Down South is the Place To Go for Prawns

Johannesburg has an exciting restaurant scene, something often overlooked because of the sophistication found at many Cape Town eateries, its chief rival in foodie land. A thriving tourist trade down south sees to that.
     Tourists in Johannesburg mainly stick to the more expensive places, which includes fine dining at five-star hotels and in the glitzier shopping malls, of which there are plenty in the northern suburbs.

Julian Nagy presides over the top of the table with Lucille Blumberg, Joan and Graham Donet, Debbie Nagy and to his left Rob and Sam Deverceuil and Greg and Debbie Smith

    These people often miss out on a thriving restaurant trade in more out of the way places, such as the Restaurant Uniao in the Portuguese Hall down south, in Turffontein.
     That's where Debbie Smith lured club members last week for our fifth Wednesday social gathering, and a lot of fun was had by all.

Me, Linda and Frayne Mathijs enjoying the evening

     The Portuguese Hall is not that easy a place to find, especially because it was dark an seemingly deserted when most of us got there. I say most of us because some of us (like DG Jankees and Judy!) gave up trying to find it and went home.
     They missed out on a fine Mozambique style Portuguese dinner with seafood and other meals to die for.

Jenine Coetzer is normally behind the camera, so we made sure there was a photo of her and hubby Steve du Plessis, looking satisfied after a great meal

     Typically Portuguese, these were served at prices so low they could make you weep. A plate with eight queen prawns cost R120, grilled calamari came in at R90 a plate, my prawn and calamari combo was R120, sardines were R80 a plate and a whole baby chicken (some baby!) was R99.
     Casal Garcia, a Portuguese green wine (slightly off-dry and with a pettilant sparkle and only 9% alcohol) ) came in at R145 a bottle.
     Crusty Portuguese bread rolls and a sensational peri peri sauce kick-started the meal.

Steve with President Carol and Nick Stier 

     It didn't matter that we were the only guests there. The staff told us they're very busy over weekends and that it was unusual to have only one group present. We didn't mind, as the service was so much faster than if the kitchen was dealing with other diners as well.

Debbie's prawns (top) and a plate of plump sardines

Paul couldn't choose between chicken and prawns, so had both!

    The prawns were perfectly cooked, as were the sardines, calamari and chicken and all the other dishes ordered and the slap chips were a definite highlight. The bill came to R2 815 or less than R200 per head, not bad for a fun evening out.

The friendly Uniao staff, who probably got the biggest tip of their lives last Wednesday!

     Is Uniao better than Js Diner, Parreirinha or any of the other dozens of Portuguese style restaurants all over Johannesburg? The best answer is to keep on trying all of them!

The trophy cabinet at the Portuguese Hall. They're probably mostly for soccer, but one would like to think that somewhere amongst them, there are a few for the kitchen staff!

     Dates to Diarise: Everybody should be looking for players for the Golf Day on Friday, 10 November and please start collecting and bringing bottles for the Barrows of Booze that we give away as raffle prizes. We want to make sure that this will be the most successful golf day ever. The money will be for The Link Literacy Project.

     A Thought for the Week: When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace. - Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970)