Food Bloggers

How am I supposed to concentrate when I get sent droolworthy images like this?! It’s quite rude really!! Certainly completely disruptive to my day!

But when South Africa’s favourite toffee makers launches its very first Mother’s Day hamper – just in time for the BIG day (Sunday, May 13 – just in case you needed reminding) JAG Communications, PR company for Darling Sweet, just had to let everyone know … so we’re sharing the news!
The Darling Sweet hamper is a box full of love, and available only from the Darling Sweet online shop. It consists of a beautiful limited-edition box full of creative, delicious ideas so that you can say: “You’re the sweetest, Mom in the world”. The contents include a ready-made malva pudding mix, together with recipe card, Tannie Evita’s Classic Toffee Spread for the sauce and a gorgeous, colourful measuring spoon-and-cup combo, as well as two other well-loved Darling Sweet products – a 30g Coffee Toffee bar and a box of 200g Fleur de Sel (salt).

Says Darling Sweet’s Hentie van der Merwe: ” For us, mothers epitomise delicious baking smells coming from the kitchen and sitting around with family and friends enjoying a cup of tea and tucking into a homemade treat.
“So we thought we’d put together a hamper that bought back that nostalgia, while at the same time making it easy for the kids to whip up a malva pudding and give mom a break.”
For those mothers (like me!) not into baking or malva pudding, Darling Sweet can also put together a hamper from their extensive product range, to suit any mom’s toffee flavour tastebuds.
Darling Sweet Mother’s Day hampers can be ordered from darlingsweet.co.za for only R299 (shipping included), and are available until stocks last, while their bespoke online gift hampers are available all year-round.
Pop onto the Darling Sweet website at http://darlingsweet.co.za/ to see what sweet treats are available!

So as a Joburg foodie blogger who gets absolutely no opportunity to attend or blog about Kosher food – a little-known niche in Joburg’s wider foodie/blogging community, but something that I live and breathe every single day – I was pretty excited to see that local butchery, Nussbaums had invited two friends of mine, well-known foodies, Jozi Food Whore and The Food Musketeer to sample their excellent deli fare!!

I immediately contacted Nussbaums myself and asked if they actually knew that there were real, live kosher foodie bloggers (okay, at least one … me) living in their midst, and did they want to invite me over too!?!  Which led to me and the Other Half (OH) having Sunday lunch at Nussbaums today!!

For those who don’t know, Nussbaums Butchery was actually established way back in 1936. I remember when many kosher establishments had their shops set up in Doornfontein, and this was one of them. We didn’t visit the area often though, as my mom opted for phoning in her orders which would then get delivered! Moving ahead a few decades, and Nussbaums is now a bright, modern space in the heart of Glenhazel. Think small-scale Golders Green with the big mommy-cars, the problematic parking, the Friday shopping frenzy, and you’re pretty much describing what to me is … home!

Where the magic happens!

The guys are gathered around the grill!

Nussbaums deck – the place to be for Sunday lunch in the sun!

OH and I arrive in the midst of Sunday lunchtime on a beautiful, hot sunny day; one of the first we’ve had at the start of our Joburg summer. It seems like everyone is making the most of being outside. We’re greeted by the very friendly Dale, who is behind the incredible publicity that Nussbaums is now recieving on social media. Being that I’m no stranger to the shop, I’m quite thrilled to get the opportunity to take pictures (without looking like too much of a weirdo), and get behind the counter too!!

The range of products is impressive, and the stock levels are currently high, due to the expectation of increased buying in the coming week or so. It’s Rosh Hashanah – The Jewish New Year – in less than 2 weeks, and everyone is anticipating the usual eating frenzy that accompanies holiday-time in most cultures. It’s a time of family, friends, get-togethers, and large meals … and a time when we give thanks for what we have, and offer up our prayers of hope for the coming year.

As Nussbaums say “We know meat”, and they certainly take that seriously! Their menu offering is based on the popular New York Deli style. We were presented with 3 of their most popular items: a Hawaiian burger, an Argentinian steak roll, and the piece de resistance, their Hot Beef on Rye!! Oh … My … Goodness!!! This is good, old-fashioned, deli food at its absolute best with no stinting on anything at all. Do your jaw exercises beforehand so you can get your mouth around the huge, generous portions! The smash burgers (because of the method used in ‘smashing’ a ball of mince down to give it its burger form) are really popular and the grill is constantly on the go, doing a steady business in takeaways.

The juiciest Hawaiian Burger (that’s pineapple, not cheese!!!)

The jam-packed New York Beef on Rye

The Delectable Argentinian Steak Roll – you HAVE to try it!

The large staff contingent moves around both the store and outside service area like a well-oiled machine. They’re all extremely efficient, and ever so friendly, and above all, they know their stuff!

Basically Nussbaums is doing a sterling job in keeping up with current trends both in food and on social media. Why shouldn’t our local kosher establishments be marketing themselves in the same way that other stores and restaurants do, especially when they know that what they’re offering is of equal, often better quality? It’s all about being competitive, and knowing how to participate in the playing field, and Nussbaums knows exactly what they need to do to keep themselves relevant and current. Well done and good for them!

OH trying to get his mouth around the generous Burger!!

The Hot Chips are perfection!

Go and visit! They’re at 53 Ridge Road, Glenhazel, and get yourself a smash burger or a beef on rye while you’re there! They’re open from 7:00 am – 20:00 pm Monday to Thursday; 6:00 am – 15:30pm on Fridays and 8.30 – 14:00 on Sundays. They’re closed on Saturdays for Shabbat (the Sabbath). Check which days they’ll be closed during the upcoming Jewish Holiday Season.

You can call them on 011 485-2303, or you can visit their comprehensive website at www.koshermeat.co.za where you can also order online and have your order delivered to you!

