A Foodie’s Guide Through Umhlanga’s Tastiest Street Spot
Umhlanga has always been a big foodie hub and there has been a buzz about a little spot down near the Whale Bone Pier that we just had to try. Treat Street is a vibrant food truck section at the bottom of The Pearls with various delicious meals and drinks, making it the perfect spot for a classic FabMags Food Safari. Come along with me to see what the hype is all about!
As you enter, you are greeted, not only by a metal arch boldly displaying the name, Treat Street but by a plethora of aromas. Our adventure was meticulously planned with four lovely vendors, and it started with Smaquè Stack, a food truck that can satisfy your savoury taste buds with a juicy burger and more. If you think their name is unique, you should see how they named items on their menu (South African slang is cleverly used, so I took my time giggling while reading the different names).
The friendly staff knew exactly what we had to try… one of their Kuro Buns; a beef smash patty, cheddar cheese, tomato, lettuce, caramelised onions with their signature secret smaquè sauce, all on an activated charcoal burger bun – not just Instagram worthy but smaquè-ing good! The other two popular items had a delicious spicy bite to them. The Okes Smash; two beef smash patties, two slices of cheddar cheese, thinly sliced Jalapeños and onion, in a brioche bun. And lastly, the Toasted Grilled Cheese Osch; two beef smash patties, Jalapeños, red onion, with cheddar, gouda, and mozzarella, toasted on a brioche bun – a toasted burger?! We can tell you now you HAVE to try it! Oh but wait, how can you have a burger without fries? Smaquè Stack has you covered with the trending waffle fries – crispy and packed with flavour.
Okay, you might be wondering when are we going to get to the “treat” in Treat Street… Well, hold your horses, this is a journey and I have short legs. The next stop was a place that got my inner child screaming… Doxa Donuts. Do any 2000s babies remember those trays of hot mini donuts with chocolate or caramel sauce and sprinkles all over them? Oh yes… I am going to send your tastebuds back in time.
We were treated to their Downsize Tray which has five mini donuts, perfect for what Anthony would call “Today’s little sweet treat” – if you know you know. But we were also given their Standard Tray which has 10 mini donuts and The Works Tray which has 10 mini donuts but with any three additional gourmet toppings… and the best thing is that all their mini donut trays are drenched in milk chocolate, white chocolate, caramel and cinnamon sugar, or you can just do one, no one is judging. You might think about what toppings I got, but in all honesty, we asked the staff member to surprise us as there was a lot to choose from.
Doxa Donuts doesn’t just have mini donuts, they can quench your thirst too with a fizzy drink. With a few flavours, I decided on the passionfruit and lemonade and lastly the cherry bomb (queue Joan Jett and The Blackhearts’ “Ch, Ch, Ch, Cherry Bomb!”). I hope you have an extreme sweet tooth because there is another sweet spot to visit.
Lipt – a Hindi word which means indulge. This dessert truck offers you things you have never tried before and I am excited to share the goodness with you. Every South African knows what Pani Puri is, but now imagine a dessert version… the crispy shell filled with ice cream! They have a few flavours but we indulged in the pistachio and new mango boba flavours… WOW, the bursts of flavour in these little shells will keep you coming back for more. To add to their unique menu, the owner and mother of two, had kids in mind and created the funfair taco, an ice cream taco that is every child’s sweet tooth dream. A waffle cone taco shell filled with bubblegum ice cream, candyfloss, marshmallows, sprinkles, chocolate drizzle and gummy sweets – sugar overload! Last but not least, they offer a crispy waffle on a stick that you can drizzle with chocolate and cover in sprinkles – nothing is ordinary, and I love it.
The very last stop on this food venture is a vendor that offers too many drinks to count. At Oceanfront Oasis Cafe, you can get your coffee fix on a cold day or a refreshing iced drink on a sunny beach day. For the health-focussed peeps, they have delicious smoothies (even flavours I could say you haven’t tried), and for the adults needing to take the edge off of a stressful week, there is a perfect list of cocktails to give you that “zing”. The kids can enjoy a milkshake or a slushy, which I can say is yummy after getting their “everything” layered slushy. Amongst the list we had two drinks that stood out to us, one was a Blueberry Iced Latte, a classic iced latte but with blueberry puree – a combo I would never have thought of nor tried but boy was I surprised. It was amazing. For the next drink, I wanted to prove to my past self that when it is authentic and done right, tastes great.
Matcha is a trending drink that derives from Japan and is a finely ground green tea leaf, known to have a slightly bitter and vegetal taste. I was intrigued to try the Matcha Strawberry Frappe… and I loved it! It was sweet and milky – my new favourite drink!
And with that, we come to the end of the food safari through Treat Street. A HUGE thank you to the amazing vendors for the experience and we can’t wait to see everyone try out all the delicious it all for themselves!
Words: Kai Coates
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https://www.instagram.com/smaquestack_official/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/doxadonuts/?hl=en