Last Updated on April 4, 2026
Feast on the best of South Africa at this celebration of red wine and red meat
4.0 out of 5.0 starsWe all know that every club has rules. The first rule of Fight Club was famously that we do not talk about Fight Club. But then there are some clubs that come with far less secretive (and more hospitable!) rules. Club Carnivore, for example, comes with three very simple rules:
1. Red meat only.
2. Red wine only.
3. Wine served only from magnums (or larger!).
If this sounds like your kind of club, you need to get yourself to Vivat Bacchus, a South African restaurant with branches in London Bridge and Farringdon and a longstanding reputation for excellent South African food and wine, and warm South African hospitality.
Vivat Bacchus was the brainchild of Gerrie Knoetze and Neleen Strauss, two South African restaurateurs and wine merchants who opened the first Vivat Bacchus in Farringdon in 2003, after many years of running the successful Browns of Rivonia in Johannesburg. The concept of the restaurant has always been wine-focused, and both branches have extensive walk-in cellars with thousands of bottles of (largely South African) wines. Add to this a strongly South African themed menu and a winning formula was born. Both Gerrie and Neleen have moved on to other projects, but the Humble Grape group (owned by another South African, James Dawson) recently bought Vivat Bacchus. Fans can rest assured that James is maintaining the tradition of excellent South African food, wine and hospitality.
Their bi-monthly Club Carnivore events have been running for over ten years and are practically an institution for London meat and red wine lovers. The warmth of South African hospitality hits us as soon as we walk through the doors on a chilly March evening. All the front-of-house and waitstaff that we encountered were South African, with the attendant levels of cheerfulness. Although the event usually takes place in the private room, on this occasion we were in the main restaurant. South African gatherings are not known for their formality, and this was no exception. All guests are seated at a single long table, and during the evening, as conversation between strangers flowed, you could see new friendships forming. Our host for the evening was super-knowledgeable Sharrol Mukendi-Klaas, a qualified sommelier who is also wine and beverage manager at Vivat Bacchus. Guests were welcomed with one of my favourite South African sparklers: Graham Beck NV Cap Classique – a classic Champagne blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with winemaker Pieter Ferreira’s signature fine, lively mousse. It has always been (and remains) my favourite Champagne alternative. Sharrol then talked us through the order of the evening – five red meat-focused courses, each paired with a glass of South African red wine, poured from an outsize bottle: a magnum or larger.
We kicked off with a carpaccio of smoked ostrich topped with a tangle of wild rocket and a scattering of toasted macadamia nuts. This was a delightfully simple yet successful dish. Ostrich, for those who have not had it, bears no resemblance to the white meat that you’d expect of a bird but is instead closer to lean beef. Here, the excellent, almost translucently thin slices had a good smoky flavour that complemented the richness of the meat, and I think in future I only ever want my carpaccio served with toasted macadamias! This was paired with a 2022 Kanonkop Kadette Pinotage from Stellenbosch. Pinotage (a cross between Pinot Noir and Hermitage, developed in South Africa) is a natural choice, being so uniquely South African. This one from the cooler climes of the Stellenbosch region is fairly typical, showing off its Pinot Noir heritage – fairly pale ruby red with lots of red fruits and robust acidity. Although not my favourite wine of the night for sipping, it came into its own together with the smoky meat – a wonderful match.
The next course was a boerewors sosatie (skewer) on a bed of chakalaka. Boerewors is, of course, the quintessential South African sausage, made of beef and strongly spiced with coriander seed. Here, it was cut into chunks and skewered with onion and dried apricots before being flame-grilled. Although a slightly unusual combination, I really loved the addition of the apricots (and in fact, traditional South African lamb sosaties always call for the addition of dried apricots. Chakalaka is another South African staple, ubiquitous at every braai (barbecue) and is a spiced tomato-based relish with baked beans and peppers. The wine pairing here was another Pinotage, but the 2022 Nieuwe Haarlem Pinotage is from a very different region: the far hotter and drier Swartland. The difference in the wine was noticeable: a riper and rounder wine with a nice balance of red and black fruit and smooth tannins.
This was followed by a Karoo lamb “roosterkoek” slider: a fat lamb meatball and a roasted pepper smoor (relish) sandwiched in a bun. This was tasty, but I would say that if you have ever had proper roosterkoek (yeast dough made into breadrolls that are cooked over open flames), the bun bore no more than a very passing tangential resemblance to a roosterkoek! To be fair, our non-South African neighbours at the table all loved it and were none the wiser. This was paired with a 2021 Driehoek Syrah from the Cedarberg, a high altitude cooler region, giving the wine more of a northern Rhone style. With white pepper and violets on the nose, it was packed with dense dark fruits and smooth tannins. Dangerously drinkable!
Then came the piece d’resistance of the evening: a rib of beef to share, with monkey gland sauce, creamed spinach and soetpatats. There was nothing about this dish I did not love – from the impressive piece of meat cooked to pink perfection, the monkeygland sauce (a South African steakhouse favourite involving no monkeys!), and the standard South African incarnation of a yellow and a green vegetable side dishes. For the uninitiated, monkeygland sauce is actually a sweet and tangy lovechild of a relish and a sauce; and soetpatats are sweet potatoes. The steak was really outstanding – excellent flavour and with a good seared crust. It was also a very generous portion for two, and my companion and I could not finish it despite our best intentions. (That said, the guy next to us literally gnawed the last remnants of meat off the bone, so maybe we were just too polite!). The best wine of the night was saved for this carnivorous dream: 2015 Meerlust Rubicon. Meerlust has always been one of the premier red wine estates in South Africa, and Rubicon is their flagship Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant Bordeaux blend. It was redolent with the aromas of liquorice, dark plums and brambles, and the palate did not disappoint with a spicy mouthful of mulberries, blackberries and hints of dark chocolate, overlaid with velvety tannins.
Of course, any meal like this could not possibly end with something that would bring down the carnivorous tone. Instead of dessert, we were served a cheese and biltong board: a generous mound of excellent biltong together with a selection of three cheeses (a delightfully oozy and ripe Camembert, a blue, and what looked like an aged Comte to me). The biltong was perfectly spiced and the thinly sliced, while the cheeses were complemented by another South African favourite: Mrs Balls Chutney! And to wash this down, our final pour of the night was the 2022 Doolhof Malbec – a more restrained yet juicy example of this variety from the cooler Wellington region, and a great alternative to a port or a dessert wine.
It is safe to say we made our way back out into the chill bathed in the warm glow of steak, red wine and South African bonhomie. At £100 per head, I thought this represented excellent value, given the quality of the ingredients and the generous portions – not to mention the premium wines. For homesick South Africans and those wishing to learn more about the country’s food and wine, Club Carnivore is a London essential. Groucho Marx once said that he did not want to be a member of any club that would accept him. I beg to differ – this is one club every meat and wine lover in London should be clamouring to get into!
Club Carnivore takes place alternately at the London Bridge and Farringdon branches of Vivat Bacchus – see their website for the next one at Farringdon in May.
Vivat Bacchus, London Bridge
4 Hays Lane
London
Tel. 020 7234 0891
Email: londonbridge@vivatbacchus.co.uk
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