Lion Sands River Lodge

Eating

Food in the bush just doesn’t come better than that at the River Lodge, which has a whole team of chefs under the supervision of culinary maestro Janine Hobbs.

You couldn’t find a more spectacular place to eat than the deck, raised high above the sandy banks of the Sabie: there were buffalo foraging just yards from our table during one of our starlit suppers. Dinners are also occasionally served at the lodge’s riverside viewing platform or out in the Sabi plains. Whatever the location you’ll be treated to top bush cuisine. Amongst Janine’s flagship dishes are crocodile kebabs in lemon butter and apricot sauce, blesbok fillet stuffed with peanut butter and coriander, and beef fillet marinaded in pinotage. All meals are immaculately presented by ever-smiling staff and there’s a wine list to rival that of a top Johannesburg restaurant. There’s even a cigar menu, as well as a choice of several brandies and half a dozen single malts. Desserts are excellent too: crafted by the in-house pastry chef.

Breakfasts are laid up in the shade of the enormous jackalberry tree which towers above the lodge or, occasionally, prepared out in the bush. Breads and muffins are baked daily, there are stewed fruit compotes as well as a big fruit salad, cheese and cold meat platters, smoked salmon, and cereals and yoghurts. This can be followed by ‘the full works’, which will include some kind of game sausage, perhaps gemsbok or warthog. Lunches are often picnics in the bush and stick to a ‘keep it light’ formula after the huge spread at breakfast: imaginative salads, perhaps fish or quiche, and exquisite presentation.