The Side Plate

Be-Side ourselves

Our traditional post-yoga brunch session on Saturdays led us to a gem that was hidden from us till now. But what a find! The Side Plate in Illovo, Jo’burg (opposite Summer Place – Ciavelli’s old house) is a venue set in serene surroundings of water features and landscaped gardens. The restaurant forms part of the Berloni Interior’s Showroom.

We managed to spend about four hours there, a long-stretch brought on by amazing food recommended by Clint, excellent cappuccinos, a few good bottles of Mulderbosch Chenin Blanc and the best company! Our table of three (with Sasha, Dimitri’s wife) grew as the morning progressed and as our friends Nadia, Dana, Ronel and Greg joined us. They and we fell in love with the place and the food.
We shared the French toast with a twist. It was made with a crispy croissant, not toast and it came with syrup, youngberries and beef sausages. This was the beginning of the beginning of our wonderful exploration. Dimitri finally moved on to eggs Benedict but preferred Sasha’s poached eggs with smoked salmon and capers. Ion had the mozzarella, bacon and cherry tomato filled omelette – not bad. Our super-supple yoga instructor and her sister had the vegetarian options of the Mediterranean sushi (no raw fish in this one) and the couscous and haloumi salad – nice big portion.

Then Greg joined us and we were “forced” to have lunch with him – yummy chicken burgers with haloumi…

Obviously we had to share a couple of deserts. The halva ice cream was pretty good, but nothing like Clint’s recommended favourite – magically filled phylo pastry (check out the photos on www.yourtastebuds.com).

Until we eat again,

Your Taste Buds,

DimitrION