A Fabulous Food Safari

The "food safari" idea started back in our 20s when we had a group of friends who all lived in the same complex! We used to enjoy drinks, meals, and then a nightcap or coffee, each at a different home; all in one night, A.K.A. the "safari". This idea has since evolved and been used a few times over the years in varying ways, including visiting restaurants in the same area, or in this case, the same shopping centre! This technique has always been a great way to try a few restaurants at once! We love that the restaurants at Westown Square are all within a short walking distance from each other, which made this safari easy and a lot of fun! This is ideally done with a lot of time on your hands and a group of friends or colleagues to share the food with! Although unplanned, we ended up enjoying dishes from around the world, from Greece and Italy to South Africa. We experienced it all!

Drinks at The Bar in the Barn

Luke and Andile greeted us with much enthusiasm and went through some of their popular drink options with us. A "Hammer of Thor" from Robsons brewery (we have had this draft beer before and really enjoy it) and a Passion Fruit Sour from The Bar were a fab way to kick off the journey! It was a quaint little bar with a few bar stools, and a great view of the barn, the restaurants and the outdoor area.

Starters at Kalamata

Now this experience was an absolute treat!

Besides the many superb menu options on offer, we loved the family dynamics at work at Kalamata, brothers and mothers, all working together to give the diner the very best, authentic Greek dining experience possible! Getting the inside scoop from hands-on owner Aleko, about the family history behind most of the dishes, meant every dish felt like it was made with love and pride! An absolute must visit! Our starters came as a smorgasbord of options, and we thoroughly enjoyed it all. It was the taste of Greece in one fabulous serving. From the Zucchini chips, Mano's fried Greek cheese balls and Baba's octopus salad (these tasted even better the day after), to the dolmades, kolokithotiropita, and pita bread with tzatziki and tirokafteri (spicy feta cheese). All the flavours made this a fabulous start! (We will definitely be back here to try their mains, too. We do love us some good Mediterranean meals, and with this family, every dish will be good!)

Mains at Andrea's Italian Cafe

Andrea's is another family business; a badge they wear with pride. Father, Andrea, and sons, Luciano and Marcello, who greeted us on arrival, told us all about the "why" of their restaurant, which we loved. It really helps you to connect to the restaurant and the food, a truly lovely family vibe! After much discussion about the menu and what to enjoy next, we decided to go with Marcello's highly recommended Gnocchi lamb shank and the steak. The lamb shank gnocchi was good and different from what you expect from this type of dish. Made with homemade gnocchi, tender meat off the bone, and cooked in a unique tomato, red wine and rosemary sauce, it was so delicious! But the 300g rump steak, flame-grilled to perfection, served with chips and the Pepe Verde (green peppercorn) sauce, was absolutely exquisite!

We cannot say it enough, it was a 12/10 for sure. We looked across at other patrons' meals, with full bellies, but still had some food envy as the mouthwatering pizzas were placed at the tables. The half chicken, roasted in the wood-fire oven, was something we also decided would have to be a "next time" meal; the seafood and other pasta dishes all looked like we would have to come back to try them.

Dessert at Joops Place

We ended with a fabulous coffee and a crème brûlée at Joops. Made with velvety-smooth vanilla custard and crowned with a perfectly caramelised sugar crust, Justin makes it a point to try one of these when it is on the menu. We also had the most divine chocolate mousse from Joita's (their sister restaurant), made with 70% dark chocolate; rich, creamy and not too sweet, I'm a fan!

All in all, it was a fabulous 4-hour food journey around Westown's upper floor, and with so much more to explore in the future, we are super excited! We took a long, deliberate stroll back to the car to work off at least a little bit of the fantastic food we enjoyed. It's a no-brainer, with so much more to discover and savour, we will be back, for sure!

@westownsquare
@robsonsrealbeer
@kalamatakouzinakzn
@andreasitaliancafe
@joops.place