Glory was a short-lived but astoundingly memorable Asian street food style hangout launched by chef Nick Scott, that briefly opened on Melville’s busy 7th Street. While that bricks and mortar Glory has gone, Glory’s renowned dishes – from ramen to crispy chicken and cucumber pickle – live on as a pop-up in an eclectically kitted out suburban home in nearby Westdene. 

When you drive up there's little to indicate that behind the walls of this suburban house is a restaurant, except for a small sticker on the buzzer at the gate. As this is essentially a house there's no guarded parking so we recommend taking an Uber and with limited seating, prior booking is essential.

Once inside the gates you'll be welcomed up to the first floor where a pretty terrace overlooking the small garden leads into the home's open-plan living area, which has been transformed into a stylish ten table restaurant filled with house plants and decorated with an eclectic selection of vintage posters and elegant mid-century furniture. 

Glory's pop-up menus take inspiration from south-east Asian ingredients and all the herbs and vegetables used are sourced from a farm just outside Joburg that is owned and managed by a farmer of Thai heritage. This means that all of Glory's seasonal pop-up menus (which run for eight weeks at a time) are based on seasonal, and predominantly Asian, produce.

The latest Glory pop-up is christened Summer of Ssam and is inspired by the Korean dish 'ssam' which is essentially a lettuce leaf wrap filled with a mix of spiced vegetables, pickles and meats. Glory's Summer of Ssam set menu (R250 per person) starts with a mix of salted and chilli spiced nuts, marinated olives and super light and crispy rice crackers topped with delicious tamarind-spiced aubergine and roasted onion.

The main course is a series of Korean banchan (small plates) that represent an interesting twist on Korean tastes and culinary styles, that the team are careful to remind you are not traditionally Korean, but rather Korean 'inspired'. These include an unique take on kimchi made with Indian-South African atchaar spices, a refreshing green papaya salad, a bowl of addictively sticky coconut rice and various pickles and plenty of greens (including of course the lettuce and swiss chard leaves to make your own ssam). To top it all of you also get your choice of main protein; steamed lemongrass yellowtail fish, crispy fried Korean chicken, smoked beef brisket with a ginger scallion sauce or a vegetarian smoked oyster and shitake mushroom dish. 

The various small plates arrive on your table as a seemingly never-ending procession of interesting flavours and textures, served on the most elegant handmade ceramics. This is a meal for sharing and we recommend bringing along some friends so you can try a bit of everything. You'll also want to set aside a few hours to linger over the experience as the menu is very filling. For dessert the homemade sorbet is the perfect palate cleanser and a sweet end to a meal packed with umami flavours.

Drinks include a choice of wines, beers or a homemade ice tea and are not included in the price of the meal.

SMS or What's App +27 63 766 1238 to book and follow the menu and events on their Instagram page @gloryjoburg.
The pop-up is open Mon-Thu 18:00-22:00, Fri and Sat 12:00-23:00, Sun 12:00-16:00.