Welcome to John's Town

Dates of travel: 02 March 2015 - 17 March 2015

Well, that's what it might be called if it had been settled by English folks. However, since the descendants of the Dutch got here first, it is these days known as a little place called Johannesburg.

After my time in Thailand, I came across here to do a bit of work with our local engineer for about 2 weeks. I based myself just by the airport in the Garden Court OR Tambo Hotel as we did day trips out to visit various coal customers to the east of Johannesburg. I have stayed here plenty of times before, but usually just for an overnight when I arrived in Johannesburg. The Garden Court is a very pleasant and comfortable place to stay, for a pretty reasonable price. You can spend a lot more for a room around this area! The basic room is certainly nothing special, but as I have said before: give me a comfortable bed as a minimum and I am a happy hotel guest.

After our first day out on the job, we stopped in for a meal at the House Of Ribs in the East Rand area. And I'm sorry to disappoint, but I did not have the ribs! What you see here was called "Chicken a la Cantina"; it was a Chef's Special, so might not actually be a regular dish. A juicy, grilled chicken breast, covered in creamed spinach and, if I remember right, Gorgonzola. Very tasty and made my taste buds rather happy! Coupled with a fruit cocktail juice, this lunch hit the spot just right and certainly didn't break the bank.

One of the big advantages of the Garden Court OR Tambo is that it has an in-house restaurant: the Irish Pub, Rosie O'Grady's. Sure, it's nice to get out and try some of the local places, too. But there isn't really anything in walking distance from here, so you'll need a car to find anything. I didn't have one at my disposal, so needless to say, I had a good sampling of the menu at Rosie's. The food is very nice and a good variety, but not particularly "Irish"! You can get a some Irish whiskey or Guinness on tap, so I suppose that saves it a bit! Here's a taste of some of the dishes available.

Cobb Chicken Salad

Rosie's Curry

Rosie's Chicken

Thai Chicken Wrap

So, as you can see... not particularly Irish! But everything I had during my stay was very tasty.

As it turned out, I was set to depart from South Africa on St. Patrick's Day, 2015. Staying at a hotel with an Irish pub but leaving before I could put it to the test? Yeah... didn't plan that so well! But I did have a small St. Paddy's celebration one day early by indulging in their Beef & Guinness Pot Pie (and, of course, a couple of Jameson's). The pie was very tasty, with a rich beef and veg filling and light and crispy pastry.

However, I have to say that of all the dishes I tried on Rosie's menu, the overall winner was the Gourmet Bangers & Mash. Delicious pork sausages, creamy mash and a flavourful gravy; this definitely hit the spot after a long day of work. I have not shown everything here in this post, because I was staying at the Garden Court for about 2 weeks; this is meant to be a blog about various travels, not just food! Unfortunately, on this trip, it was basically just work and food without any tourist activities, so I don't have a lot else to show.

But, at the end of the day, if you are looking for a comfortable and budget-friendly place to stay near Johannesburg airport, I would certainly point you in the direction of the Garden Court. With very friendly staff, free wi-fi and free airport shuttle transfers, it makes for a very convenient place to park yourself for anywhere from one night up to a few weeks.

Oh, and before I sign off... here's the kind of view you can get east of Johannesburg if you are up early enough! Beautiful sunrise from the N4 (I think). And no, I wasn't driving while I was taking photos - I'm much more responsible than that!