Red Door Cafe - Review

Hello Blogland! How's everything going on your side of the world? Today I'm sharing a little gem I found in Johannesburg, actually, I didn't find it one of my friends did and it's not really in the central area of Johannesburg but more so in Edenvale. 

My friend lives a paleo lifestyle so eating out at times can be a challenge when I suggested that we meet near the airport he found this lovely quaint place. 

The Red Door Cafe has both paleo and non paleo friendly dishes but all the dishes are ridiculously delicious. We had a bullet proof coffee. That was my first one and I'll definitely be having a second one soon... They even have great healthy dessert options available. We sat outside but took a peak inside and this place has so much character - I just adore it!

The only thing I will give you a heads up on is that they charge you for hot water and lemon which is unusual but hey, the taste is worth the R2.50! 

Are you following any diet regime? Or do you just like quaint places like I do?

Pizza Hut Is Back!

For most South Africans my age, Pizza Hut played a major role in our childhoods, there must have been at least one birthday party with Pizza Hut pizza and then suddenly the brand wasn't doing well here anymore and eventually it left South Africa.

I was carrying my niece

Well, when it came back a couple of weeks ago, I received a notification in one of my family group chats and I got soooooo excited. I used to love their pizza and the nostalgia of the pizzeria had me visiting them sooner than someone who is on diet should be!

The actual place is much smaller than I expected but after listening and watching interviews it is clear that the owners who brought the franchise back to South Africa underestimated the popularity the brand would bring. The premises they are currently are in is extremely small but they are planning to open many more branches and I hope they bring back the feeling of sitting in a proper pizzeria. With this branch being so tiny they only have two small booths and a few scattered tables outside the premises but there are no plates, you break your box lid up in four and have your four plates. 

Also, I like that they don't give you an order number, they use your name ;) #ItsTheLittleThingsInLife

I must say the pizza tasted exactly how I remembered, we ordered the thick base and it was delicious. The menu isn't as large as I remember it being but the options available are great and you can always create your own pizza. 

So what's your favourite pizza topping?

Also, watch this space tomorrow, the lovely Victoria from Social Media Blooms will be guest posting.

Trevor Noah ~ It's my culture!

I am so excited that last night I was able to attend the Trevor Noah show.

You see, it is highly unlikely that you haven't heard of Trevor if you're in the States and I know if you're in South Africa you know him - WELL!

For those that don't know Trevor, he is probably the most popular comedian in South Africa and one the funniest people I know.

Here is a clip of him on the David Letterman Show

The show was hilarious, like, laugh until your cheeks ache funny. I am convicned once again that my mother was the loudest laugher in the room and not because she is the loudest person but because she enjoys Trevor more than anyone else.

This show was different to the Daywalker, Crazy Normal and That's Racist! I found that this show had a lot more sexual connatation jokes. Now don't get me wrong I am in no way offended by them I just found it interesting how his jokes are changing. Then again it occured to me that Trevor is (almost) 30 (like my brother - they were buddies in Primary School) so his dynamic will change.

My favourite part of the show is where Trevor spoke about Julius Malema. Now I won't give you any details because I hope you et to watch his show but I found that at times during his Juju jokes I almost couldn't breathe through the laughter...

Here's a little skit of him, hope you enjoy it ....

Now tell me, have you been to the show? Did you like it? Which comedians do you like and WHY?

Restaurant Review : Aarya

In case you've missed it, I am a huge Masterchef fan and on Friday Night, I finally got to visit South Africa's first Masterchef winner, Deena's restaurant - Aarya.

Firstly, I like the name, I believe he named it after his daughter which also adds a sentimental element to the already emotional chef.

Secondly, I must be honest, I was told not to go to the restaurant because it wasn't "that great" but being the avid Masterchef fan I am I just had to give it a chance.

I went for dinner with my mom and aunt, we didn't order any starters because the bread was given to the table and we were already starving so we went for the mains.

My mom and I both ordered the Butter chicken with Jeera rice and I can safely say, it is worthy of an award. You have the option when ordering to ask for it to be more hot as it is served as a mild dish.
I eat hot food often so even with my request for it to be hot, it was still mild but still very tasty.

