Tjaart Potgieter
LIFESTYLE
Saturday evening. I was fantasising about Sunday lunch at the Troyeville hotel – I hadn’t been there for quite a while – and I thought it would go something like this: here we are, sitting quietly at a corner table waiting for our chicken livers and grilled calamari, sipping a glass of Portuguese vinho verde, watching the patrons as they start filing in …
The reality was quite different. In a comedy of errors, the friend from Cape Town I’d invited to lunch – to introduce her to something of Johannesburg’s essence – never arrived. So I ended up rushing for a taxi, and arrived at the hotel at 12.35pm. There was no table available, not in the newly refurbished, very flamingo pink Flamingo restaurant, nor on the terrace, which I believe offers a stunning view over the city.
Note, rule number one: if you want to have lunch on Saturday or Sunday at the Troyeville hotel, book a table in advance or arrive early.
And lunch is the time to go, weekdays included, because that’s when the chef cooks his daily specials. Homely, robust Portuguese fare – fresh fish, earthy stews – served without pretence, but seriously tasty and, at times, quite magnificent.
So there I sat, stuck in a corner in the hotel’s very loud sports bar, sipping a glass of vinho verde while waiting for my chicken livers …
But it was worth it – my chicken livers arrived fast and freshly cooked, not too spicy, perfectly done without being overdone, with a basket of fresh home-style bread and rolls. The vinho verde (Casal Garcia) was as sparkling and refreshing as ever, and the homemade piri-piri, which I prefer to order separately and use in minuscule amounts, was as numbingly hot as ever.
The specials, which are always served with a soup of the day, were roast beef, roast pork, grilled bacalhau (salted dried codfish soaked, poached, then grilled and usually served with a mountain of fried onions) and grilled king-klip. The codfish felt a bit hefty to me – it’s a real winter dish – and I’ve never really liked kingklip, so I settled for pork.
The soup was caldo verde (green broth), which hails from the north of Portugal, and it is no surprise that it is now the Portuguese national soup. It is a simple mixture of potatoes cooked in stock, a lot of finely shredded kale and a smattering of chopped, garlicky, smoky chourico sausage, the slight bitterness of the kale adding just the required edge to the earthy potato flavour.
The roast pork arrived, two thick slices of fatless meat, succulent and tender without falling apart, bathed in a deliciously garlicky unctuous light gravy, accompanied by flavoured rice, buttered vegetables (carrots and peas like mom used to do them), and a mound of perfectly fried potato cubes. In fact, whatever the chef does with potatoes, whether boiled, fried or chipped, is always wonderful.
No room for dessert. I wish I had, but I end my Sunday lunch with one more glass of wine, replete and happy.
All this for R90. The imported wine was the most expensive (R47), while the main meal cost a mere R29, and the livers were extra at R14. This is real value for money – and that’s not the only reason I’ll come back here for a tasty square meal.
By the way, right next to the hotel is the Portugal Fisheries, which has some of the best and cheapest fresh fish in town, a great delicatessen, and, on Fridays, the hotel’s famous stuffed calamari with a filling of rice, prawns and chourico for you to cook at home.
The Troyeville hotel can be found at Bezuiden-hout Street, Troyeville. Tel: (011) 402-7709