society eatery & craft bar

updated review

i have been back a few times for casual drinks and dinner. my first experience was not mind blowing but i have only been happy since then. my boyfriend and i shared the mussel starter (lactase pills on hand for me) and i had crispy prawns and the zucchini fries (my favourite - although the sauce is quite rich). he had the fillet suzette and we were both extremely happy. great service, friendly waiter and a delicious dinner paired with yummy drinks.

previous review

went this evening for the first time with a group of work friends.servicewas great and nice atmosphere. i was quite disappointed with my main: pistachio crusted salmon. it was a little overcooked and the noodles weren't very flavoursome. the pistachio flavour didn't really come through. for r120 i would have expected way more finesse. the wide variety of beer was pleasing and had 2 good ones and really enjoyed the onion rings i had on the side. the best thing of the evening was the chocolate fondant which i shared (it was more than enough).

first visit for a late lunch, excellentserviceand food! look forward to going back to try more of the menu and different range of drinks. recommend for a casual relaxed outing.

food was average and the vibe was great will definitely be back, there's room to improve when it comes toservicethough,and the music was good

rather disappointed. the sirloin steak was full of sinew which is difficult to understand because sirloin is renowned for a fat-cap and no sinew. the steak had no browning on the exterior so had more of a boiled beef flavour than a steak and unfortunately had zero seasoning. bland, boiled, tough, overpriced beef is the best way to describe it. the crispy smashed potatoes have a distinct re-heated potato flavour which i suppose is understandable given how they need to be prepared forservicein the manner in which they're served, however there are a plethora of other preparations or ways to serve them to avoid this problem. texture is fine, but flavour will remind you of eating the roast potatoes on monday evening after a sunday lunch. at home that's fine. in a restaurant, not so much. as for the the butternut gratin, well... the butternut gratin is not gratinated whatsoever. in fact it's not a gratin. it doesn't even resemble a gratin. i'm not sure how they can call a purée a gratin and get away with it. it is quite literally a dollop of purée, and a rather bland one at that. i did call the restaurant to query this with them directly before posting this review as i assumed they must have made a mistake, and that's fine. we all make them on occasion. however the manager said that's how they interpret a gratin: it's a purée. he did promise to "look at this issue" and i sincerely hope that they change their menu copywrite to more accurately describe what it is that they're selling. i suspect that the issue they face (and why it's called a gratin) is because they can't get away with charging r32 for a smear of butternut purée on the plate and calling it a side dish. it's not a side dish at all in its current form. it's a purée and is likely to upset a lot of people who don't like to eat baby-food. it's also particularly condescending to your patrons to tell us that we just have different interpretations of what a gratin is. both a gratin and a purée are two widely understood and accepted french culinary terms for vastly different dishes or techniques. one has the texture of baby-food and is somewhere between a soup and a sauce. the other is layered and set with a crispy top under a broiler/salamander after baking. there is no interpretation wiggle-room here. this is simply blatant and intentional misrepresentation.

the only positive from this experience was the triple mushroom sauce. one of the few restaurants that doesn't inflict a white sauce with mushrooms on their patrons. society manage to get great flavour and texture into the sauce and it would make a great accompaniment to better mains and sides. i had a previous bad experience at society where everything was slathered in uncooked and unmelted butter which ruined the burgers we'd ordered. i opted not to write about it then assuming it was just a bad day at the office. this is the second time i've ordered and the second bad experience.

you guys have a great location and a great vibe. you really can do better with your food. what you're serving (and what you're charging) are not commensurate with each other.

when i was invited to this restaurant, i thought that it would be all about the craft beer and nothing else. boy was i wrong! society is about the experience - the beer and food is just a little part of it. food andservice is outstanding (don't forget the beer!) and the vibe is incredible. what i usually hate about popular restaurants is that the music is so loud that you can't hear anything. this doesn't happen here - you can actually have a decent conversation! i would definitely recommend the ice cream trio - heavenly!

thank you to society for hosting the zomatoxsociety meet up. it was a lovely evening.

society is a new restaurant in fourways, with a retro and classic feel. theservicewas excellent and waiters all had huge smiles on their faces. do try all of their starters, may favourite the zucchini fries, calamari, and mini pulled pork stacks. mains were fantastic with very tender steak. don't order the panacotta for desert. for the g and t fans, order their famous g and t mix, it's amazing!!!!

great place to go after work for a few drinks as normally has a great vibe..servicecan be a little slow but the food more than makes up for that.. but avoid if you in a rush, great selection of beers too

such a great place in an unexpected shopping centre. set up is really fantastic, so warm by the fire, and one of the greatest things is that they have a generator!

