This fun, eclectic restaurant runs on romance, comforting food and fabulous service. Eat Out critic Hennie Fisher visits Mrs Simpson in Mpumalanga.

Food

Plump black snails cleverly skewered on a stick and served with creamy gorgonzola sauce form a fantastic introduction to the type of starters you can expect at Mrs Simpson. Prawn tails are wrapped in either cucumber ribbons or phyllo, then deep-fried and served on cucumber with soy, and beef carpaccio is served with wasabi cream cheese.

Mains include traditional bobotie; trout fillets (skinned) with horseradish salad; chicken schnitzel with cheese sauce; and Ponte di Legno (seafood pasta in a chenin blanc, tomato and basil sauce).

A fish, chips and salad dish at Mrs Simpson. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Oven roasted pork belly with a sweet peach sauce made with red wine and black-bean paste found its way onto the menu after a recent trip by the owners to South America, while items like oxtail and kudu steaks with Madagascan green peppercorn and cumin sauce remain firm favourites.

Also consider the slow cooked rosemary-lamb shank with a dollop of minted yoghurt on mashed potato, or the East Indian lamb curry with basmati, sambals and poppadum.

There’s a lighter menu for daytime meals, and a number of delicious desserts for hot or cold days like apple-and-blueberry pie, chocolate torte, lemon cheesecake, malva pudding and custard, and everyone’s favourite, peanut butter ice cream.

Drinks

Instead of a formal printed wine list, the wines are displayed at the end of the restaurant. Reds and whites are shown ‘trophy-style’ in no particular order and might include anything from Gabriëlskloof, Beaumont, Springfield, Steenberg, Vergenoegd, Southern Right, Thelema and Knorhoek.

The interior decor at Mrs Simpson. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Service

It’s always a joy to see accomplished hospitality professionals at work, and Sue-Anne Laurence and Al Bosman, who have long been at the helm of service at Mrs Simpson, ensure that interactions with the clientele remain dignified and on-point at all times. They can handle anything from young inquisitive minds to a detailed explanation of who Wallis Simpson was. The owners are also on duty to support their two seasoned front-of-house personnel.

Ambience

The approach is personal and playful. For years, Mrs Simpson allowed anyone to swap a pair of shoes from their selection for another, provided they were equally slinky and sexy. Gradually, patrons started bringing their own wedding pictures to post on the wall, further enforcing the sense that this fun, eclectic restaurant runs on romance, stories of love, heartache and the joys of married life. Outside, large ‘street signs’ on both sides of the restaurant warn motorists that Wallis (the resident cat) might cross the street at any time.

The interior at Mrs Simpson. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

And…

There’s a separate area upstairs that’s ideal for small celebrations or parties that require a little more privacy. The kitchen is downstairs and the owners are never shy to invite diners into the kitchen for a bit of a chat.

Eat Out critics dine anonymously and pay for their meals in full. Read the full editorial policy here.

Have you visited Mrs Simpson recently? Tell us about it in a review. (Until the end of September 2015, your ratings will decide the winners of the first-ever Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Best Everyday Eateries.)