Although South Africa has a sizeable German-speaking community, restaurants of the Germanic variety are not profuse. There are, however, a number of German-themed pubs that serve traditional specialities such as eisbein and sausages with sauerkraut, along with imported German beers.
A notable Germanic pub is the Bierfassl, in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands, an hour or so inland from Durban. The long-established restaurant has a rollicking atmosphere in a pastoral setting, the draught beer is excellent and so is the food, but it’s advisable to reserve eisbein when booking, as servings are limited.
In a very different rural area is Oliver’s, outside White River in Mpumalanga province. This Austrian guesthouse and restaurant is situated on a golf course in the steamy tropics of the Lowveld. Built to resemble an alpine lodge, the restaurant serves a range of Austrian and German specialities as well as lighter Mediterranean dishes.
The highest concentration of German residents is in Cape Town, and so are most of the restaurants. The Paulaner Brauhaus and Restaurant at the Victoria and Albert Waterfront is extremely popular amongst tourists. Named after the Paulaner monks, who brewed a famous Munich beer, the restaurant serves hearty fare such as pork knuckle, roast pork, goulash soup, apple strudel and a variety of regional German sausages. Paulaner Brauhaus and Restaurant provides a rustic German experience in the middle of Cape Town’s cosmopolitan heartland.
Groot Constantia, the oldest wine farm in the Cape, has among its restaurants the Groot Constantia Tavern, which caters to German palates with traditional fare and offers those tired of wine tasting a range of beers on tap.
The best-known German restaurant in the Cape is De Kelder, the oldest restaurant in Stellenbosch, situated in a restored homestead built in 1791. Redolent with history and the smell of oak barrels, De Kelder’s menu combines German and South African dishes – the most frequently ordered are ostrich, venison, goulash, oxtail and, of course, eisbein. Like many restaurants in South Africa, the kitchen prepares something for every taste, so seafood, steaks, poultry, pizza and pasta can also be ordered.
In scenic Hout Bay, Alpenstube cooks up Swiss-German delicacies including crispy cubed rosti potatoes.
On the glorious Garden Route, in the town of George, is the recently refurbished Hawthorndene Country Inn, built of Knysna logs and decorated in African style, with a fireplace for chill winters. The Inn’s Beefeater Restaurant has a German-style beer garden where meat is cooked on an open fire in summer. The menu offers local West Coast sole, a popular South African fish dish, as well as German specialities such as goulash, oxtail stew, liver and onions and, of course, eisbein.
East of Johannesburg is the somewhat industrial town of Boksburg, not often visited by tourists but the home of an extremely popular Austrian restaurant. Armourer’s Place can get rowdy after a steaming jug of gluhwein or two, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays, when guests sit on benches at long wooden tables while oompah tunes play and the atmosphere crackles with bonhomie
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