Shebeen Bar & Braai

So, there've been some truly epic meals this year, not least the much celebrated Galvins at Pompadour.  However, it has taken something truly very special to dust off the old blog, and this might surprise you; Shebeen.  Previously in Leith and now located on Morrison Street, Shebeen is a meat lovers' Mecca.  

South Africa is a beautiful and very special place, and Shebeen indulges in a true passion of South Africans - the braai.  Barbecuing is a favourite past-time and they know how to do it right, and so does Shebeen.  Two visits have confirmed that this is the place to come for high quality, expertly cooked meat - from their on premise butchered local 35 day aged beef to home-made boerewors and the truly epic Jo-burger - this place has my mouth watering just thinking about it.

The Jo-burger needs a special mention; this is a 1.2kg burger in a custom made 12 inch bun (they use a local baker to custom make a number of items for them, including for the bunny chow - see below).   Now, yes this is epic, but it's not a tacky men vs food gimmick; billed as for four hungry people or two very hungry people, this had to be one of the best burgers I've ever tasted.  Home made, the Jo-burger included off cuts of fillet from their T-bone steak offering and was cooked to medium-rare juicy perfection; needless to say we couldn't manage the fries (but a previous visit had already confirmed these as fantastic).

The quality of the meat, the heat of the braai, and the prospect of a 'Lion size' steak - think 900g T bone folks - confirmed this place will be a firm favourite, and we'll soon be checking out their lunchtime deals too.  While your vegetarian friends won't necessarily thank you, make sure you get along to Shebeen and experience some great South African hospitality.

Wannaburger

I can't remember the last time I was in a fast food restaurant, but it's definitely been a looooooooong time.  A particularly bad bout of food poisoning for my other half, reading fast food nation, blah blah, all the usual reasons.  I continued to crave the quick service, the informal dining, the hand to mouth eating, and that dirty but oh so satisfying guilt of wolfing down burgers and fistfuls of fries.  But we resolutely turned our noses up and resisted its greasy grasp.  

So we've come quite late to Wannaburger, having at first written it off as one of your more usual fast food joints.  But then we took a closer look; Fresh? Homemade? Locally sourced? Fully traceable? Free range chicken?  This is no ordinary fast food.

And it was pretty damn good.  The Aberdeen Angus beef patty was cooked perfectly - juicy and flavourful.   The buns are supposedly baked by a local artisan baker (and are definitely a cut above many buns served by other places that pride themselves on their burgers, but are let down by a dry pappy bun).  

A special mention goes to the chilli served in a little pot to diy your chilli burger – smoky and with a ridiculous depth of flavour; just delicious.  A chargrilled breast of free range chicken was again well cooked and moist (and happy chicken is an absolute must so I just LOVE that they do it here).  

Fries and onion rings are good and crispy, just as they should be.  Giant pickles!  Heaven.  

While it will of course be pricier than your run of the mill chain, it’s by no means expensive and completely worth it.  Oh, and you can buy booze - bonus points.  We’ll definitely be back, in fact we signed up for their loyalty card so we can indulge our fast food guilt whenever we like, but in the knowledge that this is fast food with a halo on.