It's Official: Food In South Africa IS Better Than That Found In The UK

One of the main reasons I wanted to go to South Africa was to see if the food there really was better than that found in the UK. Back in London not a single dinner goes by without an (often uninvited) Saffan commenting on how much better the meat, BBQ, fruit, chocolate, weather, sex, politics, human rights, tax positions and people are back in their home country. In fact the only thing we seem to have are jobs, but the fact that that's all it took to get these people to leave their heavenly abodes says more about them than the quality of life in the UK.

But I digress. The point is that I made a point of eating as much as I could while touring South Africa, throwing out any sense of modesty (or diet) while I did so. I didn't really have a plan past going to as many braais as possible, but it turned out for Saffans food didn't just begin and end on the grill.

We managed to clock in three, maybe four, braais during our stay, all of various qualities and scales. All were awesome and very good at providing various succulent pieces of evidence to back the original claims made by the locals. I'm not sure I've ever tasted chicken so good; it literally exploded with juiciness in my mouth. But our hosts weren't just one trick ponies who were concentrating on the meat; no, for them hosting was a top to bottom affair resulting in wonderful salads and an almost uncountable number of guilt ridden desserts.

The same kind of approach was taken during the couple of home cooked dinners we went to. Multiple courses (including soups, dessert and then tea and cake), lots of exotic dishes (like, uh, prawns) and good all round conversation to boot. Full marks to the South African host then.

The times we chose to, you know, pay someone to feed us didn't disappoint either. The Thais and Italians were of a standard fair, but the fish restaurants were pretty darned amazing - apart from the fish and chips we ate in Cape Town which although good, I reckon I could have done better in the UK. Oh and I don't think I'd have been able to sample a halal ostrich steak in any of the other places I plan to travel to.

Which brings us to Spur. This is a chain of steak houses which we were told we just had to visit - we reluctantly managed to squeeze in a session for our final lunch before heading to the airport and I'm glad we did. I'm not even a big fan of steak and the like, but the ribs I had there were awesome.

I must contest the claim that fruit is better in South Africa. It was standard fare; I'd even say that the fruit in my home is of a better quality. Still, I was happy that it was so available.

Finally there was the junk food: namely the Crystal Steak Sandwiches, the Bunny Chows, the Gatsbies(?) and the Akhalwayas. However these little bundles of joy deserve a post all on their own, not least because they were part of a much larger inter-city tribal contest that us Brits were supposed to judge upon.