Frangelica’s keep the best secrets!

The best kept secret!

Frangelica’s

For a change of pace, my husband and I decided to go to Frangelica’s in Long Avenue, Glenhazel, Johannesburg, to try their night time menu.

This is something new, as they are usually only open during the day and have only recently decided to add a few nights to their business hours.  They are now open on a Saturday night from 8 pm to 11 pm and on Sunday and Thursday nights from 6pm to 10 pm.

They serve a buffet supper and the menu is different from their normal fare. You have the option of sushi, or depending on the night, different buffets.  These buffet menus offer starters, main dishes and desserts in different cuisines.   The night we went was an Italian night.

We decided to have the full buffet dinner. For starters my husband and I both had the Gazpacho soup which was nice and spicy, although I did find it a little chunkier than I would have liked.  I had some herb focaccia bread with it which was delicious.

For the main course I chose the vegetable lasagne with chickpea salad, olives, stuffed Pepperdews and baby tomatoes. My husband had a little of the vegetable lasagne as well as the Neapolitano penne pasta, with some green pepper sticks, carrots sticks, chickpea salad, black olives, baby tomatoes, stuffed peppadews and grated cheese.

He also tried the Passion fruit crushed ice drink and a Bar One Latte.  I stuck to my regular soft drink.

For dessert we both chose the waffle with ice cream and chocolate sauce.

My kids had asked for some takeaways so we took home a medium pizza, which the kids loved, and cheesecake muffins, for which Frangelica’s is rightly famous. I put the muffins into our lunch boxes as a treat the next day.

Frangelica’s décor is very plain with white wood furniture for the most part, haphazardly interspersed with brown faux leather chairs, and brown seat cushions on some of the white wooden chairs which are in the seating area both inside and outside. The walls have a pretty pink wall paper on the top half and grey paint on the bottom.  However, if you are looking for luxury and chic surroundings for dinner, then this is not the place for you, but if you are meeting friends and want a good dairy or dairy free meal then this is a great restaurant.  The buffet costs R120.00 per person and  it is well worth it.

A little about Frangelica’s

Frangelica’s changed hands 6 years ago.  The restaurant went from being a local coffee shop to a place to enjoy a latish breakfast and lunch, as well as a place to enjoy meeting friends for a cup of coffee and to sample their variety of cakes and cupcakes.   It is also a bakery of note!

What a lot of people don’t know, as they have somehow managed to keep this a secret, is that Frangelica’s also caters for functions and makes birthday and wedding cakes!  Well, the secret is now out!

They have recently added a deli section which includes frozen foods and pre-packed meals as well as biscuits and other baked goods.

Their food is wholesome and, for those who are strictly vegetarian, their Parev range is just that! It is cooked and prepared in a separate kitchen, away from the milk kitchen.  For the kosher community this is good to know, as they have two kitchens – a milk kitchen and a parev kitchen.  When you buy parev, you can serve it with a meat meal, because you know that it is made in its own kitchen.

Frangelica’s giving back

They have also introduced a ‘pay it forward’ program, called “Random acts of Kindness”.  For example, if you are having coffee and a toasted sandwich, you have the opportunity to give someone deserving that exact same meal. The  appropriate organisation then gives this voucher to a person , who just needs a little pampering, or TLC gift, to enjoy. This initiative is in conjunction with Koleinu, which is an abuse help centre for the Jewish community. Yad Aharon, which feeds 550 families per week, and the Women’s Beneveolent and the Chev.

This is a secret that shouldn’t stay a secret at all, so spread the word, by sharing this post!