Two Tribes brings African cuisine to Port of Echuca

“We took the space over about three months ago and renovated,” Mr Tengende said.

"One of the reasons why I wanted to do something like this after moving here is to have a small place that can offer some authentic, diverse African dishes.

“Often people can’t name more than two or three African countries and that diversity is lost.

“Having two or three dishes from different countries, and putting up some words on the chalkboard, you can see the diversity of language, of food, and you can showcase the diversity of Africa.”

The café has a small menu, built with three to four meticulously crafted dishes with traditional roots and stories that change daily, including a traditional South African barbecue called ‘braai’.

“The cuisine of the cafe is more derived from Zimbabwe, South Africa and Mozambique: I was in Cape Town and loved the curries, and I went to Beira in Mozambique and the street-style food there in the port area and coastal areas is amazing,” Mr Tengende said.

“They do amazing fish straight from the water, they’ll prepare it, and it goes on to the fire or the barbecue, and most of the time they don’t add anything, but they’ll offer a selection of spices.

“From Zimbabwe, it’s more of the traditional dishes, where people spend a large portion of the day preparing for the evening meal, with grain, and peanuts, and maize, and then gathering of fresh herbs and fruits and vegetables, and maybe some hunting and preparations of meats.

“We want to have well-prepared and well-crafted dishes: we won’t have more than three or four dishes available a day, and we think that shows that we are taking the care that’s needed to prepare these dishes.”

Two Tribes café is open from Thursday to Sunday, offering coffee and cakes from 7.30am, with the lunch menu available from 11.30am until 2pm, and the braai available on Fridays and Saturdays.

The café is located next to the Steam Packet Hotel site on Murray Esplanade in Echuca’s historic port area.