Sunset Bar, Fern Hill Hotel
This pub at the historic Fern Hill Hotel is a 10-minute drive from the Nelson Mandela Capture Site on the R103. On 5 August 1962, Mandela was arrested here while posing as a chauffeur. The pub is a great place to stop for lunch before you visit the site to take in the memorial sculpture and accompanying museum ( thecapturesite.co.za).
The hotel’s restaurant, The Snooty Fox, is famous for its excellent cuisine and its cooking school, but the pub is low-key. It’s off to the side of the main foyer in a large room with a sunken seating area. There are red leather booths with deep-button backing, dark tiled floors and a wooden ceiling – old world and cosy.
It’s the perfect hideaway on a cold afternoon. Enjoy tasty food like a chicken mayo toastie with bacon and spring onion (R60), or chicken tikka curry with sambals and poppadoms (R150). If you’re in the mood for something fresh, try the trout (R170), which is sourced from a nearby farm, or try one of the famous vegan dishes like the beetroot burger (R160).
As you fill your belly with delicious pub grub, ponder this… Fern Hill was originally a farm. The first structures on the property were built by the Swann family who came from Scotland in the mid-1800s. It would go on to be a trading post, a boarding house and, after the turn of the 20th century, a holiday resort. The property is lush, with tall jacaranda trees dusting the grounds in purple. The hotel building itself has an air of historical charm – simple, yet elegant.
After the Poltera family bought the property in 1989, they dedicated themselves to restoring it to its former glory. Fern Hill Hotel reopened in
1990. Alex Poltera, son of the owners, is in charge of the kitchen and has made a name for himself as one of the Midlands’most celebrated chefs.
He’s known for pioneering vegan cuisine in the area.
Fern Hill’s history is tangible and you’ll see it in the details – in the fireplaces with their intricate metalwork, and in the plush carpets that swallow your footsteps as you walk. Nelson Mandela ate at the hotel in
1996 when he was awarded “The Freedom of Howick”. If it was good enough for Madiba, it’s certainly good enough for us.
Where? On the R103 just outside Howick.
Contact: 033 330 5071; fernhillhotel.co.za