The second of Albert’s friend’s recommendations was a German sausage place that when we googled it appeared it had shut down. We were disappointed but we had some really good foods in the Midlands Meander area, so weren’t too perturbed.

As we were driving towards the final accommodation of our adventure, we saw a sign for a place called Edi’s Bratwurst Sausage Restaurant and B&B.  To be fair, we didn’t remember the original name and thought we may have stumbled upon a Google error!

We drove up yet another meandering driveway, and eventually came to a building with the German flag, so figured we were in the right place. A nice old chap came ambling over and we said we would like to sit and have a drink overlooking the hills. He was super friendly and showed us where to go, all the while updating us on the maintenance he was doing on the property that day.

We walked through a beautiful little courtyard into the quaintest restaurant I have seen in a long time.  It was very German, or Swiss looking.  It could have been in the alps, and certainly when you saw the breath-taking views, you could easily imagine being out there in the summer.

Margit came over and settled us in.  She laughed when we asked what they had to drink, and said it would be easier to list what they don’t.  I imagine this would be very accurate as actually, they had both the drinks we both fancied.  Talking to them later, it turns out they have quite the selection of gins and tonics, too.  Not something you would expect from a sausage restaurant!

After a while, the nice man from out front ambled out back to where we were.  It turns out he is Edi the owner, and he was a delight.  He and his partner Margit run the B&B and restaurant.  We got to chatting and despite having just had a delicious breakfast, we were curious about the sausages.  Edi bought us out a frozen version of everything so we could see.

I couldn’t tell you what we were looking at even seconds after he had explained them all!  I just knew that there were three that had a selection of bacon and cheeses, and we ordered them! 

They were sooooo good.  So good in fact that we ate them all despite having only planned to have a bite or two to taste them.  That would not only have been impossible, but also rude.  Edi and Margit are so welcoming and kind that we would never have wanted to offend them on any level.  We sat there very happily for a number of hours discussing everything from how and when they both (separately) emigrated from Europe, to our trip and plans going forward.

At one point, we thought that we had managed to make an error in our B&B booking for the night. Edi overheard and offered for us to stay there with them. We went about calling the place we had booked to cancel and explain that we had just looked on the map and discovered they were in Durban. Turns out it was another Google error and they were about 10 minutes up the road.

We thanked Edi for his kind offer but said that we really should honour our original booking. He agreed but was visibly pleased that he could have helped, and we promised that next time we were in the area that we would be back and stay with them.

If you are ever in the area, you HAVE to pop in and visit with them.  You really do need to save space for the bratwurst and the beer though.  It’s a crime not to!

If you pop by, please do send them our love. We had such a wonderful afternoon, which was not only down to the good food and drinks, but their hospitality.

UPDATE:

Sadly you will no longer be able to go and visit. Edi was brutally murdered in a home invasion/farm attack this week. He died saving Margit. His heroics meant that she was able to escape alive. Unfortunately there have been no arrests as yet. I’m not holding my breath for one either. The corruption in South Africa is so, so out of control at the moment that I doubt this horrific murder will even be investigated properly.

I am sending all my love and prayers to Margit, and both Margit and Edi’s children.

I’m so sorry that we wont be able to come back as we promised. I’m also sorry that I didn’t post this before so that Edi knew how much we loved it there. I’ve been so wrapped up in my own mental health issues that I couldn’t bear to read and edit such happy times.

I’m sorry.

RIP Edi x