Johannesburg Restaurants

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I must declare my prejudice upfront: I am not a cocktail person, and indeed, rarely - if ever - drink spirits. I am allergic to wine, but compensate for this by being an enthusiastic beer drinker - indeed, my husband often claims (hopefully in jest) that one of his selection criteria was that I was a cheap date!

However, if I were to drink cocktails, Arts on Main would most certainly be my preferred haunt!

Cocktails at Joburgers, the bar at Arts on Main have become wildly popular, and at the time of writing (May 2012), the opening hours had been extended to the following:
Monday - Thursday 16:30 - 21:30
Friday: 15:00 - 22:00
Saturday: 12:00 - 22:00
Sundays: 13:00 - 18:30

Thursday night cocktails and Sunday in the City are fast becoming an institution, and if you're looking for that new York boho vibe, then this is the place to be. Grab a Mojito and lounge amid the olive and lemon trees hidden away in the trendy converted warehouse environment, smugly relishing that inner city vibe whilst the more conventional classes retreat to their staid suburbans refuges!

If you're here on a Sunday, you can bring self indulgence to a new level by combining your cocktails with upmarket foodie grazing at the excellent Market on Main.

This morning I took a friend of mine - who's confused but intrigued by my VT habit - on a tour of the Jo'burg CBD. She is Jo'burg born and bred, so knew the CBD like the back of her hand in her youth but (like so many Jo'burg suburbanites) has scarcely ventured into the CBD for the past decade.

In return for our girl's outing, she treated me to lunch in one of her favourite cafes: Moemas in trendy Parktown North. 'The Parks' (Parktown, Parktown North and Craighall Park) - as the estate agents collectively refer to them - are a series of inner suburbs north of the Johannesburg CBD that are considered to be highly desirable because of their central location and leafy village atmosphere.

Moemas is a fine example of cafe society in the Parks and is located in the fashionable Parktown Quarter complex at the corner of 3rd and 7th Avenues (heaven alone knows how Parktown was ever allowed to develop a road naming convention with avenues running both north-south and east-west!).

Run by a pair who both trained at Leith's cookery school in London (Prue Leith is originally a South African herself), Moemas is the perfect location for Ladies who Lunch during the week and a popular haunt for weekend cappuchino society too - which explains why I'd never come across it before, as I fall into neither subset! It is also open for supper most evenings (check the website below for exact details).

If you're interested in knowing how the upper middle class professionals of Johannesburg live, this is ideal for people watching!

Favorite Dish: We had a light lunch: 'pizza' with a brioche base in her case, and a chorizo, courgette, spinach and gorgonzola tart in mine, both of which came with a salad garnish. Both were delicious and the exquisit lightness of the brioche and the pastry confirmed why Moemas bills itself as a patisserie.

An interesting selection of imaginative salads is available (priced per 100g) as well as a range of delicious-sounding daily specials.

A range of homemade cakes and pastries are on offer, including delicious-looking chocolate cupcakes smothered with chocolate ganache and topped with mint leaves and raspberry meringues.

The restaurant is licenced (ie. can serve alcohol) but also offers a delicious range of non-alcoholic beverages, including a delightful homemade mint lemonade served with sparkling water.

There's a lot of scaremongering done about the Johannesburg CBD, and although it isn't a place that I'd recommend that the tourist explore by themselves in the dead of night, during the day it's an interesting and vibrant place to explore provided that you take sensible precautions (such as not flashing valuables).

Exploring a CBD whose main claim to fame is its crime rate can be an exhausting business, so if you're looking for somewhere cheap and convenient to grab a bite to eat, you could do a lot worse than the Food Court at the Carlton Centre. Nestled at the base of Africa's tallest building, the Food Court is on the lower level and hosts most of South Africa's most popular fast food chains, including imports such as Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonalds, and more interesting local chains such as Steers (burgers), Spur (steakhouse), Nando's (Portuguese style chicken) and Mi Vami (Middle Eastern inspired food).

This is not gourmet fare - but then neither is the price tag - and you will be assured reasonable quality food in a secure environment with good amenities (such as decent toilet facilities) which you won't find as easily elsewhere in the CBD. And given that yu're here already, why not treat yourself to a view out over Johannesburg from the Top of Africa on the top floor of Africa's highest building?

Johannesburg was born out of a gold rush, and all the prospecting, rock breaking and making of and losing fortunes is thirsty work.

