Pretoria friends of ours suggested we go for lunch “in their hood” to the vibey Culture Club Tapas Bar this past Sunday, and I felt like I had discovered a whole new world of awesome dining experiences!
Nestled in a really cool restaurant strip called “The Villiage” in Hazelwood, this spot was such a great find! We had the best food, the best service and honestly, such a chilled and relaxed noon-into-dusk Sunday, it made me feel like I was back in Europe!
If you haven’t heard of Culture Club before and you’re close to Pretoria, then be sure to add this spot to your list of amazing dining experiences.
I plan to make my way through the whole “Village” because it’s such a great place to spend winding down your weekend – with good food, great friends, great ambiance and of course, great cocktails in hand!
As for my photos, these are the best I could do for this little outing. Sorry, but when you have six people all eagerly diving into all the colourful and interesting Tapas as they arrive at your table, it makes “getting the perfect food shot” quite challenging.
I too was amongst those diving into the delights, and only after a few bites did I think “oh shizer, I need to take photos” – so please bear with my half eaten pictures – but hey, it’s food, not art!
“Culture Club is all about the perfect marriage of food, drink and conversation to create a feast fit to share with friends and family”.
The Menu
With Tapas headlining as a “style of eating”, Culture Club’s menu offers a taste of delights that stretch beyond strictly Spanish cuisine.
The menu offers a variety of food that’s inspired by Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine, combined with local flavours. From nibbles to plates, salads to share-boards and a huge variety of vegetables.
The best way to enjoy dining at Culture Club is to combine bits here and there to create a Tapas Style dining experience.
What To Order
With a menu that’s filled with variety, so many options can get a bit overwhelming – especially when you’re feeling peckish and everything sounds so good!
Since we were a table of six we decided to order a “bunch of tapas” and just enjoy a bit of everything.
Choosing the tapas though was a bit more challenging! So, instead of wracking our brain, we asked our waiter if he could just decide for us and bring “the best dishes to the table”.
What a good idea! I wonder why we hadn’t thought of asking all our waiters to customise our menu and just enjoy the feast!
He started us off with dips and pita bread, then started loading our table with the most vibrant selection of mouth watering choices.
Steamed Sugar Snap Peas dressed with Lemon Vinaigrette and Sea Salt, Oven Roasted Honey Butternut & Feta, Crumbed Haloumi Bites, Lamb, Spinach and Feta Cigars, Creamy Peri-Peri Chicken Livers, and a delicious serving of Mature Beef Rump with Chimichurri sauce.
Oh yeah!
Our waiter was amazing! I was too busy pigging out to remember his name, but I do remember that he made great food choices for us!
He judged our table of six perfectly! Not a single item went uneaten – and even with a few fussy food preference eaters, there wasn’t a single complaint.
It all went down really well!
My Top 5 Menu Choices
If you prefer to choose your own tapas, I would highly recommend trying these options out
- The Creamy Peri-Peri Chicken Livers were incredibly mouth watering! They come loaded in a delicious sauce with fresh bread for dipping into – YUM!
- The Mature Beef of Rump is so, so good! Cooked to perfection, and I think their Chimichurri sauce deserves an award!
- Their Traditional Spanish Meatballs in Salsa Brava Sauce were dee-lish!
- I also loved the Sugar Snap Peas dressed with Lemon Vinaigrette & Sea Salt, and I’d probably not have ordered these, but trust me they made the tastebuds sing!
- Another item I probably wouldn’t have ordered on my own, but man it was so good, was the Sautéed Green Beans which came drizzled with Toasted Paprika and Almond Flakes.
What To Skip
I feel really bad saying this – because our food so good and we had such great service and would most certainly go back, but I’m sorry – their desserts didn’t impress any of us.
We all ordered our own desserts, which were a mix of Chocolate Mousse, Club Mess and Panna Cotta and we all thought they were rather quite average – the Club Mess is definitely not my favourite, and while the idea of loading up a bunch of sweet treats into one sounds good, don’t do it!
Their coffees, I will say were great and next time I’ll just skip dessert (which is very unlike me) and finish off with coffee instead.
The Ambiance
This spot made me feel like I was back in Europe enjoying Sunday lunch out on the terrace. It’s beautiful! And as noon turns into dusk, fairy-lights wrapped around all the trees in the Village light up, creating an even more beautiful setting.
Make sure you book a table outside, but you should definitely book as I doubt you’ll get a table on the weekends without a booking.
For the Gin Lovers
You will love Culture Club. I asked our waiter for what Gin drinks they had on offer and he returned with what I like to call “The Gin Bible”.
A thick booklet offering more choice than you can imagine! Inside it had pretty much every brand of gin you can think of, and how best to enjoy it.
Value for Money
While the menu prices will vary according to the different items, nibbles cost between R45-65 a plate. Vegetables vary between R25-R30 a plate (however a Vegan Veggie Bake will cost you R65). Salads between R60-R90 each and Plates start at R50 but can go up to R125 if you go for the Chargrilled Lamb Chops or Beef Rump Slices with Chimichurri.
I like to take the whole cost of the outing into consideration and tally it all up including the waiters tip for the meal. So that’s starters, drinks (four of which were alcoholic), mains, desserts, coffees (which we had twice for the record) and the tip divided by six people worked out to roughly R300 a head.
I’d say it was more than reasonable and we all left feeling as the Afrikaans would say “Magie vol, ogies toe” which literally means “Stomach full, eyes close”.
When to go
Culture Club is a noon to midnight spot.
It opens every day (closed on Mondays) at 11:30am and closes at 12am, with the exception of Sunday, where they close at 10pm.
Where to find it
Address: 12 16th St, Hazelwood, Pretoria, 0081
Telephone Number: 060 795 3632
Visit their website or Facebook page