All Roads Lead To…The Joy of Food

When, on a Monday morning that sees you reaching for tissues before long before 09h00 you are unceremoniously ushered from a nearby restaurant with the words “we only open at 12h00!”, The Joy of Food feels like a sanctuary of silence, solitude and actual service that doesn’t make you feel like you’re intruding.

Located at The Village Complex in Eros (on the corner of Robert Mugabe Avenue and Liliencron Street), it’s easy to miss The Joy of Food completely and be enticed by Fresh n Wild’s fairy-land forest vibes. But off to the side, the deli sits pretty and proud.

I’m greeted with a smile that makes me feel right at home, seat myself at a rustic wooden table right outside and order a cappuccino (N$18) that hits all the right spots. Enough caffeine courage coursing through me to be able to take on the day, I start looking at the menu in earnest.

With breakfasts like ‘Baked Eggs Florentine’ (baked eggs with spinach and parmesan) and ‘Fruit Fruit Granola’ (seasonal fruit with yoghurt, honey and oat nut granola), Saturday brunch dishes with names like ‘Soldier On’ (soft boiled eggs with toast fingers and salt flakes), light lunches like ‘Marrakesh Magic’ (ginger-roasted butternut, cauliflower and chickpeas tossed with fresh herbs, rocket and dukkah, served with a spiced lemon and yoghurt dressing) and a variety of pizzas, sandwiches and desserts, options are a-plenty, but I already know what I want.

One word: Bacon.

I order the ‘The Morning After’ with a chuckle because the only thing I did the day before was eat too much lasagne and take naps on the couch.

‘The Morning After’ goes for N$85 and is listed as a choice of scrambled or fried eggs with a mini streak, mushrooms, a grilled tomato and toast. I opt to drop the mushrooms and ask for extra bacon instead. Because bacon makes everything better.

Ordering breakfast that includes steak is very often a risk. One we should probably stop taking. I’ve been served thin, tough and tasteless ‘steaks’ more often than I care to recall, but I’m willing to give it one more try mostly because I’ve been jonesing for protein the way only a Namibian can.

Medium rare is how I want my steak and that’s exactly how it arrives. In all its meaty perfection. The steak is tender and tasty, my scrambled eggs are fluffy and the bacon is beautiful as ever, but overall, the plate could have done with a sprinkling of salt before leaving the kitchen.

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