Popeyes in South Africa

So for those who know me, you know I'm a big fan of fried chicken, heck! part of the reason the name of this blog has to do with the crispy golden food. While my allegiances do tend to favour the one particular brand I'm always one for trying something new.  Which brings me to the topic of today's post, yesterday saw the first franchise store of the iconic American restaurant brand  "Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen" open in South Africa. The store which is based in the Sandton City Mall food court has begun serving it's authentic Louisiana-inspired chicken to much fanfare as the queues were testament to this. Guests experienced the mouth-watering menu, with the favourite being the bone-in fried chicken which is available in two flavours, spicy or mild. There is also boneless options for those who prefer their chicken that way and a wide variety of signature sides, one of the favourites being cajun fries. 

Jaye Sinclair, the Chief Executive Officer for South African based, Siyaghopa Trading Group, the people responsible for bringing Popeyes to SA had this to say. "We're very excited to join the Popeyes family and bring the iconic brand to South Africa. We think our South African guests will love the signature blend of spices and flavours we'll bring the table". 

South Africa being a nation that loves their chicken, will enjoy the distinctive flavours of Popeyes fried chicken and tasty cajun fries. Here are a few facts about Popeyes to get you ready for your first experience. 

Where did Popeyes get its name?

• Everyone thinks Popeyes got its name form the spinach-loving cartoon character, but the name actually came from a famous fictional 1970's detective, Detective Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle, the fictional lead character of the movie, 'The French Connection', is the real insparation behind the brand name. 

Popeyes around the world. 

• Popeyes currently has restaurants in more than 25 countries.
• The Popeyes restaurant in Sandton City, Johannesburg is the only Popeyes on the continent of Africa and the first to open in South Africa.

What makes Popeyes so unique?

• Popeyes founder, Al Copeland, created one-of-a-kind chicken recipe that is marinated in Louisiana-inspired seasonings, then hand battered, breaded and fried. Creating a juicy on the inside, crispy on the outside chicken guests have been craving for more than 45 years. 
• Popeyes has proprietary seasonings that are used to marinate the chicken for 12 hours, creating the richly seasoned flavours in both the mild and spicy versions. 
• At least 60% of the employees at the Popeyes in Sandton City are first-time work-seekers from the Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator who have been trained to meet Popeyes international requirements.

Spice...and all things nice

• At Popeyes, flavour is everything! The Popeyes chicken recipe is based on a 300 year old culinary tradition, which incorporates a fusion of cooking styles, a rich blend of proprietary seasoning and spices sourced from around the globe, including Africa. 
• Popeyes offers both well-seasoned mild chicken as well as a more spicy chicken option that South Africans are bound to love. 

What's a biscuit?

• Have you heard of the famous American Biscuit but not had the pleasure of tasting? Ger your taste buds ready - this legendary American side dish is a specialty of Popeyes!
• The delicious and freshly baked Popeyes Buttermilk Biscuit join a wide selection of authentic Signature Sides available on the local menu. 

For more information on Popeyes and to gander at their menu, visit www.popeyes.co.za and follow Popeyes South Africa on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

*Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen South Africa will serve Halaal chicken and is certified by the South African National Halaal Authority. (SANHA)

Krispy Kreme - Durban

The secret was let out a few weeks ago at Gateways Out The Box event but yes, the big news is that the popular American Doughnut franchise is coming to the east coast! Krispy Kreme is set to open its first store outside the Guateng Province at the Gateway Theatre of Shopping, Umhlanga, Kwa-Zulu Natal in March next year. With the shopping centre winning numerous accolades including the Daily News Your Choice "Best Shopping Centre" award, it was evident why it was chosen for their location of choice in KZN. "Krispy Kreme South Africa is extremely proud and excited to share the joy that is Krispy Kreme with Durban and creates wonderful memories" says Krispy Kreme South Africa CEO, Gerry Thomas. 

