Hennie Fisher

Food
The starter platters include such delights as macaroni cheese balls, chicken wings, deep-fried biltong and jalapeño poppers. Apart from being quite delicious, some thought has also clearly gone into naming them. Apart from the Sausage Fest, Deep-Fried Man and Soul Platter, there is also the Puff Puff Pass, described as a blazing selection of smoked boerewors, chicken lollipops, smoked ribs (lamb and pork) and onion rings.

There are various other sections offering snacks, salads, brunch items, sandwiches and superb burger. Try the Killer Kraut, which comes with sauerkraut, mustard, chips, smoky honey-glazed bacon, Jolly Monk flavoured mayo, pickles, and lettuce. Other wonderful burgers include the Drunken Hombre, The No-Bro, the Bid Daddy Stuffed Burger and the Blue Marrow Burger.

Those who may not want burgers could dine on ribs and steaks and, if you have space left, there are some equally decadent desserts to try.

Drinks
They currently offer around 30 beers on tap (including an uncommon stout on tap), with an additional 228 bottled beer varieties that include non-alcoholic beers. In addition to a beer taster, they now also have a gin taster featuring a range of artisan-produced gins such as Woodstock and Malfy. Continuing the trend of offering interesting tipples, they also have some great whiskies (including a good choice of Japanese whiskies).

Service
They have a friendly bunch of servers led by expert PJ Waugh. He is enthusiastic and passionate about his job, and will provide intelligent suggestions for those who may be timid about the large selection of beverages.

Ambience
The restaurant offers wonderful outside fire baskets as well as gas heaters for those months when even Pretoria turns cold. The restaurant does have space inside, shared with the large bar that houses the multitude of beers on tap, but is predominantly an outside venue and is often jam-packed inside and out.

And…
The owners are the creators of one of the most successful beer festivals in Pretoria, and offer other educational services such as Academy Night, where they feature an invited brewer to talk about their brand and ethos. They also do wine and gin nights following the same model.

(October 2017)

Eat Out critics dine unannounced and pay for their meals in full. Read our full editorial policy here.