Pollsmoor is not the type of place you want to call home, something we’ve covered a few times this year already (HERE and HERE).

Well good news for those who just want to swing by for a meal then, because Pollsmoor Restaurant – slogan: Idlanathi (“Eat with us”) – is open to the public.

The best part? The waiters are prisoners, and so are most of the kitchen staff.

Here’s IOL with an update on how business is going:

…the restaurant was spotlessly clean and almost deserted when AFP visited for lunch, apart from a scattering of burly warders in brown uniforms and one couple from the world outside.

“The service is nice, the food is good and is very cheap,” said Arnold Daniels, a 57-year-old businessman, explaining why he and his wife Merina are regulars at the restaurant.

Did they not find it a bit odd to eat a leisurely lunch while thousands of prisoners were cooped up in nearby cells?

“It doesn’t bother us,” said Daniels. “It’s not really strange. It’s very safe and we don’t feel threatened at all.”

The decor of the restaurant, which can seat around 30 people, is, perhaps fittingly, spartan. The metal chairs have red plastic seats, the walls are bare and the floor is scrubbed tile. But the impenetrable security gates across the French windows are partly hidden by drapes in red and brown with gold piping. And the table mats boast a colourful African mask design.

Fans turn lethargically on the ceiling and pop music is piped continuously into the restaurant.

You lost me at pop music, but let’s not write it off just yet. What about the food?

The menu is extensive, ranging from “traditional tripe” and ox head to chicken schnitzel, beef cordon bleu and a seafood platter – which, at R60 is the most expensive dish…

The food is good, and the presentation worthy of a “Masterchef” contestant, with herbs and sauces drizzled around the plate.

That’s great, but I’m willing to bet the residents of Steenberg aren’t lining up to eat there. The Pollsmoor Restaurant closes at 2pm – at which time the waiters and cooks are returned to their cells.

That’s probably the bit that will please those across the road the most then…

[source:iol]