SandBar
Where: 32 North Beach Rd, eMdloti
Call: 031 568 2140
Open: Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday noon-9pm, Friday and Saturday noon to 9.30pm
There can be few better settings along the KZN coast than sitting at the SandBar on a perfect summer’s day overlooking eMdloti Beach.
It’s also a beach that brings back fond memories of my childhood … of family expeditions from Hillcrest where we all piled into dad’s station wagon, along with friends and Rupert the Labrador, and camp chairs and cooler boxes and gazebos and bats and balls and nets and sunscreen, and probably the kitchen sink as well. They were fun days and it was good to see so many children enjoying the beach on a sweltering Tuesday afternoon.
SandBar was humming. We grabbed the last available table on the terrace, and were soon sipping ice-cold GnTs, although the cocktail menu is impressive here. A mojito would have gone down well, with all that freshness of mint and lime, and a watermelon creation with fresh watermelon, Havana rum, watermelon and lime juice certainly tempted. There’s even a gin cocktail with naartjie, rooibos and ginger, and another with rosemary and prosecco. Frosty craft beers too were doing the rounds.
Next to us was a digital nomad tapping away at the laptop. Usually such keyboard warriors drink copious quantities of coffee to fund the free wi-fi, but ours was made of sterner stuff. Tequila shots it was, complete with pineapple chunks laced with Tabasco.
The menu is remarkably sophisticated for a beach bar. We eyed starters like home-made Thai-style fish cakes, and spicy Thai prawn soup. Too hot for that. Besides peri chicken livers and lightly dusted salt and pepper calamari, there’s baked aubergines with hummus, garlic cherry tomatoes and red onion marmalade, Camembert spring rolls, and pot stickers, both veg and prawn. Now we’re talking.
There’s also a sushi menu which was doing well on a day like this.
My friend opted for the Magical Mushrooms (R70) which are dusted and deep fried and served with a magical garlic aioli. He was wondering if they would weave some magic. It’s a generous portion, and the light coating was nice and crisp and they were most enjoyable, but perhaps not the type of magic he had anticipated.
My tuna tartare (R105), on the other hand, was exceptional. Served in a martini glass on a bed of avo, this wasn’t the conventional fine-diced tuna so it almost becomes mince meat, but chunks of tuna with spring onions, chilli and coriander and quite a spicy Asian-style dipping sauce. My friend tucked in as well.
Mains naturally included a substantial selection of seafood, whether seared tuna on wasabi mash, or deboned red snapper with herbs and lemon slices, or even a good old fish and chips. The Mozambican peri-peri chicken tempted me (it usually doesn’t) but there’s also a chicken roulade with spinach and red peppers and feta, and a selection of curries including a coconut milk-based prawn curry. Grills take on aged steaks, lamb loin chops and a pork schnitzel in sage butter.
Then there are the home-made burgers. These might be southern fried chicken breasts, mushrooms, vegan or traditional prime beef. Their SandBar whopper includes bacon, avo, cheddar and red onion marmalade. A selection of burgers came out to a table of friends near us, and they were enormous and looked absolutely delicious. They’re not hand burgers, but knife and fork burgers. But the guys managed to polish them off. That was before they all went for an impromptu dip in the ocean, diving off the rock wall with the waves like good adult children. SandBar has that effect on one.
My friend wanted something light and opted for the tuna salad (R165). This was sliced, seared tuna loin on a bed of leaves with cherry tomatoes, red onions, green beans and a soft-boiled egg, in a creamy anchovy dressing. A posh take on a salad Niçoise. It got the thumbs up.
I decided to try their famed pork ribs. It comes in 400g or 600g plates, with a Sunday night special of eat as many as you like, and I went for the conservative option (R185). I liked the fact that the ribs were succulently tender and properly trimmed, coming in easy-to-eat sizes perfect for a table to share over drinks. And they came with a finger bowl and piles of napkins. The chips were good too. Unfortunately the basting sauce was too sweet and too saucy rather than sticky, to qualify as the best ribs ever. Next time I’ll try that peri-peri chicken.
But we enjoyed our lunch and it was great to get some time out of the office (thanks, boss).
Food: 4
Service: 4
Ambience: 4
The Bill: R729
The Independent on Saturday