The Yeoville Dinner Club offers the best African cuisine experience in Joburg

Depending on whom you ask, Yeoville is regarded as one of the most unsanitary, unwholesome and unsafe parts of Joburg. Others perceive the inner-city neighbourhood the best one-stop shop for those seeking rich African culture. It is also home to one of the most culturally significant culinary eateries on the continent, the Yeoville Dinner Club, established by self-taught cook Sanza Sandile.

Guests are greeted by what Sandile refers to as “naughty and lovely” welcome cocktails, an elixir of Egyptian arrack (a flavoured, translucent and unsweetened spirit made by extracting anise seeds in grape brandy), fruit juice and Ghanaian herbal bitters. This is the point when your taste buds ask: “Have we been dead for your entire life?”

The fragrant herbs and spices Sandile uses in his dishes lead you to the dining area, centred by a long table decorated with crockery, cutlery, homeware and other creative artefacts collected from his travels. Your mood is lifted as you try to place guests’ accents. They hail from as far as North and South America, Europe, Asia and various parts of a continent Sandile draws inspiration from: Africa.

Sandile and his kitchen staff throw away the rule book at every chance they can. Instead of various individual courses, they bring out all the food at once — more than 14 dishes when I lost count — making you feel intertwined with the people at the table. Here, you learn to share with your brothers and sisters.

Oddly, one of the standout dishes is a local staple, but elevated using beer batter: perfectly crispy magwinya (South African doughnuts) with the softest centre. Paired with earthy cassava leaves stewed with dark lentils, caramelised onions, leeks, groundnuts and cumin seeds, this combo is a gift from the gods.

With each spoon, fork and hand dipped into a sauce or condiment or mains, Sandile has a knack for demonstrating how wrong you have been about what great food is. It is like he specialises in extracting every single bit of flavour from everything. It is as if he channels his inner grandmother when he pickles chillies, preserves vegetables and uses his own cultures for yoghurt. He pickles his own aubergine — which he refers to as East African chakalaka — adding fenugreek, garlic and chilli, making it soul-soothingly mouth-watering.

If possible, try and pace yourself so you can taste the truly unusual spread, as you would never forgive yourself if you were not taken aback by the nutty egusi (West African melon seed soup) mixed with lightly fried pumpkin leaves.

For dessert, a combination of guavas poached in cardamom, fresh kiwi fruit and silky maas, followed by African Bubbly (sorghum beer mixed with effervescent palm wine) only prove that this is the best African cuisine experience in Joburg. From its location to the choice of food, it is not for the faint-hearted.

Viva Yeoville, Viva!

• The Yeoville Dinner Club is at 24 Rockey Street and costs R635 per person. To book call Sandile at 083-447-4235. For more information, visit yeovilledinnerclub on Facebook or Instagram. The establishment also offers lunch.

SANZA SANDILE ON HIS LOVE FOR AFRICAN CUISINE

If Sanza Sandile, the owner and chef at the Yeoville Dinner Club, had a spirit animal, it would be Julius Malema, as the culinary entrepreneur cannot help but be revolutionary and catalytic in how African food is perceived.

His first cooking lesson was from his grandmother who transformed what was then considered to be basic African food into intriguing culinary offerings. He soaked in his love for pan-African dishes at Yeoville’s Nigerian, Ethiopian, Ghanaian and Zimbabwean kitchens, which continue to shape his menu.

“I am a student of the university of the black man learning to cook from his own people. I learnt not only about African cooking, but secrets to life itself. I want other strangers to go home being friends, but also for them to enjoy the concept too, as they get to interact with each other on various levels,” says the Soweto native whose anecdotes originate from countries he has visited, including India and the US.

Sandile is a jovial and jittery host, never sitting for too long, miraculously balancing his kitchen and the multicultural guests who brave the streets of Yeoville. Through his food, he is yearning for a bygone era when the area was known for the trendiest theatres, jazz clubs and gourmet dining experiences.

“I know that guests arrive here rattled, but after a nice welcome cocktail, I humanise them again using food and stories. After a while, they are not scared any more. I would never leave Yeoville as I learn so much every day, but, more importantly, I am able to teach so many South Africans and tourists who would never visit this neighbourhood,” says the cook who sources his ingredients from the Yeoville Pan-African Market.

His insistence to remain in Yeoville is paying off, as Sandile has hosted the likes of American chef Anthony Bourdain, reggae musician Damian Marley, actor Antonio Banderas and comedian Dave Chappelle. All continue to spread the gospel internationally that he is leading an African culinary revolution in Yeoville.