LCHF/Banting Restaurants in South Africa

 

This list has been modified from a version originally found on Eatout.co.za.

Johannesburg

Jackson’s Real Food Market

Provide the purest products free from growth hormones, antibiotics,preservatives and false or misleading ingredients or flavours. They strive where possible to avoid supporting feedlot or pesticide using farmers supporting passionate small farmers who practise old fashion, organically grown or reared methods. They believe in food in it’s purest state. Their aim is to bring back traditional cooking methods and help Moms, Dads and kids be better cooks.

Cheese Gourmet (Linden)
One of the first spots to begin offering banting options, Cheese Gourmet bakes their own breads, crisp breads and buns and also hosts a monthly banting support group on the first Wednesday of each month. Banting options are marked with a ‘B’ on the menu.

Voodoo Lily Café (Illovo)
Voodoo Lilly boasts a special ‘bant apetit’ section of their menu with 13 options, including a bunless burger with avo, tomato and sweet potato wedges (R82), chicken and halloumi salad (R82), and a raw vegan chocolate with coconut ice cream (R28). Items marked with a ‘B’ on their main menu can also be converted into banting-friendly dishes.

Cape Town

Banting Cafe/65 on Main (Green Point)
With chef Whitney punting what she calls the ‘65-o-lution’, banting lovers will certainly not go hungry here. Order your breakfast favourites (like eggs Benedict) with a carb-free muffin, or try a cauli-base breakfast pizza with tomato and mozzarella. For lunch, try a cauli-wrap crammed with mince, avo, caramelised onion and rocket; and if you can’t quite quell that sweet tooth, try the banting brownies or cheesecake, teamed with a banting cocktail and flavoured coffee. The menu changes weekly, so you’re sure to find something new each time. Psst: watch out for 65 On Main’s soon-to-be-introduced banting high tea.

 

Chalk and Cork (City Bowl)
This brand new Kloof Street restaurant is serving a banting pizza made with a cauliflower base. Order it with toppings like parma ham, salami, feta, rocket, tomatoes and courgettes.

Chez Gourmet (Claremont)
As a cooking school and caterer offering short courses and tailor-made food for events, Chez Gourmet has hopped onto the banting band-wagon and now offers banting catering, lessons and demonstrations, as well as meals for corporate companies and events.

Ellie’s Deli at the Noordhoek Garden Emporium (Noordhoek)
Feed your family banting-friendly meals with the likes of pre-packed chicken/beef and Thai curries, beef lasagna, cottage pie and chicken a la king. You can also indulge in banting-friendly savoury muffins, cheesecake and chocolate cake.

Four & Twenty (Wynberg)
If there’s bread on any of the dishes on the menu, banters can substitute it for the low-carb bread supplied by Knead.

The Foodbarn (Noordhoek)

While The Foodbarn doesn’t offer a special banting-friendly menu, they do offer to alter dishes to suit the needs of those following an LCHF diet. For instance, the lamb rack can be made without the crumbs, the linefish can be served without its crust and with veggies, and the prawn tian can be made without tempera and with basil salsa instead of red chilli syrup.

Knead (Sea Point, Wembley Square, Kloof St, Palmyra, Dean St, Muizenberg)
Low-carb bread and low-carb pizza bases are available at all the Knead branches.

La Cuccina (Hout Bay)
Around 50% of the options on the buffet table are banting friendly, and the new menu will have LCHF options marked on it. For now, look out for dishes like the carb-free health bowl made with quinoa (R58), poached eggs on low-carb toasted coconut bread (R68)’ and shakshouka with fennel and pepper. All breakfasts are also available with special low-carb bread.

Rococoa (Woodstock)
Banters can indulge in high-protein, low-carb meals such as beef curry with green beans and mange tout served with cauli rice; aubergine salami pizza; trinchado on sautéed veggies; and even sugar-free hot chocolate.

Starlings (Claremont)
This southern suburbs gem has several low-carb options marked on its menu. Try the breakfast frittata muffin (two biodynamic eggs, bacon, spinach and Healy’s cheddar cheese for R40) or the free-range chicken thighs with a side salad of baby leaves, cauliflower mash, organic coconut oil and parmesan (R85). Other LCHF options include the aubergine bake and rocket salad; the chicken curry with cauliflower mash; and bacon, avocado and tomato sandwiches on low-carb bread.

Beyond Cape Town

Cold Gold Ice Cream (Stellenbosch)
Ice cream whizz Janine van Zyl makes both a dairy and dairy free version of banting-friendly ice cream. The dairy version is made with cream, egg yolks, and sweetened with xylitol or erythritol, and is available in Tahitan vanilla, Vahlrhona chocolate and Bean There coffee flavor. The dairy-free version is made with nut milk, and sweetened with a tiny amount of dates, and is available in chocolate and vanilla flavor. Cold Gold also sells banting cookies made with nut milk, some of which can be incorporated into the ice cream for a banting cookies and cream flavor. All of Cold Gold’s ice creams are 100% natural, free of preservatives, chemicals and artificial additives. Find Cold Gold at the store in Stellenbosch, or at the Blaauwklippen Family Market.

Twist Some More (Wellington)

Try the banting burger with a wild boar, apple and sage patty (160g) served on a cauliflower and cheese ‘bun’ topped with onion marmalade and gorgonzola cheese, and served with courgette ‘fries’ and a coriander mayonnaise.

Stores and suppliers

#LCHFSA at Bay Harbour Market
Stock up on stallholder Jonathan Skorpen’s range of banting-friendly products that are all sugar, wheat, grain and gluten-free. They include roasted nut granola with full fat yoghurt and berries, two low-carb bread options (one of which is suitable for people who are lactose intolerant), crispy seed crackers for snacking and dipping, ‘breakfast lasagna’, banting cottage pie, egg loaves with a variety of fillings (such as Farmer Angus boerewors or a vegetarian option with broccoli, asparagus and avo) or one of the three banting-friendly cake options: chocolate, carrot and a cheesecake. Jonathan also sells his granola at the Hout Bay Spar.

CauliQueen
This online store sells banting-friendly wraps, pizza bases, mash, rice, mayonnaise, bread, rolls and granola made according to the Real Meal Revolution recipes. Delivery is R60 in the Southern suburbs and R100 in the Northern suburbs.

Life Bake
Life Bake is a proudly South African company specialising in grain-free baked goods. Life Bake offers you a choice of wholesome, healthy foods created to cater for those food allergies. The range includes 100% grain-free granola, bread and toast, which is made without any wheat, gluten, dairy, nuts or egg. The nourishing foods and snacks from Life Bake are suitable for slimmers, vegans and diabetics – also for those sticking to the Paleo/ Tim Noakes diet. You’ll find no sugars, preservatives or additives in these pure natural baked goods. For a full stockist listing, visit www.lifebake.com/stock. For more info, contact Bronwyn Adir on 079 224 9555.

Sweet Like Candi
Pop into the City Bowl Market on a Thursday from 4.30pm – 8.30pm and Saturday morning from 9am – 2pm, or the Range Market in Tokai on Friday from 4.30pm – 9pm, and you’ll find a host of sweet treats such as banting-friendly truffle squares made with chocolate and sweetened with xylitol; low-carb cupcakes made with almond flour; cheesecake made with ground almonds, coconut, cinnamon and sweetened with xylitol; and chocolate mousse made with 95% cocoa chocolate and xylitol. Chief baker Leaine Brebner will also start serving hot banting meals at The Range from Friday. You can also place an order for quiches, bread, cauliflower pizza bases and heat at home meals for collection from Sea Point or delivery.

Have any to add?

Let me know,

Karen