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.
