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I went to the south of Joburg again this past weekend, after realising that my columns are biased towards the north. It was so refreshing to visit Wandie’s Place, which I had not been to in 17 years.
Established in 1981, it is the oldest restaurant in Soweto and has hosted such luminaries as heavyweight boxer Evander Holyfield, music producer Quincy Jones, civil rights campaigner Jesse Jackson and businessman Richard Branson. In fact it was at Wandie’s that I first met Branson 22 years ago. It was also here that Branson launched his Virgin Vodka in the late 1990s. I was there for the launch. Am I name-dropping? Absolutely.
Wandie’s has that effect on you.
The walls are festooned with hundreds of pictures of the famous and not-so-famous people who have dined at the place. On all the occasions I have been there it was buzzing with people. I wanted to see how Covid might have affected it, and also I had never written about it. I was humbled by the fact that it was as busy as I recalled.
The rise in popularity of the restaurants clustered around nearby Vilakazi Street — which was home to Nelson Mandela and archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu — does not seem to have taken patrons away from Wandie’s.
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I was with my niece Luyanda. She was overwhelmed, this being her first visit to Soweto. She was born and raised in KwaZulu-Natal, and moved to Joburg only last month.
She couldn’t believe there could be such a classy restaurant in the township. For a long time, township dwellers have had to commute to nearby towns and cities to dine out in decent fashion. Thankfully, that is changing fast. Some really upmarket restaurants and hotels are popping up in the townships. Wandie’s has always led the charge.
Apart from the classy ambience, this restaurant offers possibly the best African cuisine in town.
The speciality is an elaborate buffet. The staff take their time cleaning the tripe and cooking it until it is tender and exquisite. The oxtail was also beautifully prepared, cooked until it fell off the bone. I am not a fan of chicken feet but Luyanda loved them. I think she had 10. The dombolo (steamed bread) is highly recommended. I generally don’t eat samp because it bears sad memories of a childhood marked by poverty where we were forced to eat the same food over and over again. Samp and cabbage or uphuthu and cabbage. Every day. But Luyanda, who grew up in better times, enjoys samp. She tempted me to have a taste. I obliged. It was beautifully seasoned and softly textured.
For some reason, many restaurants that specialise in African cuisine do not pay much attention to vegetables; some don’t offer veggies at all. Thankfully, Wandie’s has a wide range of vegetables on offer — pumpkin, spinach, sweet potatoes, green beans, the lot.
If you are not in the mood for the buffet, there is also an à la carte menu that offers dishes such as steaks, seafood, mutton chops and the like. But I would recommend the buffet for a classy dining experience. You must go there when ravenously hungry.
The meal went down well with a bottle of Rupert and Rothschild Classique.
I don’t care what Julius Malema thinks of the Ruperts and their "white monopoly capital" tendencies — they do make some good wines.
Wandie’s Place *****
618 Makhalemele Street, Dube, Soweto
Tel: 081-420-6051
Thabo Mbeki *****
Raymond Zondo ****
Cyril Ramaphosa ***
Busisiwe Mkhwebane **
Ace Magashule *
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