You don’t have to keep kosher to eat kosher … you don’t even have to be Jewish!

***AVOID*** AVOID *** AVOID *** AVOID *** AVOID ***

Sometimes there needs to be a zero rating, especially reserved for those experiences where even a rating of 1 seems too high!! I don’t think I’ve every written such a negative review, but our experience at this establishment was so awful, that I feel the need to warn fellow restaurant-goers about it! Even if the food is of fairly decent quality, it’s completely overlooked by the atrocious service and shocking handling of the situation by management. One can’t expect staff to be adequately trained when it’s clear that the manager himself has no management skills, and no understanding whatsoever of how to handle his clientele.

We arrived and were seated quickly, received our menu’s and offered drinks, which arrived fairly quickly too. We ordered our meals – my companion ordered gnocchi and asked if some cream could be added to her napolitana sauce (i.e. an aurora sauce). The waitress assured her this wouldn’t be a problem. Gnocchi with napolitana sauce is priced on the menu at R85 as opposed to gnocchi with bolognese or 4-cheese sauce, which is R99. Our meals arrived in due course and we enjoyed them. The waitress removed our plates, and then … we seemed to become invisible. Nobody approached our table for close to 20 minutes! We weren’t offered dessert, coffee … nothing … not even our bill. It’s at times like these that I’m tempted to test the theory of walking out without paying to see if anyone actually notices!

We decided to phone the restaurant and ask for the manager, and our bill. The person who answered the phone claimed that he was the manager, and my companion told him that we’d been ignored for quite some time and please could he bring us the bill. And then we waited some more!! Yes, really!! After some more time, we saw him walking around and we called him over, and my dining partner asked if he was the person who she’d spoken to earlier. I’m not sure he understood, but he said yes. So we asked him why we were still waiting for our bill. He proceeded to then go and chat to the cluster of wait-staff hanging around the restaurant door. We waited a few more minutes and eventually our waitress materialised with our bill and a card machine, and she stood next to our table waiting for payment! Yes, she rudely stood by our table waiting, after ignoring us for so long.

Our bill included an extra charge of R10 for cream. We asked the waitress what the extra charge was for and she informed us it was for the addition of cream into the napolitana sauce. She hadn’t told us there’d be an additional charge. We called the manager who told us that the waitress was supposed to tell us about this additional cost, and she’d told him that we had said it was fine. We told him that she had told us no such thing and insisted he remove the additional charge, which he did. A new bill then arrived without the additional R10, and the gnocchi was now charged at the incorrect price at R99!! We called the manager back. My companion was now, understandably, seething!!! She explained to him that what he’d done was actually illegal as although he’d removed the additional charge, he’d now increased the price of the dish she’d ordered on the bill. He didn’t seem to understand what she was trying to explain to him, and seemed quite flustered as he realised that this whole situation was completely beyond his control. He eventually returned with yet another bill and a R100 note and said that he’d decided to just charge us R100 for the whole meal! Seeing as I’d already paid cash and received change, and my companion had already paid her share on her card, we just wanted to get out of there after this whole prolonged nightmare. So we said that would be ok, and we took the R100 and left. But the manager still seemed rather confused as he still didn’t seem to know quite what had happened.

So … be warned!!! There are establishments out there that still manage to operate with a complete lack of quality or care for the customers they serve. How they stay in business is a mystery to me, and it’s not only the unsuspecting customers who suffer but also the foolish owners who leave their restaurants in the hands of useless managers and staff. Primafila is one such restaurant. It should be avoided at all costs!!

We waited a bit for all the hype to die down before visiting this much anticipated French Patisserie.

The restaurant is much bigger than I initially thought, and although we thought it was

Lobster Pot

full when we arrived, we were taken through to the dining area in the interior of the space, which you don’t see when you’re looking in from the outside. It’s a lovely suprise! The decor is all so beautiful and tasteful and you just want to sit and take it all in – I know it’s all got that French feel to it, but to be extremely English, my reaction would be that it’s all extremely ‘genteel’! (For those who have no clue what I’m talking about, it’s a compliment, I promise!)

Mushroom Ravioli

The menu is quite extensive, and not just limited to pastries. There really is something for every taste, including many vegetarian options, although some might find it slightly on the pricey side. I opted for the mushroom ravioli, and my partner had the lobster pot. The food presentation is perfect and for those who eat with their eyes, you won’t be disappointed.

Chef Tony visited our table to see if all was in order and suggested Nutella crepes for dessert! It was like he already knew us! He did however, recommend that one portion be shared between two of us, as the crepes are quite rich, and he was quite right. They were delicious, but half a portion was quite sufficient for one person.

We’ll definitely be back, and I can’t wait to try out the authentic French onion soup, served in a bread bowl!

A tiny little gem of a place tucked away in plain sight in the hectic main street of Grant Avenue, Norwood. Their menu is limited – they do fried chicken in a variety of ways, and boy, do they do it well! The aioli is something out of this world (yes, I asked for more) – they definitely worked some sort of magic on it!

Gujon Chicken with Aioli

And the chicken is of course, fresh, crunchy and just moreish. The aim here is to provide good quality, wholesome food and to focus on what they do best rather than to provide a wide variety on the menu and focus on quantity, which is when quality often suffers. It’s obvious that the two guys who started this (with food trucks at festivals and markets) realised that they’d found something they did well and decided to stick with it! Good for them!

And don’t forget to try an amazing Jam Jar – the watermelon one was absolutely delicious!

The staff are friendly and obliging and the service is efficient. You have to go and visit. It’s fun, and probably not what you usually have in mind when you think of ‘eating out’, but you definitely have to try it. And once you do, you’ll be hooked!