B’s Museum Restaurant

Umqomboti has been brewed (and consumed) by generations of black South Africans but such is the history of South Africa that even something as seemingly innocuous as a beer had its own peculiar place in the struggle against apartheid. Previous white governments went out of their way to control how black people made and consumed alcohol, and backyard brewers faced fines, imprisonment and, of course, having all of their product destroyed.

Only in South Africa could sharing a few drinks with friends and family be construed as a political act – yet that is what happened. At B’s Museum Restaurant the drinking of umqomboti is accompanied by a small, light-hearted bit of ceremony. The men kneel on one knee and the women on both. Offering the drink is a traditional sign of welcome and taking a small swig is taken as a sign of appreciation. “You can have as much umqomboti as you like,” laughs Beatrice, the owner of this establishment in Shuenyane Street, Orlando East, Soweto, “but be careful!”

Beatrice knows about operating under the radar, outside the law. She has owned the house in which her museum restaurant operates since 1975, and ran an illegal shebeen there from the early 1980s. In those days, of course, her patrons were all locals who were in on her secret and shielded her from the authorities. Nowadays, Beatrice proudly explains how guests come from all over South Africa, and from Europe, the United States and even from as far away as Vietnam.

Why would people from America and Vietnam come to an unassuming house in Soweto – and what is a “museum restaurant” exactly?

Beatrice, 58, explains that the house used to be a traditional three-roomed Soweto home but after she legalised (licensed) her shebeen and added a restaurant in the 1990s she began to think about ways in which she could add value to visitors’ experience not only of her venue but of the township. That was when she got the idea of the museum, “to explain to people who don’t know Soweto something about our history, about what makes us unique”.

After the umqomboti, guests are often treated to a short (10 to 15 minutes) display of traditional dancing and then they’re invited to make themselves at home, either inside (there’s seating for 40) or outside, where there is seating for 60 and where, even in winter, the Highveld weather invariably makes for a most pleasant evening. In this ultra-relaxing environment, Beatrice arranges outdoor jazz evenings which are popular with locals and outside visitors.

Inside is the museum part of the experience. Exhibits, mostly newspaper cuttings, chronicle Sowetans’ struggle to live out their own identity and not one imposed by racist laws. Exhibits on the walls and on the tables tell of the fierce resistance of 1976, the coming of democracy and the achievements of that democracy since 1994. Beatrice explains that many residents of Orlando East were instrumental in resisting apartheid and they are often on hand to tell their stories

Part of the “B’s Place” experience is visiting or even staying in the outside shack Beatrice has erected and furnished. “People who spend the night there think they’re staying in a five-star hotel but when they wake up in the morning and come out, they realise, ‘Hey but it’s only a shack’,” she says.

Most guests don’t stay the night; they come for a lunch or evening experience. “We believe that however long they stay with us, we offer them more than just a meal,” says Beatrice. “We offer them an experience. Come to B’s Place and you will want to be one of us, one of the family.”

Beatrice’s motherly touch is something that can’t be taught but she acknowledges the help TEP has given her and her staff in raising standards to the highest level. “TEP are doing many beautiful things for us. All of us need training. Thanks to TEP, our waiters are learning how to be the best waiters they can be, and our cooks are learning to become really good cooks. And many more people are learning about what a great place we have here, that we want them to come and be part of our family.”