The Marabi Club opened in 2017 in the basement of the Hallmark House hotel on Maboneng Precinct's Siemert Road. The bar takes its name from marabi — the early-20th-century South African jazz style that emerged in the inner-city shebeens of Sophiatown and Soweto, and that the club operates as both honour and active continuation. Every Friday and Saturday night features live music — a working jazz band followed by a vocalist or a second set — with two sittings, around dinner. The right way to read the bar is by the live set. A typical Friday in full.
The bar's cocktail programme runs alongside the music. The Marabi Old Fashioned — bourbon, Amarula cream, Angostura, single drop of bitter orange — is the bar's standing argument that South African ingredients deserve serious cocktail work. The kitchen runs a small Pan-African menu (kingklip, koeksisters, biltong-and-blue-cheese flatbread) that pairs well with the drinks. Reservations essential for music nights; arrive at 7.30pm for an 8.30pm start.