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Neighbourhood gems: Where to eat in Pretoria East

Monday, February 3rd, 2020 by Eat Out

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From coffee shops to fine dining, here’s your culinary checklist for eating out in the leafy suburbs east of Pretoria.

This selection comprises the Pretoria East restaurants that made the cut for the 2020 Eat Out 500, the list of best restaurants in the country as rated and reviewed by our panel of critics for the 2020 edition of Eat Out magazine (on sale now). But we know the city is crammed with loads more gems and mainstays that didn’t crack the nod. Please tell us about your favourites in the comments section at the end!

Afro-boer

A selection of baked and café goods are excellent here for breakfast or brunch. Soups include cauliflower, sweet potato and coconut. The lamb shank and salads are equally interesting, with roast duck breast, smoked trout, and leafy lamb options. The smoked chicken panini is delightful, served with a guava relish, and the trimmed rib-eye on the bone is grilled to perfection, served with hand-cut fries and best enjoyed with the Hazeldean craft beer. The Asian-style pork belly curry is another winner, with its zingy ginger and tamarind flavour. For dessert, choose from the selection of freshly baked cakes.

Blos Café

The menu here is as versatile as it is smart. Home-made quality hamburgers with quirky toppings are top of the list, but a recently installed pizza oven might change that status. Or go vegan and share a falafel pizza – veggies, hummus and dukkah served on a falafel base – and the three-nut curry of roasted butternut, chickpeas, cashew nuts and coconut in a red Thai curry sauce. This is a paradise for baked goodies, with frivolous decisions to make between condensed milk roosterkoek, gluten-free carrot cake, brownie-bottom cookie-dough cheesecake, or fudgy triple-chocolate brownies.

Fermier – Nominee

Chef Adriaan Maree may be on the shy side, but get him talking about sustainability and he’ll have you in a verbal headlock about his passion and future plans for Fermier. Standout dishes might include the perfectly pink trout with apple, radish and smoked butter; and a sweet and fleshy superbly cooked lobster offset by salty samphire and a tart hint of verjuice. An ending of apple with miso caramel, almonds and Earl Grey ties the whole experience together.

Fermier Restaurant

Fermier Restaurant. Photo supplied.

Karoo Café

Karoo Café offers a comprehensive menu of well-prepared South African classics with a twist. For breakfast, you could choose the Karoo roosterkoek with condensed milk and jam, or huevos rancheros for something more robust. Interesting light lunches include a fillet-and-pawpaw salad and a warm lamb salad with lemon, cumin, couscous and yoghurt dressing. On the main menu there’s a mild ostrich curry, a mushroom-and-chickpea stew, a lamb potjie and a traditional red-wine oxtail. There’s also African bream or tilapia and, of course, a traditional bobotie. For dessert, the rooibos malva pudding promises a decadent treat.

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La Coco C

Even though there are several items for those with special dietary requirements, there’s also more to the menu, like a delicious cauliflower-and-butterbean tikka masala and a Bangkok-style coconut curry served over sticky rice. French toast comes with berries or streaky bacon and peanut butter, and sweetcorn-and-pumpkin fritters are served with a poached egg, smashed avocado, tomato salsa and a sriracha dressing. Other items include omelettes, salads, lunch bowls, sandwiches and wraps, as well as a variety of baked goods.

La Fiamma

Expect everything Italian, from thin-based pizzas and pasta to risotto and meat dishes. To start, don’t miss the signature deep-fried rosemary focaccia strips. Main meal highlights include salmon on a bed of saffron risotto topped with a citrus jus; slow-roasted pork belly with candied mustard fruit and a pear-and-cider jus; and chicken breast wrapped in phyllo pastry and stuffed with spinach and feta. On the sweet side, try the Alla Nutella pizza with marshmallows and berries; zabaglione served with candied lemon and raspberry coulis; or crème brûlée served with a yoghurt sorbet.

Tin Roof Café

Exceptionally good food in a gorgeous farm-style setting. The mussels en papillote is wondrous, a parchment pocket of shiny mussels bathing in coconut cream, coriander, chilli and celery. The delicate and intensely flavoursome lamb croquettes are equally attractive. Eye-catching mains include several chicken options, a wild mushroom risotto and pork belly with an eisbein spring roll, crackling, and bacon-and-cider. If it’s on special, order the exquisite kabeljou steamed with wild rice and almonds. The customisable pizzas are made in a wood-fired oven and served on a thin base with gloriously crisp edges. Choosing a dessert won’t be easy, but why not dial up the decadence with the velvety chocolate crémeux, featuring nuggets of crunchy honeycomb?

Brought to you by Stella Artois

This selection comprises the Pretoria East restaurants that made the cut for the 2020 Eat Out 500, the list of best restaurants in the country as rated and reviewed by our panel of critics for the 2020 edition of Eat Out magazine (on sale now). But we know the city is crammed with loads more gems and mainstays that didn’t crack the nod. Please tell us about your favourites in the comments section at the end!

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