eating and drinking in johannesburg, south africa.
rainy day flat whites at father coffee.
april 2024
we only had a couple days in johannesburg between cape town and safari, so we kept it pretty chill. you’ll notice most of the places we went to were in rosebank, the suburb we stayed in.
father coffee rosebank
177 oxford road, rosebank
we were overjoyed to find some very good flat whites on a rainy morning at father coffee.
father coffee covered patio.
toasted banana bread.
proud mary
26 cradock ave, rosebank
we clocked a couple visits to proud mary because it was the bar and restaurant attached to our hotel. the food was tasty and the bartenders were great. they introduced me to blind tiger gin, which i adored, and i haven’t figured out how to get my hands on it here in the states.
west coast oysters with thai nam jim ad mignonette.
spicy lamb kofta, garlic labneh, green chili, lemon.
also, we finally got to try nando’s! i didn’t realize it was a south african chain, so i was pretty excited that our first time having it was actually in south africa.
nando’s peri peri chicken!
boba at iris garden.
an inner city food tour
we did a food tour of yeoville through dlala nje, a tour group and community center in the area. after getting to see some of the programming they offer for local kids, we set out to explore the yeoville market where we got to see and experience a part of the city we couldn’t realistically and safely do on our own.
la camerounais
27 rockey st, bellevue
the first food stop was for some fresh cameroonian grilled fish. this was probably the best thing we ate in the city.
cameroonian grilled fish with fries and puff puff.
amazing texture on the puff puff.
we walked around the yeoville market which reminded me a lot of the markets we’ve seen in different parts of asia.
yeoville market.
market produce.
it was explained to us that yeoville is home to many immigrants from across africa who come to johannesburg looking to work. this community board was full of listings for rooms and work, with gum as the adhesive.
gum wall.
bersu fekad
33 raleigh st, yeoville
after exploring the market and surrounding streets, we settled down from some delicious ethiopian food.
various wot and injera.
beef tibs.
we ended our night back at the dlala nje headquarters, in the ponte tower.
ponte tower.
dlala nje event space on the 51st floor.
night views from ponte tower.
night views from ponte tower.
the tower itself has a crazy history to it, but the building itself is pretty wild. it’s a hollow cylinder and our guides even brought us to the base of it. it’s an eerie, surreal space that’s been featured in a few movies.
looking down.
at the bottom of ponte tower.
inside looking up.
shortmarket club
199 oxford road, rosebank
after safari, we had one night back in johannesburg before flying home. we stopped for dinner at shortmarket club, though based on recent internet searches, it has since closed. the space was whimsical and the food was a great way to wrap up our time in the country.
thai sashimi: pad thai, nuac chom, basil oil, cucumelon, coconut yoghurt.
duck salad: feta & gorgonzola cream, toasted walnuts, confit duck leg.
curry trio of lamb: seared lamb loin, confit lamb belly, masala curry sauce, orange & fennel salad, lam jus.
venison: parmesan pap, chakalaka, brulee onion, red wine jus.
cute stair mosaic outside shortmarket club.
