Raising the food and drink stakes in Rosebank
• The Park Corner complex hosts the Bolton Road Collection, Proof liquor store and Bar Ber Black Shop
When a friend told me that mates we were joining for dinner had chosen Bolton Road Collection in Rosebank, Johannesburg, I groaned. I had been there a few weeks earlier, and definitely wouldn’t have chosen to go back.
Its name grated – why does a single restaurant have the word “collection” in its title – what’s it a collection of … tables?
The menu had more bird illustrations than an entire episode of Portlandia. The ambience was not unpleasant but yawningly unoriginal — reminiscent, with its exposed brick, incandescent bulbs and industrial fixtures, of a North American nowhere-land: Vancouver, Austin or downtown LA.
These were the forgivable offences. Far less so was the mediocrity of my R95 short rib burger, which had been ordered medium but arrived verging on well done. Some of the supposedly triple-cooked chips seemed stodgy in the middle. And my friend’s west coast mussels were blandly underwhelming, with an aioli so oily it would have received a “fail” in a home economics class.
On my second visit to the restaurant, the birds were still splattered all over the menu and the décor was still Sex and the City circa 2004. But the experience was different — the food was great, and that made all the difference.
This time I had the haybaked cannon of lamb (I didn’t know what a cannon of lamb was either — turns out it’s the lamb’s loin, sans bones or fat). It was perfectly cooked — succulent and tender and slightly charred at the edges, accompanied by little lamb tortellini parcels that I doused in the spicy harissa sauce.
My friend to the left had the pork belly with barley and beer jus — crispy-topped, fatty without being too fatty, salty without being too salty. My mate on the right ordered the burger and this time it was cooked to order — medium rare. I pinched a few of his chips and they were vastly improved too.
I was glad that the team in the kitchen had brought their cooking A-game, glad too that I’d given the Collection a second chance. Because Rosebank sorely needs something like this — an eatery offering upmarket comfort food with a creative twist, served with proper cutlery and crockery and a dash of charm.
It also serves great drinks. Although the decent range of beers includes internationals (such as Vedett Extra Blond Ale from Belgium), most are South African craft brands. I had the very pleasant Scallywag IPA draft from Woodstock’s Drifter Brewing Company.
The wine list has been thoughtfully edited, with a few surprises such as the Bosman Fides Grenache Blanc Orange. I opted for the Force Majeure, a Chenin Blanc from the Swartland.
On the spirits front, there is a pick of 17 whiskies; a selection of gins, tonics and garnishes for a custom G&T and a bunch of cocktails — classics such as the mojito, along with oddities like the Potted Plant (rum, Drambuie, chocolate liqueur, peppermint crisp and vanilla crisp).
The five cocktails listed under “The Bottle Store” are served in little medicine bottles. I found this a tad gimmicky. It tasted fine, but is it old-fashioned of me to want my Old Fashioned freshly prepared?
The new Park Corner complex in Rosebank is now home to Proof, a new liquor store focused on offering alcohol that is interesting and tricky to find. They’re still getting their fridge installed, so are a bit light on wines (in a couple of weeks from now expect a juicy line-up of effervescent foreigners — Champagnes, Proseccos, Cava and the like).
“Our local wines are spectacular and are promoted very well by other liquor stores,” says Proof’s Tyrone Cocks. Their selection will be “small batch, artisanal and aren’t necessarily stocked in other stores”.
In the meantime, there are 19 local gins, whiskies (including three from the iconic Japanese distillery Nikka) and a range of cognacs. They’ll soon be taking delivery of one of only six bottles of the Chateau de Montifaud 150th Anniversary to be imported into SA (a blend of six eaux de vie representing each generation of the Vallet family that has owned the distillery – including one from a cask from 1850).
Things are no less exciting in the beer department. You can get an empty 2.2l Growler bottle filled with one of several craft choices on offer; Aces Lager from Midrand, Mad Giant The Guzzler Pilsner from Johannesburg’s CBD and Durban’s Poison City Punk Rocker Pale Ale.
Proof also offers Brewdog’s Tactical Nuclear Penguin uberimperial stout which, at 32% ABV, was the world’s strongest beer upon its release in 2009. Also from Scotland are several Innis & Gunn beers which have been aged in oak barrels that were previously used for whisky and bourbon.
This range would have come in handy the night I decided to try Coalition, the Neapolitan pizzeria next door, which wasn’t yet licenced. It’s a beautifully low-key space.
Feeling thirsty I popped around to Bar Ber Black Shop, wedged between Proof and the Bolton Road Collection. By day, it’s a self-consciously hipsterish barber shop (think of a gentlemen’s club crossed with a Subway station); as the day progresses it evolves into an unabashed watering hole.
There were only two red wines on offer, both from Indaba; we risked the Mosaic Red Blend — a ripe, underwhelming choice as it turned out.
We shared the very nice Cedare starring spicy salami, olives, roasted garlic and blue cheese, made with homemade mozzarella, OO flour that’s risen over two days and cooked for 90 seconds. You’d have to ask someone with a more discerning palate than mine whether fancy flour makes any difference, but I think I did detect a lighter, chewier quality to the singed dough.
We also shared the slowcooked short-rib, which was ridiculously tender and decadently fatty as good short rib should be, but rather petite.
There’s a “speakeasy” hidden behind a door at the back of Coalition called Sin & Taxes (a working title, apparently) but although I had read online that it’s meant to be open every day except Sunday, it was mysteriously closed on the Wednesday night we visited. I felt rather disappointed as I’ve heard good things about owner Julian Short’s mixology skills.
And so, in search of a postpizza nightcap, we ended up where it all began — at the Bolton Road Collection, sharing two bottles of Force Majeure, yakking away until we were the last to leave, all the while marvelling that we could be sitting outside on a balmy summer’s night in Rosebank – yes, Rosebank! It’s not quite the Lower Eastside, but it’ll do.
ON MY SECOND VISIT, THE EXPERIENCE WAS DIFFERENT — THE FOOD WAS GREAT, AND THAT MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE