Johannesburg - We all know that we should go to Fordsburg for the best curries, to Soweto for shisa nyama and to Rosettenville for yummy Portuguese food, but I’ve only recently discovered that the number one place for anything Chinese is Cyrildene. The suburb is not limited to Chinese fare – a few other Far East cultures are also represented. You’ll find everything from restaurants to hair salons, butcheries and even a Chinese library.
Up until around 2000, Cyrildene was a predominantly Jewish neighbourhood, but it has become known as the new “Chinatown”, with a population consisting mainly of first-generation Chinese immigrants from mainland China.
Jozi’s previous Chinatown in Commissioner Street, Newtown, has become degraded, and many supermarkets and restaurants have moved to Cyrildene.
A walk down the popular Derrick Avenue will yield an experience as authentically Chinese as you can get.
If visiting for the first time, make sure to go during the Chinese New Year Festival, which is on Saturday, February 15, this year, the Year of the Horse. Streets are decorated with bright red Chinese lanterns, and fireworks light up the sky. It does get quite busy, so bear this in mind if you don’t like being around crowds – and watch out for fireworks.
The dragon dance is an important part of the festival – a dragon made of silk, bamboo and paper floats along the street, dancing to the beat of a drum, guided by puppeteers using poles. The dragon drops by each and every shop, blessing the stores and accepting offerings. Dragons can sometimes be hundreds of metres long – the longer the dragon, the luckier it is believed to be.
Don’t try walking into a restaurant on the evening of the celebrations – make sure to book a table for dinner. If you want to go exploring, it is advisable to go with someone who knows the area as most signage is in Mandarin and many shop owners don’t speak English.
I highly recommend Fisherman’s Plate, where you’ll find the best crab curry in Jozi. Imagine an empty room with office-style tables and chairs, fluorescent lights and net curtains. A meal at Fisherman’s Plate feels like you’re eating dinner in a relative’s garage, which has been set up for a birthday or wedding. But once you try the food, you’ll quickly overlook the (lack of) decor.
Start off with a few chicken spring rolls, or pork tripe with red pepper sauce. You’ll be spoilt for choice when it comes to mains.
After poring over the menu for ages, we eventually decided on deep-fried garlic prawns, which were crunchy and delicious, deep-fried beef with sesame seeds, plus the stir-fried chicken cubes, with some egg fried rice on the side.
The restaurant has been around for 17 years, run by a husband-and-wife team (he’s the Chinese chef, she’s the Indian manageress). Recipes are tried and tested, and all are chef Edwin Hsu’s own creations, with his wife doing countless taste tests before a new item is added to the menu. Needless to say, we were absolutely stuffed by the end of our meal, so decided to take a walk down Derrick Avenue before hunting down a fortune cookie to complete our meal. We discovered a whole lot more than that.
At the end of the road, we found the popular Sai Thai (which means “connected to Thailand”), and realised that we absolutely had to come back to the colourful district to try out this spot, which, according to a host of foodies, holds the unofficial title of “Best Thai restaurant” in Jozi. The restaurant is unassuming, with the walls adorned with vintage photos of the Royal Family and other items of antique significance.
The owner, Micky Liu, who moonlights as the head chef of Thai Airways, also runs a Thai massage business in the vicinity. The signature dishes are Thod Mun Goong – Thai-style prawn cakes made from deep-fried chopped Mozambican prawns, served with a Thai plum sauce, and pad thai, with minced pork stir fry. Vegetarians will be thrilled to know that the chef is a vegetarian so there are four pages of veggie offerings on the menu – the Mar Khuar Phad Tao Hu Aubergine and Tofu Melange looked intriguing.
Those familiar with mainland China say Derrick Avenue is reminiscent of an authentic 1950s shopping street. We browsed in the Yat Kee supermarket, and marvelled that an entire aisle was dedicated to noodles, and another to various types of soy sauce. You’ll also find items that you wouldn’t have thought existed, like tinned fried catfish, dried squid chips and ground bean sauce.
Right next door you’ll find a traditional Chinese bakery that stocks treats like coconut tarts, tao sar bao (red bean paste steamed buns) and char siu puffs (roast pork pastry puffs). If you prefer something a little stronger, head to the Thai Supermarket, where you’ll find Chang Beer, which has a whopping 15 percent alcohol level. You can also try Tsingtao beer, the number one-selling Chinese beer in the US and the product most exported from China. What makes this beer unique is its key ingredient – fresh spring water from Laoshan Mountain, where Taoism has its origins.
On the pavements, there is an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables on offer, including bai cai (Chinese cabbage), Japanese cucumber and skinny aubergines. While I wouldn’t brave buying meat or seafood from a pavement stall, that’s not to say there isn’t a supply – calamari, chicken and fish are all available.
For dessert, go to Simplicity, a tiny, charming teashop situated in the foyer of a block of flats where the owner, Betty Wu, lives. Try the Pearl Black tea, which is cold black tea with milk and tapioca pearls very similar to “bubble tea”, a trend that seems to have taken over in the country. Bubble tea gets its name from the black tapioca pearls, which you suck up through a straw and chew, before they pop in your mouth – delicious!
Although I’d be lying if I said Cyrildene is going to wow you with beautiful decor and ambience, if you are looking for an authentic Chinese or Thai experience, I wouldn’t recommend you go anywhere else.
l Hasmita was hosted by Fisherman’s Plate for the purposes of this review. Fisherman’s Plate is at 18 Derrick Avenue, Cyrildene. Call 011 622 0480. Sai Thai is at the corner of Marcia Street and Derrick Avenue, Cyrildene. Call 011 615 1339. Both restaurants are open Tuesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner and do not have liquor licences, but allow you to bring your own alcohol.
l If you are keen to celebrate the Chinese New Year elsewhere in Jozi, head to Brightwater Commons in Randburg on Saturday, February 1, and Sunday, February 2, from 12pm to 8pm, where the Department of Arts and Culture, in conjunction with the Chinese Embassy, will be hosting a traditional Chinese New Year celebration featuring lion and dragon dancing shows as well as Chinese martial arts demonstrations and acrobatics. Traditional Chinese food will be on offer. - Sunday Independent