The Cuban Hat and Nest Restaurants

Cuban Hat or Nest, which was your favourite ?
- click image to view enlargement -

The recent publication of the above picture on this site has led to some comments and queries, so I decided to put them all on their own page.

On 24/2/2007 Neil Gould wrote:

"I woke up smelling the vinigar on the heavily salted chips we would buy from the Nest, en route to the Kennilworth entertainment building. Big fat square soggy chips they were, in a wax paper packet, with the fattests ones in the middle. Delicious.

I remember pulling up outside the Cuban Hat and the tray being attached to the car window. After giving the order, the waiters would repeat it back to you in their unique chant. The same chant would be sung if you gave the order at the actual counter of the Cuban Hat to the guy at the back doing the cooking. He had a hair lip.

'One pie curry gravy with chips
One toasted chicken mayonase
One Strawberry milkshake, one coke - tanks ser.'

Mr Scordis was the owner of the hat in the late 1960's. I recall his house in Durban North because his wife was strangled during a break-in. My mother drove me past it. It was on the way to the old Umgeni bridge."

On 24/2/2007 Gerald Buttigieg wrote:

"Looking at the Beetle, this looks like an 1968-70 photo. The VW shown is the 1500S, I think, as it came with the Rostyle wheels and the back window hinged out, which was a special order. Also the back tail lights were the large type. I had a 1966 VW 1300 which still had the bumpers with chrome over riders and I think this was dropped in 1968 or so when the 1500 Beetle 12 volt came out. The building just sticking out at the back left was the Durban Surf Lifesavers Club Building. It was upstairs and below is the entrance to the Beach Baths or Rachel Finlayson Baths, to give it its proper name."

On 26/2/2007 Dodo wrote:

"I’m delighted with the picture of the Cuban Hat and The Nest – just amazed that I’m not in it. Must have been taken very early in the morning."

On 11/11/2007 Dodo contributed the following picture:

Picture courtesy Dodo

Showing the car window at regulation height to receive the clip-on tray at the Cuban Hat.   < == Click image for enlargement.

On 11/11/2007 Allen Shultz contributed the following pictures:

	Outside the Cuban Hat and, below, motor bikes belonging to some of the bikers that used to hang out there. The pictures were taken by Allen on 5 July, 1981.
Pictures courtesy Allen Shultz	< == Click images for enlargement.