A few months ago on the corner of Bolton and Jan Smuts a new restaurant opened it’s doors to the public with an interior made of burnt orange, cobalt blue and wood and a menu full of South African inspired dishes from Braai Broodjies to Lamb Shank served with Biltong Pap, Chakalaka and Smokey Tomato Sauce.
The space itself is really nicely designed and quite New Yorkish in it’s look and feel. My favourite parts were the long indoor-outdoor counters that they have looking out directly onto the street and the plush velvet seats. One day when I’m a proper adult I’m going to have a velvet couch.
The food is good and hearty with some options that are familiar and some that sound like an interesting combination of ideas and flavours.
They also have a pretty awesome cocktail menu filled with all sorts of wonderful concoctions like a PBJ Sandwich – Sour Roasted peanut infused with Dewars 12 year old whisky sours, Frangelico, rhubarb and fresh lemon. Yum!
Shane, Nina and I had a very nice lunch on our visit to Social, below you will see some photos of the dishes that we smashed 🙂 If you do go you must have the Cured and Seared Beef with ponzu dressing and ginger and the Pulled Pork Mini Tacos, they were delicious. We also really enjoyed the Caramel and Peppermint Crisp Sundae made with homemade caramel and mint-ice cream.
For mains, Shane had the Lamb Shank which was really filling and I had the Prawn Roll which came with Sriracha grilled prawns, avo and mayo. It was good, but the roll kind of let it down, it felt like it should have been baked in house.
Social Parkwood forms part of the ever-growing family of cool restaurants filling this particular block on Jan Smuts, Saigon Suzy is actually owned and run by the same creative minds so if that’s a favourite of yours then you will love Social.
This lovely spot is a great idea for lunch or supper and on the weekends you’ll be treated to some live music and DJ’s for a little something out of the old ordinary.
Address: Corner Bolton Road and Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood, Rosebank, Johannesburg, 2193
Telephone number: 011 327 6104
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