quijo Halloumi, grehaldo com melho picanto, which is grilled Hallomi cheese with a dipping sauce.  Of the speciality starters there was also spicy chicken pieces - Asas de Galinha Buffalo.  Other usual starters like cold meats, mushroom soup and vegetable soups are also available upon request.  Due to time constraints we skipped starters. On the main courses, we both went for chicken.  For speciality restaurants, the best rule of thumb is if you want an exhilarating experience, pick their speciality dish.  I guess it is the common sense that when you go to Fish Monger, your best bet is fish and if you go to Millers your best bet is a tantalising steak.  My companion ordered his Galinha  Arnaldo /Arnaldo’s chicken, with Portuguese spices.  I ordered the same but with peri peri mild.  We also had the option to order it with lemon or garlic.  Other chicken options included the steaming Guisado de Galinha - chicken stew.  Within very reasonable time, our meals arrived and the aroma of fresh Portuguese spices was very appetising and inviting.  We delved into the business of the afternoon, and I can assure you it was finger licks all the way through!  My peri-peri was indeed mild and not wild.  My companion also reported that he had not tasted such good chicken in a long time.  The chips that accompanied the chicken dishes were also very tasty, crisp and fresh without the challenges of being overly-saturated in oil.  Scanning through the menu, we saw some very tempting beef and fish options too.  There were various steak options available and particularly Bife do Lombo which is a hearty sirloin steak that can come with eggs if one wants. On the fish options, one could go for the Fritto- pan fried bream which can also come plain or with Portuguese spices.   The size of the portions was such that one could not finish them all over lunch without risking a sleepy afternoon at the office!  We both took take away bags and with a “to be continued smile”, we thanked the waiter who was very helpful all through our meal.  Thinking of the unfriendly weather outside, I decided to treat myself to a quick ice cream from the dessert offerings which included chocolate mousse, cakes, fruit salads etc.  The ambience of the restaurant is definitely not a reserved hush, but a glad chatter.  It is however interesting to note that for executives who may want closer and more serious meeting set ups, the restaurant provides enclosed dining facilities inside the office block.  I guess it goes without saying that one would need to book in advance for these.

The bar had a good selection of drinks and looking at the fairly small cellar, I saw a couple of decent local and imported wines priced both by the glass and the bottle.   The waiters were friendly and unobtrusive, well-groomed and pleasant.  Arnaldo’s indeed remain the place for a meaningful lunch experience in the industrial areas kuma nda… Before I close this review, I need to remind the restaurant’s management that their biggest undoing could be the limited parking space.  This needs to be creatively addressed.  Readers please note that currently Arnaldo’s does not open during weekends and during the week it closes at 5 pm every day.  Speciality Restaurant (Portuguese) 4 Plates Expect to spend $15 and $20  per person

Arnaldo’s 2009
I last visited Arnaldo’s a long time ago – three or four years back.  I remembered it being a pretty good restaurant.  As a working person’s hangout, it was understandably relatively simple in its approach.  Subsequently I heard reports that standards had dropped and it had become more of a drinking establishment than a proper restaurant.  However, much more recently it has been taken under the wing of those who run Imba Matombo and Gecko Gardens.  As these two venerable restaurants have such good reputations my expectations were high. 

Being located in Graniteside, Arnaldo’s caters mostly to middle management from the surrounding factories and businesses.  From the outside it looks rather forbidding, being surrounded by a durawall topped with a few rows of breeze blocks, a thatched roof and a very muddy, very small verge to park on.  Inside, the heart of the restaurant appears to be an old house which has some tables in what I presume was the old lounge/dining room.  This house also accommodates the kitchen and the toilets.  The main part of the restaurant is a large, spacious veranda surrounding the house on two sides.  The durawall has been painted inside with murals reminiscent of Mozambique – blue seas and sunny skies with occasional dhow-style boats sailing away into the horizon.

Unfortunately we were seated up against the durawall and the rain had come through the breeze blocks, wetting the floor and making the table cloth and paper napkins damp.  On a hot summer day it would be pleasant to have a cool breeze wafting through, but could perhaps be a bit chilly in winter.  Although it was relaxed and refreshing after the noise and grime of the industrial sites, a little soft music would definitely improve the ambience.

We asked for a wine list but were told there only two wines available – a box red, and the somewhat ubiquitous Graça.  It’s a pity there was not a better selection of wines, as there are some really good local and imported wines available at the moment, and wine is such an integral part of Moçambican or Portuguese dining.  The bar was well stocked though, with local and imported beers and spirits.

Their menu is fairly simple and straight forward.  Starters include the usual fried Halloumi cheese, spicy chicken livers, chicken wings and small beef kebabs.  Main courses included the typical peri-peri chicken, or lemon and herb chicken, a variety of steaks and some fish dishes – mostly prawns or bream.  A nice addition was a variety of combos like chicken or steak with a portion of prawns.  All main courses are available with chips, rice or sadza.  There is only one salad and one dessert available – the ever present and rather unimaginative ice cream and chocolate sauce.

I had the chicken livers to start, which were deliciously spicy but not too hot and served with fresh bread and butter to mop up the gravy.  My partner had the fried Halloumi which was served crumbed and with a sprinkling of chopped chillies.  It sounded like a good combination as Halloumi can be a bit plain, but I found the chillies too hot and my partner scraped most of them off.  I ordered the hearty beef stew but was told by the waiter it would be better to order a steak.  At least he was honest!  In the end I ordered a sirloin and my partner opted for prawns.  The steak was good and cooked just the way I like it.  The prawns were quite a generous portion but fairly bland.  There was a bottle of chilli sauce and a bowl of garlic butter sauce on the table so we could flavour our meals to our own tastes.  We ordered a salad for two which was supposed to be served with olives and feta cheese.  It was large and the ingredients were fresh but we could only find one olive to share and five absolutely miniscule pieces of cheese.

The portions were generous, and the ice cream didn’t sound too exciting so we skipped dessert and asked for coffee, hoping to get an espresso or cappuccino or a least a strong cup of filter coffee.  Unfortunately only rather nasty instant coffee was available, so we declined.  Good coffee is an absolute must to round off a meal, especially if you have to go back to the office and need a bit of a caffeine boost, and it’s so easy to make...

Overall the food and the service were good and the atmosphere relaxed.  With such illustrious management as the team from Imba Matombo I would have expected a better choice of wine, salads and desserts and a slightly more imaginative menu, perhaps including a few vegetarian options.  However, Arnaldo’s is, unpretentiously, what it is, and I’m sure serves its purpose well for Graniteside business people.  It would be great for a staff Christmas lunch or for a quick, simple meal, any day of the week.

Family Restaurant
2 Plates
Expect to spend $20 to $25 a head