The beloved gatsby is a big part of Cape Town culture as it brings people together in the name of tons of sauce, an abundance of chips and the best toppings. But Capetonians are up in arms after a Redditor said that she doesn’t “see any appeal in fast food like Bunny Chow or The Gatsby”.
u/Jazz-like-Us issued a fair warning to whoever would be reading her post, saying “This is going to be hard to read for most of you but truth be told, if your feelings will be hurt, close this page.”
She went on to say:
“Well, those dishes are ones of the most recommended dishes to visitors, what’s the deal? Why are they so popular?
“Bunny Chow consists of a coarse white bread the size of a brick carved inside and [mercilessly] stuffed with chicken curry and [sauce].
“The Gatsby is again an [obscene] size of bread stuffed with chips, meat/chicken, sauce, etc
“I see videos on YT of first timers buy into the hype and try those and have a hard time eating or finishing the plate.”
She then explored demographics, and touched on issues of poverty when she said, “Probably they are appealing to some demographics, because hey let’s stuff our faces now because we might not get food later, let’s fill our belly as much as we can to get the most value for the money we spent, such are poverty mentality, the idea of scarcity, belly filling, no regard to etiquette or presentation. That makes sense considering the reality of the majority of population…and the rough history not terribly long ago.
“No. I don’t want to eat food the size of a newborn and make me so bloated that I can’t properly walk or move after, there are much better South African and other international dishes to try.”
She concluded by saying that she’d much rather have a “fine dine cuisine”, or a healthy dish which is meticulously prepared by a professional Chef “with impeccable presentation”, describing the universe of flavours pouring forth.
“This is more important than [eating] food just to stuff my belly,” she adds.
People were moved and frustrated by her subreddit, as devon2edwards said: “what a bad take. not only is this very dismissive and condescending but has a heavy undertone of racism. no one cares what you think of our food” while NoTicket3979 said “Okay??? You want a medal?”
Infamous-Ad-2921 hit where it hurts by saying “Im revoking your South African card” while Alert-Mixture told it like it is: “This is demeaning and borderline discrimination. I’m not the biggest fan of a gatsby, but truth be told, I enjoy the sense of community, the happiness and the memories I have in sharing it with my friends and family. That’s what matters.”
Other responses that followed the subreddit trail includes wineandhugs expressing that “all this has done is make me crave a masala steak gatsby”
Do you agree with this subreddit? Or are you forever loyal to the beloved gatsby?
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