Afrodisiac - african food and a show and other Johannesburg, South Africa Restaurant Reviews

Restaurant Name: Afrodisiac

One evening we went out to dinner with our friends, Nik & Tandor (who were getting married), Nik's parents (Elizabeth & Brian) and Nik's brother Andy. Nik was excited to take us to a place they had dined before called Afrodisiac, which is located in a suburb called Linksfield, about 10 minutes drive from where we were staying in Edenvale.

Apparently, one of the main attractions of a meal at Afrodisiac is the drummers and dancers that greet you as you arrive, and perform at the front of the restaurant during your meal. Unfortunately, when we dined there was a big storm with lots of rain, and there was to be no drums or dancing that night. Oh well, the good company, interesting food, and excellent wine list soon made up for it!

We declined the offer of complimentary face paintings and set to the important task of choosing the first wine for the evening. We sampled a couple of different red wines (Pinot Noir and Pinotage) during our meal and were duly impressed.

Favorite Dish: Food wise, starters included the Trio Game Carpaccio, the Deep fried Camembert, and the Cameroon Seared Venison. The Carpaccio was interesting - a mix of Ostrich, Crocodile and Kudu, and the Crocodile was a white meat which somehow surprised me. Main courses included the Wild Duck breast, the Moroccan Lamb shank, the Kudu fillet, and my choice - the West African Venison neck cous cous, which was very delicious.

We didn't stick around for dessert, as our friends had a freshly made batch of chocolate ice cream for us to sample back at their place, though I am sure that the desserts at Afrodisiac would have been almost as good.

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Theme: Local
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$31-40  » Currency Converter
Phone: +27 11 443 9990
Directions: Cnr. of Civin Drive and Linksfield Drive, Linksfield, Johannesburg 2192
Website: http://www.theafrodisiac.co.za/
Other Contact: info@theafrodisiac.co.za

Restaurant Name: Ocean Basket

Friends told us about this great value seafood place close to where we were staying called Ocean Basket, and we had lunch there one day. It is part of a chain, as most places were that we visited.

Favorite Dish: We ordered a big glass each of icy white wine and a Seafood platter 'for two'. The platter had juicy prawns, mussels, fish, calamari, baby octopus, and most importantly chips ; ) It was all very tasty and more than enough food for two people.

We were impressed with the quality of the food and the very reasonable price. Now we just need an Ocean Basket to open up near our flat in London!

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Theme: Seafood
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Directions: Edenmeadow Shopping Centre, Cnr Van Riebeeck Ave & Modderfontein Rd, Edenvale
Website: www.oceanbasket.com
Other Contact: edenmeadow@oceanbasket.com

Restaurant Name: Mozart Ice Cream

We heard a rumour that Mozart was the place to taste the best ice cream in Jo'burg. Well we had to try it for ourselves didn't we!

There are around 30 branches across South Africa, and we visited the one located in the Greenstone shopping centre in Edenvale. It is just a take away place, and there were about 20 ice cream flavours to choose from. It looked pretty good actually, and we agonised for a couple of minutes over which flavours to choose.

Favorite Dish: We both had a cup with two scoops - I had the Mozart Symphony and the Chocolate Chip, and Alex had the Super Caramel and the Chocolate Fudge. Mmmm....it was really good, and the star flavour was definitely the Super Caramel.

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Theme: Ice Cream
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Directions: Greenstone Mall, Modderfontein Rd & Van Riebeeck Ave, Edenvale
Website: http://www.mozart.co.za/

Restaurant Name: Ciao Baby Cucina

Lunch time in Edenvale doesn't offer too many options, so we headed back to Greenstone shopping centre for a meal. This time we opted for Ciao Baby Cucina, which is one of a chain of modern restaurants offering a large menu of Italian favourites.

We had very friendly service, and were impressed with the stylish decor and presentation of the restaurant and our meals.

Favorite Dish: We were going out to dinner that night, so opted for a lighter lunch. We both had a Panini - Alex had the "Bistecca" with 100g sirloin steak, onions, tomato, rocket and mustard, and I had the "Club" with Grilled chicken breast, avocado, bacon, mozzarella cheese, lettuce and tomato.

The panini were big, ingredients were fresh, and we really enjoyed our lunch. We washed our food down with a glass of some good local wine.

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Theme: Italian
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: +27 (0) 11 452 6855
Directions: Greenstone Mall, Modderfontein Rd & Van Riebeeck Ave, Edenvale
Website: http://www.ciaobabycucina.co.za/

Restaurant Name: Spur Steak Ranch

It was our first day, and after an overnight flight and then the excitement of the 'dog incident' we were ravenous. We headed to the Greenstone shopping centre, in Edenvale, in search of some lunch, and the first place we came across was a cheerful steakhouse chain called Spur.

We were given a friendly greeting and handed the large glossy menu filled with pictures of the food options. The restaurant was colourfully decorated - obviously catering towards families, and there is apparently a large play area as well (though we didn't try this out!).

Favorite Dish: To eat I had the 200g Rump steak, and Alex had the 500g T-bone. The steaks came with a choice of potato, vegetables or salad. We took the potato option, and then shared a side order of "two hot veg", which turned out to be a Spinach puree type thing and a pumpkin mush.

Not the best food ever, but entirely edible, and a bargain compared to London prices!

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Theme: Steakhouse
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: 011-4522897
Directions: Greenstone Mall, Modderfontein Rd & Van Riebeeck Ave, Edenvale
Website: http://www.spur.co.za/
Other Contact: 7eagles@spursteakranch.co.za

Restaurant Name: Ola Milky Lane

Ola Milky Lane is a chain of Ice cream parlours. We visited the branch in the Greenstone mall, in Edenvale. It was afternoon tea time and we needed a sweet treat. The friendly staff seated us in a comfortable booth and kindly bought us a couple of big glasses of water, whilst we decided what calorific treat to eat.

The colourful menu is filled with pictures of tempting ice cream sundaes, and although we were feeling piggy, we decided it was best to just share something - thankfully, as our choice was pretty big!

Favorite Dish: We decided on the 'Monster Sundae' with ice cream, brownie, hot fudge sauce, cream and chopped nuts. It was tasty but very sweet and it wasn't long before we had demolished most of it and felt comfortably ill, if you know what I mean!

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Theme: Ice Cream
Comparison: about average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Directions: Greenstone Mall, Modderfontein Rd & Van Riebeeck Ave, Edenvale
Website: http://www.milkylane.co.za/