The international brand that is Krispy Kreme has been around for 79 years and with Gateway being one of Africa's leading and most prestigious shopping centres, the opening of this Krispy Kreme store symbolizes a prominent step in the brands local journey. The first flagship store was opened in 2015, there after saw an additional four Krispy Kreme outlets opening around Gauteng, at the Gautrain Sandton Station, Mall of Africa, Clearwater Mall and Sandton City respectively. There also plan on opening another two more stores before year end at Menlyn Park Shopping Centre and Eastgate Shopping Centre in November and December respectively. 

"It is strategic to Krispy Kreme South Africa's rollout that we open stores in major regional shopping centers. Krispy Kreme South Africa are very fortunate to have secured a prime location in Gateway Theatre of Shopping, making this launch all more exciting", said Thmas. He went on to say "The Gateway Theatre of Shopping is Durban's superior retail node and as a prremium international braand, this locaation is the perfect fit for Krispy Kreme. The store position is also well seituated as the samler Krispy Kreme fresh stores planned for Durban's other major centers wiill be supplied out of the Gateway factory production store."

The store will be located at shop G350, which is on the outer side of the Center facing Palm Boulevard. Stay tuned to the blog or our Facebook page for more updates as they come. 

Madame Zingara - After Forever Tour

Madame Zingara has been around in South Africa for a while now, touring around the country and wowing the audiences where ever they go.  Not only with the live acts and performances but also with their mouth watering menu! Now I've seen features about Madame Zingara on TV and read a bit about it in the press before but I always thought it wasn't for me. I never really enjoyed the circus and I'm not the biggest fan of theater or dressing up so you could see why I never really wanted to go for it but last week I was invited by the people down at Suncoast Casino to attend the special media VIP night and figured here's my chance to go see what all the fuss was about.

                     

The invite said to dress smart but also noted that there will be a store at the venue to buy props and face painting.  The hell kind of event was I going for?! Dressed up in my suit I made it to the venue which is the second parking area at Suncoast Casino and Entertainment World, just my luck the mother of all storms decided to hit Durban that night, no sweat,  I bolted to the entrance passing the complementary bar on the way in. A stop for a cool beverage was a must as Durban's humidity was still relentless despite the pouring rain.

As I entered the tent it felt like I jumped into a fantasy world, antique furniture, dim lighting , props all around,  even some moving ones!  Everyone was dressed in their best outfits and most sporting painted faces and garments from the store. Feeling a bit left out, I went into the store to see what was on sale. Everything from hats, to various accessories and props even a face painting stand with a number of styles to choose from. Having arrived late I didn't get a chance to browse the entire store as we had to make our way into the main tent arena so the show could commence.

At my table I was joined by some familiar faces from the online world, glad that I had some company throughout the evening.  We were greeted promptly by our waitress for the night who explained the menu and the choices we had, gave us some time to decide while she got us some drinks and our mezze platters. Now I've heard that besides the breath taking acts, the food served at Madame Zingara is quite phenomenal so I was really looking forward to that aspect of the night as well.

The Food

The Mezze platter which was all veg was a wonderful array of tapas, marinated tomatoes and olives,  cream of mushroom soup, pita and tatziki, also on the plate was a beetroot tart. I personally am not a fan of beetroot but decided to give it go, much to my surprise it was delicious! For the following 2 courses we could choose from a variety of options,  for starters opted for the spinach, ricotta and butternut ravioli and for the mains,  the much talked about chili chocolate steak was on everyone's mind but I don't eat beef so I chose to have the lamb shank. All of which lived up to the hype, the ravioli was done to perfection with flavours that burst in your mouth along with the rich napoletana sauce.

The lamb shank was quite a sizable one, served with a thick gravy and roasted veg with mash, it was cooked beautifully with just a fork required to eat it as the meat just fell off the bone.  Dessert took things to another level with rich malva pudding and red velvet cheese cake both served with a lovely vanilla ice cream.  The food was certainly one of the main highlights of the night,  it's quite astonishing to see such a wide variety catered for such a big audience and every meal prepared was done so with perfection and timeously. Hats off to the chef and his helpers!

