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The Time Square at Menlyn Maine in Pretoria was turned into a food playground for a group of journalists last week.
We were welcomed by Time Square's general manager, Ruben Gooranah, who said: "One thing we realised is that many people know us as a casino and but tonight, we are not here to tell you about that because people who come to the casino know who we are.
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As a Guy Fieri (host of Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives) fan, the only eatery in the precinct I knew about and shamefully never visited is the now closed Guy Fieri's Kitchen Bar. In my defence, I don't recall mo'guy ever pulling through to his own kitchen here in Mzansi.
Then, there is The Maslow Hotel's own restaurant on the ground floor, which I once visited many moons ago but didn't know was called Tatso. I knew about these two eateries in Time Square. However, on this night, the crew of journalists and influencers were introduced to five restaurants in a speed dating type of scenario where we had to spend a brief time in each restaurant.
Our first stop was a New York style restaurant and bar, Moonshine. Their mini burgers and a margherita pizza was washed down well with what I think was a Mimosa. The schlep for me was the 30 minutes allocated to each restaurant. Aah! man, it was a bit of a rush and with the next stop being The Forti Bistro, this was a huge challenge.
The Pretoria East view that greets one when standing on the outdoor balcony of Forti is really nice. We had the panzarotti porcini filled with porcini mushrooms baked in a creamy rose bechamel sauce. Honestly, 30 minutes of sampling this was not enough. I could eat this stuff all day every day, err, correction! At least for a week as it is really rich.
Next stop was The Raj. This is an Indian restaurant, which upon entry, gave me major Bollywood and halal vibes. With this in mind, I was not expecting any alcohol to be served. Boy was I wrong. My butter chicken went down spectacularly with a long island cocktail.
From The Raj, we visited another spicy Mexican joint, La Rosa. The mood at this restaurant was festive with muchos tequileria. According to tripadvisor.co.za, La Rosa is one of the top 10 Mexican restaurants in Gauteng. They served us traditional tacos and burritos.
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The invite said to wear comfortable shoes, as this was a gourmet gallivant. The fourth stop was a no-under 18 beer hall, Traders, which had a cool somewhat naughty 'kitty' or 'cock' signage for their restrooms. I loved it. And, this is where Fiere's spot used to be.
"At Traders, we have a full action sports cafe [with a huge screen to watch sport] with the ability to change it to a nightclub/ dance/ live entertainment venue," said Jacques Fourie, general manager at Traders and Moonshine.
To keep up to date with the rugby, all matches will be screened at Traders, which has a long history with Sun International.
Public relations and communications manager: Time Square at Sun International Henry-Basil Hearne explains:
Cocktails and pizza where on the menu for this joint but by then I was full and passed up on these. Yeah yeah I know, we were warned to pace ourselves, so don't judge me.
Our final stop was on the 15th floor of the Maslow Hotel at the Solis bar. It is a stylish place to enjoy dessert, which I declined again as I had started my evening with dessert. A shout out to Maslow's Neo Motsoahae at reception who suggested I try the waffles at Spur (which wasn't part of the tour but is also available at Time Square). But truth be told, I believe in starting with dessert in case something happens.
The tour ended before midnight when me and my mother (my tag-team partner) stayed overnight in one of the Zenith Level's five- star room in Maslow. This Pretoria-based hotel is recognised by the Tourism Grading Council as the first hotel to have three different graded accomodations in one hotel.
There is also a four-star room named the Median Room and a three-star room known as the Foundation room. Each offering has its own rate, ranging from R2 200 for bed and breakfast to R6 000.
Special prices can apply and vary according to weekday versus weekend, and seniors also get special prices.
*Mokoena was hosted by Time Square.
