A very nice restaurant opened about two months ago: Joubert's Restaurant. It has a South African influence, is vegetarian, and has many (most) vegan dishes. They have a wine/beer license, and rotate through five fixed-price dinners, though 'a la carte' is available, as is cafeteria take-out. The dining room is very soothing with paintings on the walls and a nice fireplace. The dinner menu has a model of Soup/Ragout/Bean-dish. The South African influence includes Malaysian, Indian, Dutch, as well as 'ethnic' African. Here is their current rotational menu: NATAL INDIAN Durban Red Lentil Dahl Chaka's Kraal Kootau - a curried stew Umbogintwini Garbanzo Beens KWAZULU FUSION British-Indian Yellow Split Pea Mulligatawa(n)y - Anglo-Indian Soup Isipingo Beach subji - a curried stew Zulu-Indian Pinto Beans CAPE FUSION French Huguenot-Dutch Brown Lentil Boere-Malay Potjiekos - a "food pot" ragout Malay-Xhosa Butter Beans CHINESE SOUTH AFRICAN Johannesburg Moong Bean Hillbrow Hot Pot Braamfontein Black Beans CAPE MALAY Table Moutain Balck-eyed Peas Vredehoek Bredie (Ragout) Cape Town Kidney Beans ...there are many very good Chutneys, Achars, Raita and other dishes. Their 'everyday' East London Green Split Pea Soup is very good! They have a decent selection of wines and Microbrewed beers, as well as other beverages, including a selection of fine teas. The outside facade is not representative of the dining experience, as the kitchen is 'street-side'. The tables are well set, with linen table cloths, a full compliment of silverware - all in a pleasant setting. NOTE: they use quite a bit of garlic (which we love!)!!! Joubert's Restaurant 4115 Judah (at 46th Avenue, near the Beach) San Francisco, CA 94122 (415) 753-5448 Open WEDNESDAY through SUNDAY 6pm to 10pm Right on the N-Judah Street Car (M.U.N.I. Metro) line. For visitors to S.F., you might want to take the "N" to the beach for a day trip, culminating in a wonderful dinner at this place. DISCLAIMER: I just ate there, enjoyed it, and want to pass on my comments to those who would benefit. I stand to gain nothing by your going there, except for perhaps the knowledge that you might very well enjoy yourselves - and I enjoy seeing and knowing that people *are* enjoying themselves!
San Francisco Bay Area, CA