Panyaza’s Butchery, Rockville, Soweto
We chose this place to ease ourselves into our night of hopping. Situated opposite that once-famous spot, The Rock, this place is the quintessential shisa nyama (braai spot). You get fed and you become part of the in-crowd. The ambience here is the main attraction. At Panyazas your meal becomes a means to an end as opposed to an end in itself. When you arrive at the venue your first stop is the car wash across the road where, for about R50, you can get a spit and polish. While you wait for your car, assuming this is your primary purpose here, you can dash across to the venue’s spaza, grab a couple of ice packs for your cooler box before making your way to the butchery.
At the butchery you can select meat and once done hand it to one of the braai assistants, who will gladly do the hard work while you turn your attention to the more important game of socialising with a drink in hand. As a 33-year-old regular, Gordon Maeta, aptly puts it: “It’s like buying a braai pack and then chilling while friends come through. It’s like you are in your own backyard”. Tel: 082 731 9929
Highs:
Value for money is the biggest high. For R60 we managed to get a substantial serving of chicken, wors, steak and pap to feed four. The other benefit is that you save on drinks if you stock up your cooler box with cheap alcohol bought elsewhere. This is if you do not feel like using the bottle store on the premises. There is plenty of eye-candy to keep you entertained while you wait for your meat. Chakalaka gravy is optional.
Lows:
This is a totally outdoor experience and there is no protection from the elements. As we learned last weekend, there was little to shelter us from the dusty wind characteristic of August.
Nambitha on Vilakazi Street, Orlando West
If Panyaza’s Butchery is the epitome of ghetto fabulous then Nambitha oozes a bit of kasi sophistication. Situated in that famous street renowned for having two Nobel Prizewinners — Nelson Mandela and Bishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu — Nambitha is frequented by cigar smoking BEE types who sometimes have an Aston Martin to match.
When we arrived at the venue Thomas Mlambo of Supersport fame and I had a light moment when he asked me to help him park next to a breathtaking Bentley GT. He chuckled, “Hey baba, you must help because that is a Bentley my friend and I would not want to bump into it.”
Inside, the venue’s friendly manager Benjamin promptly organised a table for us on the outside patio overlooking the street. Nambitha, labelled a tourist destination by locals, is still popular with Sowetans who have cash to throw around. A meal for three with drinks cost us more than R300. The menu is great, consisting of a mixture of traditional African fare such as tripe and samp and familiar northern suburb’s cuisine like prawns and calamari.
“It is one of the best places in Soweto,” says 22-year-old Rosette Mogomotsi, a model and actress from Midrand, who spent two hours looking for the place. Being familiar with only Maponya Mall and The Rock, Mogomotsi says her friends helped her with directions.
The venue is also popular with groups celebrating birthdays and workplace functions. One such example is Milton Bora who celebrated his 70th birthday there. For such bookings Nambitha offers a buffet menu or patrons can also select an `a la carte menu.
“Why should we go north for fine dining when we can have fine dining here in Soweto?” asks Desiree Trout, Bora’s daughter, an MTV sales manager who helped organise the party. Tel: 011 936 9128
Highs:
Besides the great ambience and well-turned-out crowd, the venue is significant given its location and the rich heritage Vilakazi Street represents in South Africa’s history.
Lows:
It’s not exactly cheap, so one can’t just wander in off the street for a bite to eat. One has to decide that this is the time and place for a special celebration.
Sakhumzi Restaurant, Vilakazi Road, Orlando West
Sakhumzi’s main selling point is that it offers an authentic Sowetan experience. Situated in the same street as Nambitha, Sakhumzi has kept the authentic township feel as part and parcel of the customer experience. The decor is minimal — in synch with the Soweto of yesteryear, before the materialist rot set in. At Sakhumzi you get to enjoy a buffet meal for only R55 while you sip on your favourite poison.
Like Nambitha, the venue is a tourist attraction, but is also frequented by locals who pop in from the neighbourhood. The typical Sakhumzi patron is totally at home — not exactly obsessed with being seen in the right company. Tel: 011 536 1397 or 083 337 6925
Highs:
Sakhumzi’s rum and raisin ice cream.
Lows:
One sticking point, which my companions and I debated hotly, is the blurred line between providing an authentic experience and just down right tardiness. The jury is still out on this one.
Sedibeng Pub and Restaurant, Meadowlands
Situated a few kilometres away from the tourist hotspot of Vilakazi street, Sedibeng caters for an older and more discerning crowd. Unlike Sakhumzi and Nambitha, with their large tourist clientele, Sedibeng is a classy pub and restaurant frequented mostly by locals. A new and rising star, Sedibeng is bound to give Soweto’s most popular spots a run for their money. It was by far the venue at which we enjoyed ourselves the most. From the outside Sedibeng looks like a gated house in Jozi’s northern suburbs. But once through that gate, usually manned by brawny guards, one encounters a spacious lawn, neatly kept with wooden rocking chairs and, importantly, plenty of parking.
There is a patio leading into a magnificent lounge with a bar. The lounge is furnished with a combination of spacious modern couches and ottomans. There are proper dining tables for those who wish to eat (with a knife and fork). There are two flatscreen televisions. The adjacent room is only for dining and you could see patrons here craning their necks, hoping to migrate to the lounge and the comfort of the couches after their meal.
On arrival we were greeted by the sound of generators. The power, we were told, was out, but this did not detract from the ambience. A little later the power returned and so we watched the MTN 8 Cup football game between Chiefs and Santos. Meanwhile memorable R&B tunes played in the background. I caught myself singing to the music while staring at the flatscreen on the wall.
At this stage of our township crawl there was not much space for food. But one of our party enjoyed fried hake for R40 while Mlambo and I enjoyed a dessert. Tel: 011 988 9518
Highs:
Watching Kaizer Chiefs demolish Santos 4-0 from the comfort of a stylish venue.
Lows:
I wished I could have stayed longer but, characteristic of my generation, I had to rush off to a friend’s bachelor’s party.