Firefly

Description:

• This is my favorite restaurant in Knysna; I only wish it were closer to home. It's not just the venue -- a tiny dining room with rich red walls and a small outside garden patio lit up with fairy lights -- or the fiery, utterly delicious food, but the sense that you have stumbled onto something fragile. A self-taught cook, Sasha, persuaded her mom (Dell, who will in all likelihood be taking your order) that it was time for them to escape the Jo'burg rat race, and open a restaurant so small and intimate that one struggles to understand how their turnover can possibly warrant the hours a restaurant demands. But for Sasha and Dell it's a passion, so here they are, 3 years later, with bookings sometimes months in advance, regardless of season. Whatever else you order, make sure you have the bobotie spring rolls; for the rest, take your advice from Dell (unless you have an iron constitution, watch out for the super-spicy chili and prawn curry). There are plenty of mild options, but if your mouth is burning, try the "firefly iceberg" a liquid citrus and mint sorbet. Other dishes worth highlighting are the Goan prawn curry -- shelled and cooked with hand-pounded red leaf masala, fresh ginger, and coconut milk and topped with lemon zest -- as well as the green banana and chicken curry, with strong hint of lemongrass. Plans are to open another small room to cope with demand.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Very Highly Recommended 2010