La Parada Parkhurst open on weekends

I was invited by the team at La Parada Parkhurst to come through and visit them over this weekend past and share my review/thoughts on my meal and the general ambience of the restaurant.

Health and safety was, of course, my main concern, given that we are in the middle of a pandemic, but also realising that I cannot spend the rest of my life hiding inside my house, I accepted – after checking that the restaurant follows the strictest safety and health protocols, which they assured me they did.

I was very impressed with the protocols on arrival, all staff where wearing masks and also splash screens, and our waiter checked my temperature, sanitised the entire table and my hands as I sat down, then sanitised the pen he gave me to fill in the attendance register (name, surname, temperature, etc as required these days).

They were pretty full which is absolutely brilliant, however, I did not feel cramped, or that anyone was too close to us during our experience and kept my mask on until our drinks arrived, and re-masked myself to visit the bathroom once during our visit.

Known for their tasty Tapas (I had heard via the grapevine of foodies) I was so excited to try something that I had not cooked myself – and of course, they delivered! After 5 months of eating only my own cooking, the explosion of flavours from every bite almost brought me to tears at the table – and I have since promised myself that never again will I ever take for granted the pleasure of eating out and having a meal that I have not had to prepare myself.

We ordered a variety of items to taste and my favourites without a doubt where the Poppers – whole Peppadew’s stuffed with cream cheese, deep-fried and served with a Basil aioli – I could have eaten a few of these plates on my own.

The grilled Calamari tubes were fresh and tasty and served with Chimichurri and tomato and the Tuna poke bowl was plentiful, filled with black rice, pickled ginger, avo and fresh nibbles – and another firm favourite with both myself and my dining partner was the pork belly, hot, gooey and crackly all at once, utter heaven.

We then opted for our own desserts, as I was not that willing to share this course 😉 and my piping hot, melt in the mouth Churros with chocolate sauce – I ate them all! My dining partner raved about her Cookies & Cream dessert – Vanilla bean Ice cream with a Chocolate brownie crumble – we never even made it to the Pina Colada Mousse or the Cheesecake (always an excuse to go back, right?).

Shout out to whoever did the interior decor and design – an incredibly creative use of space which I loved, the restaurant has a very high ceiling and a small upstairs seating area, and the volume is beautifully filled with ornate hanging lights and beautiful potted plants, all suspended from the ceiling. I have a bit of a crush on beautiful tiles, and they are artfully worked in with the fresh green, gold and wooden theme throughout.

It was busy, as mentioned earlier, however, I believe that is a great sign for local businesses, and although the manager apologised to us that the service was slow, I did not notice that at all, possibly as I was grateful to be out and about in the fresh air and sunshine on the verandah, and catching up with a friend that I had also not seen in 5 months.

La Parada Parkhurst is currently (at time of writing) open Friday – Sunday from 12h00 – 21h00. Bookings are essential.

A: Parkhurst Square, 38 4th Ave, Parkhurst, Johannesburg, 2193

T: 010 035 6894

W: https://laparada.co.za/parkhurst-square/