Café Del Sol

For a while now, the most popular restaurant in the Johannesburg area on the Trip Advisor website has been a restaurant named Café Del Sol. It is located in a very non-descript small little suburban mall in Olivedale looking out onto a car park, but let me tell you, you are really in for a surprise if you judge this place by its surroundings.

This Italian family restaurant serves up all your favourite Italian meals (no pizzas), but in a very hip and funky gourmet dining setting. The décor of the restaurant is modern, airy and minimalist with inspirational quotes on the walls and napery. The kitchen is open-plan and this just adds to the great buzz in the restaurant.

We went with a group of friends and the food was fantastic. Tasting everyone’s food around me while finishing my own plate of food, I can recommend the queen prawns in a Limoncello sauce and the absolutely divine dark chocolate tart.

Just a little word of advice, this is one busy restaurant. The maitre’d phoned me a couple of times to confirm our table of 8, left messages and when I did not phone back, they promptly cancelled our booking! Luckily, and only after my friends gave me a hard time about my habit of conveniently not “hearing” my phone ring, the staff prepared a table for us to wait outside. After about 45 minutes, and a bottle of wine or three, we were able to move inside. It was worth the wait. So, be sure to make a reservation and even more important, confirm that reservation!!

You can visit their website here or like their Facebook page.