If you’ve no objections to eating pork, and a mouthful of juicy pork belly doesn’t fill you with delight, then we suggest you get your taste buds tested. Whether braised slowly overnight or roasted in pork fat with a side of cracking, this mouthwatering delicacy is worth boycotting bacon. Track down succulent pork belly dishes in Johannesburg with our nifty list.

The Griffin (Illovo)


Even though the pork belly dish at the Griffin is only available on Sundays with the rest of their ‘Sunday Roast’ specials, it’s nonetheless worth waiting for. Marinated in a winning combination of garlic, chilli, fresh ginger, onion and thyme, the belly is slow-cooked overnight at a low 120°C. Served with spring onion mash, crackling and apple cider jus reduction, it’s definitely one of the stars of this modern gastropub that attracts a diverse clientele. The comforting classic is available at R110.

Coobs (Parkhurst) 


Coobs. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

This modern restaurant at the northern end of Parkhurst’s 4th Avenue gourmet lane serves a spectacular pork belly cooked in the classic confit manner: at low temperature and covered entirely under pork fat, before being roasted further with a smoky barbecue sauce and served with a wholegrain mustard jus and glazed organic vegetables grown on their own farm. This contemporary urban restaurant’s menu changes often, but pork belly seems to be one item that stays put, currently going for R145.

Licorish Bistro (Bryanston)


Licorish Bistro. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

At this elegant, modern restaurant, you can tuck into another unique example of slow-roasted pork belly: theirs is served with a fennel and butternut atchar and succotash (a sweetcorn and bean salad). At R130, this pork belly becomes melt-in-the-mouth tender from slow braising overnight and is served with a crisp skin achieved by applying a liquorice glaze during the roasting phase.

DW Eleven-13 (Dunkeld West)


Marthinus Ferreira’s deluxe restaurant is again in the running for a spot in the top-10 restaurants in South Africa this year. His pork belly is roasted with fennel for 12 hours and the end result is served on a bed of celery purée, a salad of warm borlotti and green beans, fondant potatoes, port jus and white wine sauce. Balancing rich flavours with those that are fresh and light, this dish is a winner at a price of R175.

The Foundry (Parktown)


The Foundry. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

This corner restaurant in Parktown has doors that open wide to spill tables onto the pavement and become part of the street vibe. They serve slow-roasted, honey-glazed pork belly with cauliflower and potato purée, macadamias and a coffee gastrique – an intensely reduced sauce with a particular flavour, in this case, coffee – at the incredibly good price of R 112.

Have you got eaten a particularly good pork dish lately? Tell us about it in the comments.