Ekhaya
Phone: (919) 381-4128
Ekhaya is a beautiful, intimate spot in American Tobacco Campus from chef and restauranteur couple Chef Zweli and Leonardo Williams. Enjoy Bantu tapas and cocktails influenced by Zweli’s upbringing in Zimbabwe and East Africa. All five of your senses will be pleasantly engaged by this upscale restaurant in the heart of the American Tobacco Campus.
Cuisines
- International
Hours
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Wednesday: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Thursday: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Friday: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Saturday: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Sunday: Closed
Tuesday: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Wednesday: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Thursday: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Friday: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Saturday: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Sunday: Closed
Map
Google Rating
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Amazing African fusion cuisine in the heart of Downtown Durham. Such a cute little place and within walking distance to DPAC. We loved everything we tried! Started with a delicious mocktail and then the rice bomb and peri peri corn for appetizers. For dinner, we had the Suya chicken kabobs and the Barbere half chicken. Everything was delicious. Cant wait to go back! The only thing that could improve is the service. We had told our waitress we had a show to catch and she seemed to have slowed down even more after hearing that. We waited a really long time for the main course and finally had to remind her before she came rushing out with the items. Service could be a bit better but the food more than makes up for it.
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Modern take on African cuisine. Tapas-inspired menu. Not a huge menu list, but the offerings are delicious as well as extremely vegetarian/vegan friendly. We enjoyed the Curried Oxtails with plantain in addition to the Seafood Curry. Both dishes were absolutely delicious! Good portion size and well-seasoned. Ekhaya also has a cocktail and wine list to choose from. My husband enjoyed his Tamarind Old-fashioned while their rosé was quite nice as well. All in all, one of the nicer restaurants in American Tobacco with cuisine you don't find everywhere!
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Very good food and service! My partner especially loved the peri sauce that came with the vegan crab cake. It was a bit too spicy for me, but it’s perfect for anyone who enjoys a good kick of heat 🌶️.
The crispy rice served with the braised goat was really interesting. At first, I wasn’t sure whether the texture was intentional or just an overcooked mistake, so I asked our server. He kindly explained the preparation process in detail, and to my surprise, he later brought us a bowl of regular soft rice as well. That was a thoughtful touch, especially since we had already finished our rice and still had plenty of delicious sauce left.
The IPA beer was excellent, and I was particularly impressed by the cauliflower—it was incredibly silky and tender. The peri chicken wings were also very good.
The only suggestion I would make is to provide some rice or papaya with every dish, because the sauces are so flavorful that you’ll want something to soak up every last bit of them. Overall, a wonderful dining experience, and we’d happily come back again. -
Summary: Great, intimate interior; server was kind and attentive; food was mostly good but chicken dishes were a bit flat; confusing hours and interesting interaction at the end. Heads up- they actually close at 9 PM, not 10 PM.
Our server was great in recommending that between three people, we could share two bigger dishes and 3-4 smaller ones- that was more than enough to fill us up. It was a bit confusing to tell which dishes on the menu were small and which were the big ones, she did explain once and kindly did again when we requested. We were also told that we needed to order everything in one go so they pace the dishes coming out.
I came here with two of my girl friends to celebrate a night of accomplishments- from graduate school graduations, to starting a new job, to traveling solo. Our food was good overall. Some highlights: the goat is a MUST have. One of the best goat dishes I've ever had- meat is so tender and juicy, fall off the bone, very succulent, extremely flavorful. One of my friends who isn't often a fan of goat, really loved it and also ranked it as her favorite dish. The cauliflower was incredible, especially with the special peanut/sesame/curry-like sauce. Incredible cocktails- a favorite were the Red Ghost (with tequila), and I believe the Spanish Citrus Spritz (I might have gotten the name wrong).
The slightly flatter dishes were both the chicken dishes we had- they both felt like they were lacking in flavor, the Berbere Half Chicken and Piri Piri Chicken Wings. The chicken wings in particular didn't feel quite notable, we wish there was also a different sauce- even though it was coated with spices, it felt like it was a bit flat and the flavor was way too subtle. Similar with the Berbere Half Chicken.
Lastly- the hours are really confusing. We saw online, both Google and Yelp that the restaurant closed at 10 PM. We didn't see it in noticeable writing nor were we notified in advance that they actually close at 9 PM. Because there was also another table, and that we checked online for their closing time, we thought we were doing okay on time. A man came up a bit after nine to check if we needed anything else, we were about to start on our cake (we called in advance to make sure it was okay), and then told us they closed at nine with undertones of asking us to leave. It was kind of them to let us know after we were there past nine, however it was also confusing because he checked on the table behind us and didn't tell them. We kindly checked with them since we didn't see anywhere/weren't notified by anyone about the time, and he told us that Google actually didn't let them change the times so it was now nice to know.
They also brought a new dish out for them as well after 5 minutes, and it left us confused, especially since they didn't say anything to their table and only told ours. Not wanting to bother them, we packed up quietly and left, weren't greeted out but I suppose it was late. If we had known, we definitely would have respected the time and have left.
I was particularly excited to come here especially because my school also has a Zweli’s restaurant/cafe too that I have gone almost weekly- they’re different, but I’ve always had a great experience there. I think the interaction here at the restaurant left me a bit off at this location. -
Unfortunately, we had a very poor experience here. We ordered about 5 different dishes and received 1 dish at the beginning and after an hour received 2 more dishes and nothing more. After 75 mins we had to leave with empty stomachs to catch our show. What we had was pretty good but very small portions. They told us they were short staffed but I saw other tables around us with people coming in after us and receiving their orders while we sat and waited and didnt receive much.
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