Springbok Bar & Grill brings monkey gland sauce to Shoreline Village

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES

For Americans, there’s not much of a frame of reference where South African food is concerned. We can probably tell you about Charlize Theron and apartheid and Nelson Mandela (and that song about freeing him, by Special AKA)—none of which you can eat. Of their food, we know not one thing, which is somehow pretty accurate (if rude) because, like our own, the nation is a melting pot.

Demographically 80 percent African—but variously claimed by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British—what we now call the Republic of South Africa benefits gastronomically from its location along shipping routes at the continent’s tip. This somewhat explains the nation’s 11 official languages—and also the Indian influence in its food; its meat-based cuisine; and the presence of Moroccan, Chinese, and African dishes as well.

Springbok Bar & Grill, in Long Beach’s Shoreline Village, is named for the African antelope, and it isn’t supposed to be a melting pot—even though it seems that way to us. It’s modeled after a rugby bar—because its owners, all South African expatriates, couldn’t find a good rugby bar here. And so a rugby bar is what you get in spirit; the decor is all soccer jerseys, loud Pink Floyd, and that second hit Tracy Chapman had. But the menu manages to serve what is very probably the most authentic South African cuisine you’ll find this side of Van Nuys—where the other Springbok outpost is located.

We almost began with an order of the Knysna Green-Lipped Mussels (mussels in garlic butter), but decided instead on an order of Sammy’s Samosas, which are the fried, triangular Indian pastries. They come with your choice of vegetable or beef filling; we chose the vegetable filling, and it was excellent, if fiery hot. Whoever does the frying doesn’t mess around; they almost burned my date—Dave Wielenga!—and that would have been sad. The samosa sauce helped; a nice blend of spicy and savory, it looked like a Jell-o shot—and yet, it wasn’t. Instead, it cooled the samosas.

I love Indian food, and so I ordered Naidoo’s Durban Curry of the Day—which turned out to be huge chunks of curried beef. Indian food is tough to get right, but the spices were every bit as deep and complex as I’d have expected up the street at my Indian restaurant, Taste of India. Even the rice it was served over was delicious—though it wasn’t Basmati. The best part (from a visual standpoint) was the pappadum, which is a thin spicy wafer cracker that tastes all toasted and peppery. A huge slab of it arrived sticking straight out of my curry, next to the traditional sambals side garnishes of grated carrots, and chunked tomatoes. Pappadum rules.

Dave Wielenga could have had himself the Cape of Good Hope Seafood Salad or Raj’s Bunny Chow—curry served in a hollowed-out bread loaf—or even the Biltong Bowl, which showcases the famous South African dried beef. But instead he ordered the Jan Van Riebeeck’s boerwors roll—the traditional South African beef sausage served on a crusty roll and, of course, named for the first European to set foot in South Africa. It tasted, Dave said, like your typical bratwurst—but that was a good thing, all meaty and charred. And it came with something called train smash—not to be confused with a train wreck, which is when you open your mouth mid-chew and show your fellow diners the contents. Train smash is a uniquely South African side, similar in subterfuge to the nation’s monkey gland sauce in that it contains neither train nor smash. It’s deep red and comprises cooked tomatoes and onions, which deepen the tomato flavor considerably. And it’s delicious.

Oh yes—the monkey gland sauce? The secret ingredients are many, but they can be fruit chutney, red wine, port, ketchup and curry powder. Depends. At Springbok, you get monkey gland sauce with your Springbok Bar Burger. How does it taste? Sadly, by the time we thought to order some, we were full.

SPRINGBOK BAR & GRILL 423-A SHORELINE VILLAGE | LONG BEACH 90802 | THESPRINGBOK.COM | 562.437.3734 | KITCHEN IS OPEN MON-FRI 11AM-10PM, SAT-SUN 11AM-11PM; BAR IS OPEN 11AM-2AM DAILY | FOOD FOR TWO, $20-$40 | BEER, WINE

Tags: Food, monkey gland sauce, shoreline village, south african, springbok bar and grill