It is not hard to find a good steak in South Africa, a country known for its fondness of meat, but I have not found a better one than at Marble Restaurant in Johannesburg.
Marble Restaurant, Johannesburg Review
Hours before I flew back to the United States, a group of us enjoyed a very special dinner at Marble Restaurant, located on the Keyes Art Mile in Johannesburg’s Rosebank district. This restaurant represents excellent value for top-quality cuts of meat and a very lovely atmosphere overlooking the city.
I had a reservation for 5:00 pm (due to my flight at 9:00 pm) and when we arrived, our table was not ready. We were ushered out onto a patio where we waited for about 15 minutes for our table to be ready (the restaurant itself was not full yet).
Once seated, drink orders were taken then one of the waiter showed up with a platter so that he could explain the various cuts of meat.
We ordered several appetizers for the table, including:
- Marble Snails
- Snails in the wood-fired oven, tomato and garlic stew, herb butter, mozzarella and gruyère
- Burrata
- Burrata, grilled stonefruit, baby gem lettuce, tomato, green olive dressing, seed cracker
- Marble Caesar
- Pancetta, anchovies, iceberg, croutons, pine nuts, grilled lime, parmesan dressing
- Super Salad
- Fired and marinated cauliflower, iceberg, edamame, peas, quinoa, pumpkin seeds, pomegranate, cucumber, mint and tahini dressing
- Marble Bites
- From the grill, lamb ribs with chimichurri, smoked peri-peri chicken wings, pork slider with slaw
Everything was delicious, but the escargot was so delicious (and yes, it was my first time eating snails). I’d certainly order the snails again.
We ordered different things from the menu for our main course. I ordered a ribeye medium rare. When asked for my side, I specified chips (thinking French Fries) but I received potato crisps instead…so do specify it is French Fries you want (slaptjips in Afrikaans). Both were great, though, but the steak topped in herb butter was simply sublime.
I ordered the South African ribeye for 365 Rands (~19USD). It was described as “coal-fired ribeye, hassleback potato, Jack Daniels & butter pepper cream, mushrooms, roasted garlic dressing, parmesan.” I could ahve ordered a special ribeye from the USA (RR Ranch in Washington State) for 1590 Rands (~83USD), but it seemed so wasteful…I can get a US ribeye when I’m in the USA and the South African version was just perfect.
One ordered a fillet. Another ordered a t-bone:
Another a tomahawk steak:
We all agreed that everything was great.
The only problem was that I ran out of time. By 7:45 pm dessert still had not arrived. It finally showed up five minutes later and I had to take a few bites and leave. After all, my flight was departing at 9:00pm. Yes, I really cut it close (but did make the flight…). The cheesecake was also just perfect.
CONCLUSION
Marble will become a staple of every visit to Johannesburg in the future. The food is amazing (and the prices are even more amazing compared to prices in Western Europe and the USA). What a great dinner!
Have you tried Marble Restaurant in Johannesburg?
I had a great dinner there in 2019. Johannesburg has great restaurants. Cape Town even better!
Try the Thunder Gun steak house just up from cresta mall fantastic food
Dining in SA really is a treat for carnivores like myself. As great as the steak choices are the wine options. Thanks for this review.
It looks absolutely fantastic and $19 for a ribeye is a total steal. So smart to get a dinner like this instead of eating whatever s..t United served on your flight back home. Now, this might just me but I cannot sleep week after eating a ribeye. Too much fat so usually if I am eating beef at night I go for the tenderloin. Now, that Tomahawk looks insane.
Next segment of this report will be the flight…I did go right to sleep, but midway through the flight had…filet mignon. We will compare them! 😉
I’ve eaten at Marble – you really do need to leave lots of time to enjoy!!!
You know it’s funny how this “mission trip” included so many indulgences.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees…
Jeeminey, we decided to treat our friends from Malawai to a special dinner. Is that such a problem?
Butcher Boys, Durban, South Africa, as good as I have ever had
As a steak guy myself, South Africa was first rate. My wife and I went to a place called The Bull Run in Sandton (no idea if it’s still there, this was 2008). Two starters, steak, fish for the wife, desert, and a couple of very generous glasses of red wine for me, all for less than $50.
My only suggestion is, try a game steak next time. I tried springbok in Cape Town, and it was really tasty.
It does look good. Just wondering, there are more wildebeest, water buffalo, and Zebra in South Africa but is there beef too?
I’m there right now. Thanks for the recommendation definitely worth returning
Glad you are enjoying it!