the drinks selection is fantastic, from cocktails to beer to craft beer and ciders. i would highly recommend the raspberry cocktail, the berry cider and the dragon fiery ginger beer, they are divine, however the margarita and toblerone cocktails were not the greatest. their weise is divine and so is their local brew, however i would not recommend the expresso stout.

the food is outstanding! as a starter you need to try their zucchini fries- they are honestly the greatest. as well as the fillet suzette and the calamari. these starters were really amazing.

for mains the brisket burger, the fillet and the pulled pork tortilla are my recommendations. the food as i said is amazing. the smashed potatoes are also great. my only problem was that i ordered the fillet and a rested for it medium - well and it came back raw and bleeding which i had to send it back. but they brought an entirely new fillet to me which i was impressed with.

the chocolate fondant is incredible and cooled to perfection with the centre still runny!
theserviceis however rather slow, the food was quick but the drinks took very long to come.

another plus with this restaurant is the free drink that you receive if you catch uber there.

society is a popular after-hours watering hole for joburg north's slaving corporates, priding themselves on a wide range of craft beers. as the name suggests however, they do have a great menu that puts an interesting spin on your everyday pub cuisine.

what i generally felt was lacking with society's food was consistency. i tried a number of starters, and most of them were good. i especially recommend the deep fried zucchini and chicken livers. the calamari and chicken nuggets were nothing to write home about, but more than edible.

for my main, i ordered the deconstructed pulled pork tortilla. the irony of this is that i feel deconstructing the meal did more harm than good. the pulled pork, in its deconstructed state, was very salty and quite unexceptional. but when combined with the plum sauce, salsa and other ingredients it was a whole different story. the plum sauce, in my opinion, was what held the whole meal together. that stuff is goooood.

dessert is where my heart breaks. i ordered the caramelized panacotta and it was awful. probably one of the worst desserts i can recently recall (even worse than the miserable custard tarts i made a few weeks ago - and those were bad). i don't know what happened. the panacotta was sour, bitter and rubbery. i'm not sure what the chocolate crumbs on top were, but they weren't a great addition either. the only saving grace was the mousse which was also, at best, mediocre. i will say that the dish was beautifully presented though. i will also say that my boyfriend ordered the chocolate fondant, and that was pretty darn spectacular. so it's not all bad news.

(but please, society. do something about that panacotta)

ambience is young and vibey, which i liked.servicewas very good.

in conclusion, a fairly balanced combination of delights and disappointments. though i'd like to go back one day and give it another chance.

hosted my birthday at society on saturday and was thoroughly impressed.

greatservicefrom the waiters that assisted us- so friendly and attentive.

food was wow- huge compliments to the chef.

thanks to mickey and team.

great place to grab some great craft beer and a burger with friends.

the staff are friendly and welcoming and theserviceis good. the decor is arty/modern and you can choose to sit inside or outside.

all the burgers are super tasty but the wagyu was the best for me.

the place is chilled, the food it's yummy special the asian calamari 😋😋😋.theserviceit's very good waiters are friendly. will definitely go back again

love this hang out. theserviceis sweeeet! food is really good. you must call to book a table. awesome place to spend the night or pre drinks before you head out

some girlfriends and i went to society last night for an early dinner and overall the food and atmosphere was good. we shared a board that contained the chicken pops, cauliflower pops, zucchini fries and the battered hake goujons - all of which were delish. for me my favourite was the zucchini fries and least favourite was the cauliflower pops as i felt it lacked in flavour. with me being preggy i had a banana milkshake which was super delish that i ordered a 2nd one 😊.servicewas too good to a point that the waiter and manager checked in too often for my liking - i understand that they want to keep their patrons happy, but over checking can get a bit annoying.

well, well, well.... so after have not ever trying this place for a hell of a long time my best mate thought let's try this spot

i glanced at the menu and one thing caught my eye.... the tacos, man o man the platter comes with fish, pork and something else i didn't really care about since i ate and ate all the fish tacos and then ordered more

best ever, the drinks were good theserviceoutstanding and to think this was at 12.30pm
i was told this place is off the hook later that evening

i was a little weary about this place being a little pretentious (since i was in shorts) but nothing remotely close

will def go back there tapas are the best ever

thanks team society

final thought:

one may think why if everything was good only 4.5 and not a 5 well because first impression wow i need to go back one more time and if it's the same (which i hear will be) then bada bing bada boom we change