VAT, which is currently 14%, is already included in all prices on the menu. Most restaurants do not charge a service charge. The waitrons (the local name for waiters and waitresses) expect a tip of around 10 to 15%. However, an operating fee of 15% is usually automatically charged for tables with more than six or eight people.
The following restaurants are divided into three categories:
Expensive (over 200 R)
Moderate (100 to 200 R)
Inexpensive (up to 100 R)
This is the average price for a three-course menu for one person and a bottle of the cheapest wine or a comparable drink, with taxes, but without tip.
Lifted
Le Canard
From a stately Georgian country estate, this elegant and romantic meeting place was created, in which elegant halls are generously draped with fabrics and decorated with antique, furniture and Persian carpets. Many flowers are blooming outside in the gardens.
The dishes are typically timeless. Delicacies with duck, beef and seafood are the hallmarks of Le Canard. As a starter, you should definitely try the king crab and fruit salad on ginger bread, and continue with drunk chicken, which is flambéed at the table and served in coconut milk, which is seasoned with ginger, juniper and brandy. The best way to top this meal is with baked cheesecake.
Address: 163 Rivonia Road (Sandton), Johnnesburg
Phone: (011) 884 45 97
Website: http://www.lecanard.co.za
Linger Longer
Housed in the converted villa of a former mining magnate, the chic decor calls for elegant clothing or evening wear. The service is expert (menus are superfluous because the waiters know all the standard dishes and specialties by heart) and the top cuisine is world class.
Lobster cream soup and goose liver pate are recommended as a starter. As a main course, you should either follow breaded rack of lamb, Atlantic salmon, duck (always popular) or a seductive specialty. This menu is topped off by a mixed fruit ice cream.
Address: 58 Wierda Rd E, Sandton, Johannesburg
Telephone: (011) 884 04 65
Vilamoura
Vilamoura is one of the best Portuguese fish restaurants. It’s chic and pretty formal. The house platter of seafood is famous, pleases every fish gourmet and is suitable to impress important guests (with the corresponding price). In addition to seafood, Vilamoura’s piri-piri chicken, Portuguese steak and chouriço (traditional Portuguese sausages) are always delicious. A Latin American band plays most evenings.
Address: Sandton, 5th Street, corner of Alice Street (Intercontinental Sandton Towers), Johannesburg
Phone: (011) 884 03 60
Website: http://www.vilamoura.co.za
The Butcher Shop and Grill
If you want to eat a good steak (pork, ostrich, lamb, beef and game), this is the place for you. As a starter, we recommend the excellent snails, which are served in garlic, lemon and other ingredients that are unique to The Butcher Shop. As a dessert, you should try the simple but delicious ice cream in a rich chocolate sauce. The menu also includes poultry dishes, schnitzel, sausages and seafood.
Address: Mandela Square (Shop 30), Johannesburg
Phone: (011) 784 86 76
Website: http://www.thebutchershop.co.za
Moyo Melrose Arch
The Moyo Melrose Arch, which extends five floors deep into the basement, imitates the impressive underworld of the famous Johannesburg gold mines and presents itself with hammered copper ceilings, Ali Baba lanterns, colored columns and mosaic tables with raffia doilies and oil lamps.
Amazing dishes include Samaki Kavu from Kenya, Chicken Yassa from Nigeria, Wild Babootie from South Africa, Grilled Barracuda with Tomato and Basil from Mozambique and a range of fragrant Tagines from Morocco.
Address: 5 Melrose Square, Johannesburg
Phone: (086) 100 66 96
Website: http://www.moyo.co.za
Moderate
The Radium Beer Hall
The Radium, which opened in 1934, is Johannesburg’s oldest bar and grill restaurant. It has a historical ambience that is just as tempting as the dishes on the menu and just as authentic as the house’s live jazz, in which the rhythm is tapped on the floor with your feet and the sympathy of the sheet metal ceiling resonates. The walls are full of memorabilia, from photos of pre-war soccer teams and jazz musicians who played here to classic posters and newspaper articles that capture the history of the radium.
Address: Orange Grove, 282 Louis Botha Avenue, Johannesburg
Phone: (011) 728 38 66
Website: http://www.theradium.co.za
Cheap
Chon Hing
Every restaurant that can claim to have served authentic and delicious Chinese dishes for over 40 years has to do something right. The landlady Yvonne takes the guests to a colorful plastic table with rickety chairs like at school. She tells her guests stories about a city that has experienced everything and serves the best chow mein with shrimp (one of 100 dishes) beyond Beijing. The restaurant is simply charming and timeless.
Address: Ferreiras Dorp, 26 Alexander Street, Johannesburg
Phone: (011) 834 32 06
Fourno’s Bakery
Fourno’s Bakery is the best place in the northern suburbs for breakfast with a newspaper and at a table in the sun. Bakers work all night to provide guests with an astonishingly large selection of delicacies, such as warm bread, pastries, quiches, cakes, samosas (triangular, deep-fried dumplings), pies, rolls and full meals such as pasta dishes, salads and very good sandwiches. The famous farmer’s breakfast is excellent and takes you all day. We recommend rye bread with goat cheese, spinach and poached eggs.
Address: Jan Smuts Ave (Dunkeld West Center), Johannesburg
Phone: (011) 325 21 10
Website: http://www.fournos.co.za