For dessert, we all had different options as you know, you can never have too few many options for dessert.

I had the Missisippi Mud Pie, my mom had the malva pudding and my aunt had the fudge picasso something....

Here are the pics from my experience but I was sitting underneath a heater and all the pictures have an orange undertone * SAD face*

Also, a couple of weeks ago, we went past Aarya and met the Deena, see.....

So my overall opinion is, the butter chicken is simply delicious. The desserts were ok but nothing to memorable, the service was a 9/10 and I would go back. I would like to try the butternut soup for starters. 

And another thing I like is that the "doggy bag" is environmentally friendly which is always a plus...

Have you been to his restaurant? Or have you eaten any recipes by any of the other Masterchefs? 

Ps: sorry for the crappy picture quality all of them are from my iPhone.

xxx

Neighbourgoods Market

Yesterday Candice,Lyle and I finally made it to the Neighbourgoods Market in Braamfontein, Johannesburg and let me warn you now - you will eat A LOT of good food! This is not the place to go to when you're on a diet and the shop owners are not afraid to remind you of that too... See pics below

We arrived around 11 o'clock and it was already packed and as soon as you walk up the ramp you feel as if you have just walked into another city. The market is bustling with loads of food options from Spanish Paella to burgers to pastries and loads of drink options.

We decided we wanted to try a few different foods so we purchased a whole lot of different things... First we tried the paella which is made in these  huge woks, right in front of you. Just looking at the food makes you salivate. We then tried a steak roll and smoothies...

We went upstairs to where the Designers display their clothes or jewellery which is very similar to the Old Biscuit Mill's (in Cape Town) ambience.

Back to our food, we then decided to try desserts. Candice started with a cleanse of freshly cut coconut and I had to take a pic with it, I mean, of course drinking from a fresh coconut on the streets of Jozi is truly an experience which needed to be captured on camera :)



And Can and Lyle took a cheesey and romantic picture with the coconut :)

Then we found these really cool brownies and cinnamon buns which we decided we would eat at home so I could have freshly made belgian waffles with fresh strawberries and ice cream and if that wasn't enough we shared a "Top Deck" Crepe which has nutella and condense milk, it was devilishly tasting!

After all the lines and food options we decided that we should leave because people who were seated were not getting up and we could only stand and eat for so long.

I will definitely be going back to Neighbourgoods but I will go earlier and reserve seats by making at least one of my group keep seats while we take chances to go pick foods. I have to try the burger which had at least 40 people queing for at a time! Also I would go with more money, you are paying for gourmet food and your pocket will feel it if you are unprepared and most importantly go with cash!

Have you been before? What did you think?

Here are some pictures from my experience...

Restaurant Review - Trabella

It occured to me that I eat out - a lot but I tend to find a place and stick to it.
While that might be great for the restaurants I do frequent, it really can become somewhat redundant.

Last week, one of my colleagues were moving offices and so we dediced to go out for lunch to celebrate/say goodbye.

One of my other colleagues lives near Trabella and she took us there (and treated us- how nice of her!) and I just fell in love with this place.

It's situated at the corner of Corlett Drive and Oxford Road, Illovo and it's really nice. I knew I had to go back so I could take more photos and so I could blog about it! There's just something about the atmosphere that is so chilled and it was enjoyable.

Back to my story, last week we went there for lunch but we had to rush back to the office for meetings... *sigh* but when I went back on Saturday with Candice,who has a really cool blog on fashion, I was a little dissappointed.

The food was still amazing, I ordered the same pizza to share and this time they split it...

BUT our waiter was somewhat off, perhaps hung over?

I really like the decor of the restaurant and the ambiance and I'll give my waiter from Saturday a break because our waitress during the week was on top of her game :)  This is the type of place that when people know about it they stick to it, oh damn it seems I've found another place to add to my redundancy BUT  pizza is worth it!

The food takes time to get to you but it really is worth the wait! I can't wait to go back to try more dishes.. Here are some of the pics and they don't capture the true essence of the restaurant.

Go try it and tell me what you think?