The Raptor Room

I like nice things. Fancy cars. Gin bars. Summer afternoons at the pool, winter days by the fire. A good steak. I also love a break from the norm. A little bit of quirk. It was the quirk that led me to photograph The Raptor Room in 2017 as a part of the Pretty Blog’s Inner City Gems series.

Tucked away in Roeland street, if you weren’t looking for it, you could easily miss it - So keep your eyes peeled for the pink awning and if its dark, the neon lights.

It’s been a while since we visited so we went back for dinner and found that they’ve revamped the space and are able to seat at least double the diners. I didn’t spot as many dinosaurs as there were, but for the most part they have stuck to their tried and tested theme. Pink and green decor. Palm tree wallpaper. The neon still shines bright. Pulsating sounds. You’d be excused for feeling as though you’ve been transported to the eighties as part of a scene from Miami Vice.

Decor and nuance’s aside, the food is still amazing. I had the chicken popcorn, handcut fries and side house salad while Ashton went with the Corn fritters with Avo salsa. It was DELICIOUS.

Order the chicken popcorn (There is an image below from my visit in 2017, but they’ve changed it up and it was good then, now its incredible).

Other menu items include names such as “You Gats-tby Kidding Me”, “Prego my vetkoek” & “Chicken Crack” - So perhaps there’s more than just a little bit of quirk ;)

These are images of the original space, you really should go for a bite to see how they’ve changed things up, but mostly because the food is so damn good.