#Food

A couple of Sundays ago, Thorsten and I were finished hiking the Kloofendal Nature Reserve and looking for a place to eat. We were in Roodepoort – an area neither of us know well, dominated by big shopping centers – and had no idea where to go. Thorsten drove as I aimlessly searched Google Maps for interesting restaurants.

Ever since I moved to Joburg I’ve been driving past a shabby restaurant building across from the Westdene Dam, at the corner of Lewes Road and Motor Street. The restaurant used to be a Portuguese place called Tasca do Sol and once looked vaguely intriguing, with a wide patio and a retro, 70s/80s vibe. But it was never quite intriguing enough for me to actually go.

A few days ago, I received a hot tip from my friend Debjeet about a Korean corn dog place in Boksburg called Mustardbox 713.

To finish off my Western Cape road trip (read about the earlier parts of the trip here, here, and here), Thorsten and I spent two days at the De Hoop Collection in a remote part of South Africa’s Overberg region. The De Hoop Collection is a privately owned lodge inside the De Hoop Nature Reserve, which is run by the provincial government entity CapeNature.

I’m taking a quick break from my Western Cape road trip series to tell you about Syrian Rose, my new favorite restaurant in Fordsburg. Syrian Rose is unquestionably the best place in the entire city to chow down on spicy grilled chicken, shawarmas, and fresh fruit juice.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I really enjoy wine tasting in South Africa. I’ve done a few media visits to various South African wine regions over the years, and recently I’ve made an effort to actually learn something about wine so I can figure out which wines I like best and not sound like a neophyte when talking/writing about them.