Welcome to Week 41 of my #Gauteng52 challenge, for which I visit and blog about a new place in Gauteng Province every week for 52 straight weeks. This week I visit La Marina Foods, a fish and specialty food supplier in Modderfontein.
Marie-Lais and I drove into a bland office park in Modderfontein. We blew right past La Marina Foods the first time, asked directions twice, and eventually made our way to an imposing metal gate. Is this place really open to the public? I thought. It looks very warehouse-like from the outside.
But the security guard opened up for us. We parked, stepped inside, and found ourselves in a culinary dream world.
La Marina is first and foremost a food supplier – mostly seafood – supplying restaurants and hotels all over Joburg and South Africa. If you live in Joburg you’ve probably driven past many La Marina delivery trucks without noticing.
But La Marina also has a retail shop and deli, again mostly seafood, but also selling cheese, meat, and exotic packaged foods from all over the world.
The food at La Marina made me really, really happy.
craft vinegar from Stellenbosch
tortilla chips from Midrand
And then there was lunch. This was by far the best part of my visit to La Marina.
Marie-Lais and I shared a salmon sushi platter, followed by a massive cooked seafood platter that we could only half finish between the two of us. It was the best fish I’ve eaten in South Africa.
An 18-piece salmon sushi platter costs R180, or about $13. The seafood platter costs R320, or $23, and is more than enough for two people. (Full disclosure: Our lunch was on the house, which goes against my normal “no freebie” policy for #Gauteng52. But how could I say no to this?) La Marina also serves oysters and sparkling wine.
Don’t be put off by the office park or warehouse-like exterior. La Mariana is a serious lunch destination (although only during the week and until noon on Saturdays) and well worth a journey to the East Rand.
If you like seafood, please go. And bring shopping bags as you definitely won’t get out of there empty-handed.
La Marina Foods is at 7 Platinum Drive in the Longmeadow North Business Park, open Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 4:30 and Saturday from 8:00 to 12:00. Call +27-11-608-3277 or email info@lamarinafoods.co.za.
Read all of my #Gauteng52 posts and check out the interactive #Gauteng52 map.
How have I never blogged about 44 Stanley Avenue, the coolest shopping and dining complex in Joburg, which is only five minutes from my house?
I guess it’s wrong to say I’ve never blogged about 44 Stanley; I’ve mentioned it countless times over the years (see here and here) when writing about specific restaurants or shops that are there. But I’ve never written a dedicated post about 44 Stanley as a destination and it’s about time I did – especially now, with the holidays upon us.
I’ve been dreadfully uninspired lately, struggling to think of anything I want to blog about despite having a long list of great ideas (many of which you, my readers, provided in September). I’m finding it hard to feel positive about life at the moment. But on Saturday Thorsten and I got the chance to visit Indwe Park, an indigenous garden and sculpture park in Braamfontein, and I knew I had my topic for today.
Given this week’s political nuclear bomb blast, it feels like a weird time to publish a light-hearted post about my recent (pre-election) jaunt through the United States. But I’m hoping you’ve have had enough of the U.S. election horror show – I know I have – and are ready (at least temporarily) for some wholesome American travel adventures. If so, please read on about my four-day visit to Maine, the northeastern-most state in the lower 48, with my sister, Susanna.
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It makes me smile, when I see it.