The best burger in Joburg (in my humble opinion)

I am loving burgers at the moment! Not too much, but just enough so that I don’t get too chunky. This is just my (humble) opinion about the best places to get one in the northern suburbs of Joburg.

The Wolfpack – Parkhurst

I love Parkhurst. And I now love the Wolfpack. Besides their great burgers, they have a huge selection of Craft Beer (another new hobby of mine – it’s surprising I weigh 20 kgs more). You need to book and they have seating down and upstairs. You’ll find it on 4^th Ave, where Georges on 4^th used to be.

The last burger I had there was the Big Bad Wolf. It was AMAZING! So saucy and messy and delicious! Their fries are also great as are the wasabi onion rings.

 

RocoMamas – Randburg

Lucky for me this is about 2 kms from my house (Appletons Village, Malibongwe Drive), should a burger craving kick in. And guess what… they also have Craft Beer.

My favourite thing here is that you can build your own burger – as indecisive as I am, I still like to make my own choices.

Us 3 Musketeers went there the other night for a girls catch up dinner. We shared the ribs to start – YUM! – and then I had the Classic Cheese with extra blue cheese dressing and guacamole. It was super scrumptious!

The manager told us that all of the ingredients are sourced fresh and they make everything themselves like the burger patties, sauces etc. Always a plus for me!

 

Great Burger Company (GBC) – Fourways

GBC is about 1 km form work for me (The Buzz Centre, Witkoppen Drive). This is where is go once in while on a Friday (take out lunch day). It’s also a build your own burger place. The biggest difference with GBC is that they have a bigger selection of toppings and burgers – they beef, chicken and lamb. You can also choose from quite a few different rolls.

A lot of the toppings are also free (unlimited) so you can get away with a relatively cheap burger if you don’t go too fancy. There are 7 different cheeses to choose from and 15 different sauces.

I am also told that their Chilli Cheese fries are amazing… a bit pricey, but apparently worth it. And since I eat there during working hours, I don't know the Craft Beer situation :)

So my verdict is this… for selection, go to GBC, for freshness and yumminess, go to Rocomamas, for an overall great experience, go to the Wolfpack.

All great burgers though! For me, it depends which area I’m in and what I’m socially in the mood for.

Emmarentia Dam

If Northern Farms is too far to drive, there is always Emmarentia Dam. It is off Beyers Naude, near Meliville Koppies, in the suburb of… you guessed it… Emmarentia.

The original farm was established by Lourens Geldenhuys in 1886, the same year Johannesburg was officially ‘born’. Louw Geldenhuys, one of Lourens sons married a lady named Emmarentia (hence the name). During the Boer War, the lake was dug to provide work for landless farmers. The park was later given to the City Council for recreation purposes. The Johannesburg Botanical Gardens were established in 1964 and form part of the park.

There are 3 dams, a rose garden, herb garden, dog walking park and quite a few mountain biking trails. It forms part of the Braamfontein Spruit trail. You can leave the park, and access the Spruit near the fire station on either side of Beyers Naude.

There are some easy routes that you can spice up with a few single tracks through trees and down hills and through the streams connecting the dams.  

 

Since dogs are walked there, the one thing you do need to watch out for when cycling is fresh dog poop. It’s never pleasant to cycle through it by mistake (I’d rather go through cow poop if I had to choose!). You also need to watch out for the actual dogs. They’re all so happy to be out and sniffing each other that they don’t pay attention to anyone around them.

 

If you park in the parking lot off Olifants Road, the car guard is a super friendly guy who knows all about cars, how much the accessories (like mags) cost and how fast they go. It’s not often you meet a guy who’s friendly just because.