Starters of prawn spring rolls, and salt and pepper calamari and squid.
Image: Frank Chemaly
Where: Athlone Circle Mall, Athlone, Pietermaritzburg
Open: Monday 10am to 9pm, Tuesday to Sunday 8am to 9pm.
Call: 087 821 3138
In the capital this week, I asked the Maritzburg Advocate to join me for lunch and he suggested the city’s gastro pub/bistro Elephant & Co up in Athlone.
Two new branches of Elephant & Co have opened at the Westville Pavilion and the new Westown development in Shongweni. I was happy to visit the original mother ship, which had some how slipped under my radar when it opened in 2019.
The restaurant is basically a tribute to the majestic creature it’s named after: the elephant. It takes food from the lands where elephants live and thrive - the savannah of Africa and the jungles of Southeast Asia.
It starts with a brunch selection – served until midday. This might include anything from banana oats, to smashed avo, to a typical sunshine breakfast, and even a “safari sunrise” which includes boerewors, beans, and chips. The Maritzburg Advocate eyes the shrooms breakfast: mixed wild mushrooms with garlic, thyme, baby spinach, basil pesto, mushroom truffle sauce, and poached eggs on ciabatta or dark rye. But sadly it was after midday.
Beef burger with cheese and bacon and chips.
Image: Frank Chemaly
There’s a wild waffle with creamed spinach and garlic-thyme mushrooms, crunchy sweet-and-sour chicken, a poached egg, and hollandaise. There’s also a sweet corn scramble - toasted homemade corn bread with scrambled eggs and spring onions. Sounds delicious.
The menu then moves onto sushi (I’m not quite sure where Japan fits into the elephant equation.) You’ll find all your regulars: California rolls, nori rolls, bamboo rolls, plus a variety of platters with salmon and tuna. There’s also sashimi and specialities like triple rainbow rolls, dragon rolls, and California prawn kisses.
Some Asian salads complete the picture, including a chilli crunch tofu salad and a spicy Asian beef salad. There are also poke bowls with yakitori chicken, spicy tuna, or salmon. Bao buns offer prawn, sirloin or pork belly options.
Light bites start with oysters prepared with lemon, black pepper and Tabasco, or with miso dressing or with Champagne and strawberries. (That’s one I can’t quite imagine.) Red Thai curry arancini balls also sound interesting, as do Mandarin moo shu pancakes with marinated mushrooms, crispy scallion chicken or pulled pork. (Duck would have been a definite buy in.) There’s salmon fish cakes, crispy chicken wings, peri-peri chicken livers, crispy belly pork, and lamb ribs - all the traditional starters we know and love. Starters can also include a series of sharing boards with things like sliders, wings and ribs, or mini bunnies.
We opted for the prawn spring rolls (R49). These were fresh and tasted good, served with a good sweet chilli dipping sauce. We also enjoyed the crispy calamari and squid (R125), a generous portion, nicely cooked in a light salt and pepper dusting, served with a very good sriracha mayo. We asked for extra mayo.
Mutton curry with raita, sambals and roti. the rice was still to come.
Image: Frank Chemaly
Mains offer a wide array of options. You’ve got Thai-inspired stir-fries, plus a substantial fish section that includes classic battered fish and chips with tartar sauce. Bang-bang prawns, along with fresh line fish and Norwegian salmon. For meat lovers, there are all the traditional cuts: fillet, sirloin, and rump, with a selection of sauces like smoky truffle, cheese, peri-peri, chakalaka, and pepper.
Speciality dishes include scallion chicken or oxtail served with dombolo, which would be perfect for mopping up the lovely red wine and carrot gravy. There’s Asian-style pork ribs, pepper crusted fillet and lamb chops. You can also go the shisanyama route
The Maritzburg Advocate fancied a burger. He thoroughly enjoyed their 200g beef burger with cheddar cheese and bacon (R136). It was a good, tasty, juicy patty with plenty of sauce and nice crispy chips. The battered onion rings were a nice additional touch. There’s also a chicken burger with slaw and sriracha or (heaven help us) a sweet potato, harissa, chickpea, and sweet corn burger.
I felt like a curry. There’s an Asian veg and tofu curry, a butter chicken curry, or Thai red coconut prawn curry. I settled on the mutton (R198). The waitress said it wasn’t a Durban curry, but that the spicing was still substantial. She was right. It was a nicely spiced country club curry. It came with roti, rice, raita and sambals, and was a very satisfying lunchtime dish.
We had both eaten more than enough food, but desserts here are actually interesting. The ellie waffle is topped with caramel, banana, ice cream, and maple syrup. There’s a caramel crunch volcano with dark chocolate biscuit crunch, caramel ice cream, and toasted meringue and chocolate firecrackers which are deep-fried spring rolls. I might have tried the espresso martini, but missed it on the menu.
Instead, we settled for a simple Don Pedro with Irish whiskey, which tasted good even if the mixing in the blender was decidedly artless - it still had lumps of ice-cream.
Food: 3½
Service: 3
Ambience: 3
The Bill: R911 for two