It should therefore come as no surprise that Johannesburg in the gold rush era boasted an enormous number of bars in which the miners celebrated their god fortune or downed their sorrows. Indeed, one of the most interesting exhibits at the excellent World of Beer is a map of Jo'burg in the 1890s, illustrating the location of all the bars as red dots - the resultant map looks like it is suffering from an acute case of measles!

One of the few survivors from that era is the Guildhall, which is located on the corner of Market and Harrison Streets. It is an unpretentious and convivial spot, with a traditional bar downstairs and a balcony upstairs which commands a view over Library Gardens and the lovely Victorian architecture of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. This is a great spot to retire for sundowners as you leisurely watch the population scuttle back to suburbia.

Favorite Dish: Like most South African pubs, there is a limited menu of 'pub grub' - probably the best options are the Portuguese staples such as prego roll (steak roll with peri peri chilli sauce) which are renowned for their stomach-lining properties. When I first moved to Jo'burg in the late '80s, the Guildhall was one of our favourites spots for a pub lunch on the Friday after payday - needless to say, not much productivity was achieved thereafter!

Looking to sample the quintessential traditional African delicacy? Well, look no further than nyama choma - traditional braaied (barbecued) goat, much favoured by our President, Jacob Zuma!

I was particularly taken by this nyama choma stall around the corner from the ultra cool Art on Main complex where goat was being braaied on an open grill. Seating was township style - on upturned crates - and the smell wafting down the street was delicious!

If this is something that's on your bucket list to sample, I would recommend that you try it for the first time somewhere like this, where you can be pretty sure that the hygiene is good - if you find that it's to your liking, then you can indulge your newfound taste in more rustic locations thereafter.

This is a sophisticated upmarket dining place in Melrose Arch that has an amzing menu that showcases the food of Kerala and Mahastrastra. The prices are reasonable and there is a good wine list. Service is excellent and thats saying alot! The rotis and parathas are out of this world.

Favorite Dish: The Vindaloos

High Tea at the Westcliff Hotel is an absolute treat, and not to be missed! It takes place mid afternoon and is open to non-residents as well as guests, but space is very limited, so be sure to book in advance.

High Tea is a hang over from the Colonial period and comprises a buffet of sweet and savoury offerings - cakes, pastries, scones and jam for the sweet toothivores and savoury tarts and other finger food to round off the experience. It is silver service - the tea pots and sugar bowls are solid silver, and other non-alcoholic beverages are also available for an all inclusive price. You certainly won't have to eat again that day!

The high point is the stunning view from the Terrace over the leafy suburbs of Saxonwold and Forest Town - particularly in the jacaranda season (October/November) when the houses are submerged under a carpet of purple blossom. From here, you realise why the established northern suburbs of Johannesburg are technically classed as a 'forest' by biologists due to the density of trees! The Terrace is also a very picturesque place for sundowners, although again, booking is necessary.

If you're in the area, don't miss out on the excellent Johannesburg Zoo, which is just across the road (and also has a good cafe by the Great Ape enclosure)

Favorite Dish: Everything! The British culinary tradition is often justifiably ridiculed, but there is no question that the Brits excel at breakfast and High Tea!

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As I have said elsewhere, I'm not a great fan of the Moyo franchise, as I find their food underwhelming and their in-your-face African approach 'gimmicky' - the face painting and the dancing I can tolerate, but the ritual handwashing (with said employee subserviently murmuring "wishee washee") really tries my patience ...

Moyo at Melrose Arch is all about the location and setting, and very little about the food (a sad conclusion to draw about a restaurant). Melrose Arch is a brand new precinct which has been specifically designed to facilitate al fresco dining, and even on winter evenings, it's possible to dine outside courtesy of braziers and patio heaters (don't even think about the greenhouse gas emissions, but then Melrose Arch is a monument to conspicuous consumption). Ultimately it's a place 'to see and be seen'.

Inside the restaurant is built on a number of levels with little nooks and crannies incorporated into the design. This lends an intimacy that is sadly lacking from many restaurants.

All in all, a triumph of design and branding, but a disappointment to the taste buds and best suited to business dining where you aren't personally picking up the tab.

Favorite Dish: The best thing that I've head there is the unspectacular sounding Nigerian peanut soup, which was really very 'moreish'.

Everything else I've had has been OK but unspectacular and overpriced - but then I guess you're paying for the location. I think that there is a dumbing down of flavours to suit a bland international palate, which is a shame given some of the vibrant cuisines that the menu suggests that it has drawn on.

The menu varies slightly between the different franchise restaurants, which I hope reflects a championing of local ingredients.