The Show

Normally when I attend a show I know very little about, I usually do some research on it so I know what to expect, this time round I didn't do that so I went in completely oblivious and basically made everything a surprise for me,  one of my followers did mention that I would enjoy the bath tub act and boy were they right! But more of that later.

The two main characters are this fairy (Klien Pomplenickle) who doesn't speak very well nor can she fly and her supposedly fairy god father (Hot Mr MC), who's swag holds no boundaries as he even sports a grill!  They are sort of the master of ceremonies for  night as they take us through their journey and introduce the various acts. The performers come from all parts of the world showcasing their unique talents, be it gymnastics, aerobatics, singing or theatrics. Each and every one of the acts had the audience on the edge of their seats with displays that pushed boundaries and kept everyone captivated. As spoken before, the bath tub scene was one to watch out for, and if you are sitting close to the stage you might want to carry a towel as things do get wet!  One of the last acts saw an Argentinian duo spell bound the crowd with their beats and drums, we also had a chance to meet and chat with one of them  after the show, it was quite cool to learn more about the lives of these performers as they travel the world entertaining thousands. I don't want to give away too much about the performances as I feel you need to experience yourself.

It's certainly nothing that I expected and I was pleasantly surprised, whether you're a fan or not, if you get the chance go, head on down and enjoy an evening of great food, impeccable service and brilliant entertainment.  It will be money well spent and if you were left anything like how I was left feeling,  you would want to go see it again! 

The show is on at the Suncoast Casino until the 30th of April, ticket prices start from R390 and are available from the website:
Website:www.madamezingara.com
Facebook: Madame Zingara
Twitter: @madame_zingara

Burger King opens in KZN

The King has arrived to KwaZulu Natal, well we already have a King but I'm not talking about the monarch, I'm talking about Burger King. Yes, the famed American franchise has finally hit our shores! The first outlet was opened in Cape Town last year and the response was incredible with people queueing for hours to get their hands on the variety of burgers on offer. 

I was lucky enough to be invited to their media launch on the 11th of April at the first store in KZN situated in the newly revamped Food Court of the Pavilion Shopping Centre. Speaking to members of the franchise, they said this would be the first of many for the province. They anticipated a big response for the new store, similar to that of Cape Town and Johannesburg, one of the reasons for that was a slight communication error from one of the local newspapers which saw the wrong opening date published which caused a huge crowd to gather at the store during their training day. 

The overall store set up is decent with a small eating area inside the store, reason being the spill of the crowd will flow into the food court area. The menu is quite extensive and what I liked is that each burger on the menu can be changed to suit your taste. You can chop and change to your taste buds desire, with extras such as cheese, different dressings and types of buns. The meals are offered in medium or large and your cool drinks are bottomless with a fountain situated in the eating area for refills. They also have a lot of side items on the menu ask snacks, such as chicken nuggets, cheese and chili nuggets and chicken wings to name a few. The dessert menu is sure to have the sugar lovers in a buzz with a wide variety to satisfy your sweet cravings. 

I ordered the Chicken Tendercrisp burger meal with a side of chili cheese nuggets and for desert I ordered the Hot Blondie brownie. The burger was a decent size and it had a full fillet of chicken and not processed junk, I ordered the curry cheese mayo and normal mayo with it. The combination was a good one and probably one that I'd stick to for the next time I order. The staff seem well trained and ready for the challenge ahead and they seem to be coping well with the demand as I've heard people are queueing for a maximum of 45 minutes at the recently opened store. 

Its a nice alternative to what we're used to and a major plus for is the fact that you can customised your meal, the bottomless refreshments and the extensive dessert menu is always a winner. I'll be sure to call again. Trading times are 10am till 10pm. 

website: www.burgerking.co.za

Dining with Tsogo Sun

When one has to think of Durban, the first thing that springs to mind is its beautiful beaches. Situated on the East Coast of South Africa, it boasts the warm waters of the Indian ocean that washes onto miles of KZN's shoreline. There is no doubt that it is Durban's biggest asset and its why the City undertook a major revamp to the main promenade before the 2010 World Cup. At completion, the promenade stretches over 5 kilometres and is rated as one of the best in the world along with cities such as Rio and Miami. 



