#Food

The bunny chow is a hollowed-out loaf of bread filled with curry. Invented by South Africa’s ethnic Indian community and traditionally eaten without a knife and fork, bunny chows are one of this country’s best-kept culinary secrets.

Sixth in my series of Sandton Snapshot posts, leading up to the publication of SandtonPlaces. Browse all of the Sandton Snapshot posts.

South Africans like meat. In my experience this stereotype generally applies across races, genders, colors and creeds. Hence, quality vegetarian cuisine is scarce in South Africa and the vegetarian restaurants that do exist tend to remain best-kept secrets. I myself am not a vegetarian. I don’t eat tons of meat but I’m not willing to give up the occasional burger, chicken leg, or chorizo-laced pizza. But I do enjoy vegetarian food and I’m dismayed that it took me nearly four years to discover the best vegetarian restaurant in South Africa. It’s more than vegetarian, in fact – it’s vegan. That means no meat, no eggs, no dairy. It’s also mostly “raw”, meaning the majority of the food is uncooked or minimally cooked. The restaurant I speak of is the Leafy Greens Café.

I think Yeoville is the most interesting suburb in Joburg. I’ve been there many times – for meals, boxing tournaments, and tours – and yet I always feel like I should be going to Yeoville more. Once home to the city’s bohemian intelligentsia, Yeoville is now the center of Pan-African culture in Joburg – where Congolese, Ghanian, Mozambican, Ivorian, and Cameroonian immigrants flock.

I’ve decided to intersperse my Sandton snapshots with Melville snapshots. I haven’t written about Melville – my home suburb – in a while. The newest 2Summers readers might not even realize that I live here, and I feel a moral responsibility to periodically remind the world that Melville is awesome. Also, a bunch of cool new restaurants and shops have opened in Melville lately. I’m going to try to feature one per week for the next few weeks.

Three years ago, right after I moved to Joburg, I ate at a Mexican restaurant in Melville called Café Mexicho. I was very disappointed in the meal and wrote a post about it called “Where Not to Eat in Melville”.