Category Archives: Restaurants Gauteng
So Yum, Hyde Park
How brave is this: an Asian restaurant that does not serve sushi! So Yum is a “yum cha” (tea) house in very sexy modern blacks and dark wood. Straddled over the walkway of the shopping mall, one side is a dramatic, dark backlit bar, then tables that straddle the pedestrian walkway, and then over to [...]
Posted in Restaurants Gauteng Tagged johannesburg, restaurant, Rossouw, South Africa Leave a comment
The Bistro at the Peech Hotel, Melrose
It’s generally accepted that Joburg struggles for bucolic venues – unless you get into the car and drive to the countryside. The Peech Hotel offers a singularly pleasant alternative to parking lot views (as does 10 Bompas Hotel, though here their formerly fine restaurant has recently morphed into a chain steakhouse). At Peech, the bistro [...]
Mantra, Parktown North
This north Indian spot has a haphazard look about it, but that’s not stopping hordes of fans from filling it every night. Just as well, because it needs the people to soften its heavy black and red walls and ceilings and the plain furnishings (window booth seats are a little more plush though). On the [...]
Auberge Michel, Sandton
Making a telephonic reservation can sometimes leave me feeling less inclined to honour it, surely not the desired response. I sure don’t mind if my local burger joint has no phone skills, but when reserving for a meal that ended up costing me R500 per person, I felt some polish on the telephone line would [...]
Posted in Restaurants Gauteng Tagged johannesburg, restaurant, Rossouw, South Africa Leave a comment
Maximillien, Sandton
What a beautiful place. Pity about the food. On entry there’s a stunning cigar bar, then a room that’s a very pretty, accurate rendition of European bistro with very plush, leather banquettes, dark woods, pressed “tin” ceiling, smoky lit pillars, bent wood chairs and white linen. Pianist tinkling a jazzy soundtrack, and plenty of service. [...]
Posted in Restaurants Gauteng Tagged johannesburg, restaurant, Rossouw, South Africa Leave a comment
Erwin’s, Parkmore
If you love retro, old-school or conservative in your dining, this one’s for you. On entry a bar, then one large dining area, in full old world style, dark wood and deep blues, small flower vase on each white clothed table, which is complete with fish knives. Soft piano music. Fireplace. Shaded outside for al [...]
Posted in Restaurants Gauteng Tagged johannesburg, restaurant, Rossouw, South Africa Leave a comment
Café del Sol, Olivedale
As with Lucky Bean, these poor guys have been strong-armed by an army of chickens to change their name from “Soul” to “Sol”. It’s a breezy place this, with feet planted in decor magazines and Oprah-world: Zen sand pits and couches at the door, Café del Mar sounds, a tinkling fountain, “uplifting” quotes all over [...]
Café 41, Eastwood, Pretoria
A surprise, this Cafe 41: decent wine list with some unusual picks and good prices (and unusual vinous quotations for a change), service so attentive it actually becomes a little too much, and the most attractive environment – lovely in and out spaces that flow through garden areas and balconies, on dark tile with lots [...]
Bistrot Boer’geoisie, Menlo Park
What a curious place, this Bistrot Boer’geoisie: calculated SA “boere” (farmer) retro; the corrugated iron and rafters of a farm barn filled with old wood furniture, and old pioneering pictures plus bric-a-brac from the early days of trekking and farming. It’s nostalgia as concept and decor, even the music is Afrikaans, and there’s a slight jolt [...]
Il Tartufo, Hyde Park