With a world class attraction such as that, it was only time before the hotels along the beach front began to do face lifts and renovations to match the new look. Tsogo Sun being one of them, is one of SA's largest hotel groups and boasts 8 hotels in Durban. They have 5 along the beach front and the two oldest being the Maharani and Elangeni, both of which recently under went renovations.



Last week I was invited to the relaunch of the Hotel, although the Elangeni and Maharani being two buildings separated by an apartment block, it was interesting to learn that they now function as one hotel. Whether you're staying at the Maharani Towers or Elangeni, you can make use of all the facilities both have to offer. Which is quite cool, as both offer many great bars, restaurants and a spa. 



The evening started off at the Panorama bar situated on the second floor of the Elangeni Tower, it was one of the floors that was renovated and it clearly showed with a fresh coat of paint, some lovely new additions like a Froyo stand for the kids but main focus was the bar for obvious reasons. Gentle lighting with clever use of LED's gave the bar a welcoming feel. The bar leads onto the deck where the pool is situated, pity that due to the weather we were restricted to sit inside as its perfect for sundowners or evening drinks with mates. The bar offers various cocktails served up by their trained mixologists.






After the meet and greet with Tsogo Sun's Social Media Manager and the other invited guests, we made our way down to the new Grill Jichana which has taken place of the Jewel of India. Before making our way to the restaurant we were taken through to the other establishments, Connors Bar which really has an English Pub feel to it and then we popped into Daruma Japanese restaurant. It really is one of the gems of the hotel as I have been told on numerous occasions of how it is really one of the best Japanese eateries in SA and that all the food on offer, from Sushi to the Teppanyaki is absolutely delicious. 




There after it was time to dine, but before being seated the manger of the Grill gave us a tour of their specially made temperature controlled glass wine room. They have a vast selection of wines both local and international, I'm not a wine drinker of note hence a small tray that was lying on a table to the side caught my attention. On it was some of finest whisky's money can buy, which included Johnnie Walker King George Blue Label Whisky. 




Once back at the table, a melody of salads were pre-ordered for us, veg, chicken, duck, seafood and beef. All of which were accompanied by special dressings, the one which I really enjoyed was the chicken with pomegranate dressing, which had a bit of everything with the spiciness of the chicken, crisp leaves of lettuce and the sweetness of the pomegranate dressing worked wonderful together. 




Before ordering our mains, we were educated on the selection of meats, cuts and pairing of sides that compliment each meal. I opted for the Duo of Lamb which was a double leg chop and double rib chop. Both cuts marinated in a special rub and grilled to a medium rare, to perfection. I ordered Bafana chips (think cut fries) and onion rings as sides and a Madagascan Pepper Sauce which I was told has quite a bite. The rub which the meat was marinated in tasted superb, which made my pepper sauce redundant but I did use it as a dip for my chips and onion rings. The lamb was grilled perfectly, having that char grilled crispy on the outside and the meat a juicy pink inside. As you could imagine, it didn't last very long on my plate.



The mains along with the starter salads was pretty filling but there was always place left for dessert! The pick of the bunch was the Chocolate Bomb, what it essentially is, white chocolate mousse with normal chocolate mousse, inside a duo of chocolate ball, which then has hot chocolate sauce poured over it and when the shell melts it sort of explodes, exposing its contents. 5 types of chocolate was a bit much for me so I opted for the de-constructed milk tart which was equally good. Two layers of milk tart with caramel sauce and berries was a lovely way to end of the dinner. 



Once the evening was concluded, I had a chance to walk around the hotel as well as outside to have a look both buildings. The Maharani which is almost 40 years old underwent a full revamp, very cleverly they used the old external lift shaft as a lighting well which houses colour changing LED's which really makes the building stand out for the rest. Both buildings also received a new coat of paint so they really look fresh and new. Overall I am very impressed with what Tsogo Sun has done, its a great investment not only in their asset but to Durban's Golden Mile.