World of Samoosa Fordsburg Joburg
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What to do in Fordsburg

ByThe Scribs & Nibs

I love Fordsburg but honestly, it took over a year after we moved to Joburg to make it to this unique and accessible downtown neighborhood.

Fordsburg has historically been home to the Indian/Muslim population in Johannesburg. Over the years this has changed some but the majority of shops and restaurants that I’ve come to frequent have a South Asian vibe.

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Getting to Fordsburg

I have both ubered and driven to Fordsburg. When I park in Fordsburg to spend the morning, I park at the Oriental Plaza secure parking lot. However, when I have errands like going to the tailor or fabric shop, I always try to park directly outside that building. I do the same when going to Dosa Hut, I park directly in front of the building.

I’ve also ubered to and from Oriental Plaza easily.

Me and my brother, Jafar, with my car lolol.

Fordsburg Itinerary

It’s easy to spend half a day exploring Fordsburg between the markets and Oriental Plaza. Let me tell you how!

I suggest going on Saturday morning. It’s more lively on Saturday than on Sunday and Oriental Plaza is closed on Sundays. However, you can also go during the week.

Breakfast at Dosa Hut

Start with a traditional South Indian breakfast at Dosa Hut. Get a potato dosa (the O.G. classic dosa) and lemon juice. I LOVE Dosa Hut. You can literally eat here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and get something different. If you want a brunch vibe instead of a dosa breakfast, go with an appetite and order one of the thali dishes. These are also great for sharing in a group.

Fordsburg Market Exploration

Then, walk across the street to the Fordsburg Market. Enter the market here. It’s not that big and will take 10 minutes max to walk around if you stop at the stalls. From veggies to video games, the market has a little bit of everything.

At one of the stalls, you can buy the popular salty snack mixture, nimkos.

On a hot day, the kulfi (Indian ice cream!) stand is super refreshing.

We took our friends to Fordsburg for their first visit!

There are also several shops selling food and pakoras inside the market

Stop for Pakistani Sweets

After you’ve explored the market, walk into Shalimar Delights. Buy one or two Pakistani sweets for now or take them home with you!

Shalimar Delights Fordsburg

p.s. They also have a location in Norwood!

Oriental Plaza

Walk from the Dosa Hut area to Oriental Plaza. Oriental Plaza is a large indoor-outdoor mall area with everything from kitchen items and curtains to jewelry shops, fabric wholesalers, and Indian wedding wear. If your stomach can handle it, go to World of Samoosa for a cup of chai and some samoosas.

Hi to my brother, Jafar, who I took to Fordsburg to get a suit made and eat some samoosas when he visited me.

Then, walk around the mall until you’re tired. I like going into the Indian clothing shops and making my way up to the top towards Moosa’s fabrics.

Where to Eat in Fordsburg

Dosa Hut

My favorite place to eat is Dosa Hut. The vibe is chill and the food is incredible. I love everything. Some of my favorite dishes are potato dosa, veg thali, masala paneer, and curry shrimp. Read my blog post about it.

Amman

The first time we went to Fordsburg was actually to go to Amman Restaurant. The Middle Eastern style food was great but once we started going to Dosa Hut, we got addicted and I now can’t pass up the opportunity to eat at Dosa Hut if we’re in Fordsburg. However, the food at Amman is great and the chicken grills here look amazing.

Shawarma Restaurants

There are so many cool shawarma restaurants in Fordsburg. There is one across the street from Amman and Dosa Hut called House of Schwarma. They are always on the street making huge wraps. It’s a fun sight!

The best place for shawarma though is Syrian Rose.  We visited after reading my friend Heather’s (aka 2summers) blog post about it. It was delish! Read her love letter to Syrian Rose, (though I still think Dosa Hut is the best restaurant in Fordsburg…)

Dessert

If you’re craving something sweet, visit Shalimar Delights. My favorite sweets are the Kaju Katli and the saffron-flavored peda. Kaju Katli sweets are covered in edible silver and made of cashews, sugar, cardamom, and ghee. Pedas are made with just milk, sugar, and saffron. There are soooo many other varieties. For Eid and dinners at our place, we usually go buy a couple of sweets to serve as dessert.

Another fun dessert to get is kulfi, basically Indian ice cream on a stick. Kulfi is made from pure full-fat milk, sugar, and flavoring. You can get it at the Fordsburg market here or across the street at Lahori Kulfi House.

Snacks

Get some nimkos (Indian salty snacks) freshly prepared at the Fordsburg Market or stop in World of Samoosas in Oriental Plaza.

Fabric Shopping

Moosa’s Fabrics is a large fabric shop with anything from glittery fabric to satin prints. It’s on the top floor of Oriental Plaza.

M&P Trikam is the best place to visit for men’s (or women’s) suit fabrics. There are high-end Egyptian cotton shirt fabrics and Italian wool. Wilhelm bought fabric here to make 4 suits and a bunch of shirts! The staff are very helpful. They have excellent quality linen as well. I even took my brother here to get a suit made before our wedding here in Joburg. He went wild with the fabrics!

There are a ton of suiting fabric shops on the second floor of Oriental Plaza. It’s easy to get lost and I’m bad at directions but just go to the second floor of the section where there is Moosa Fabrics and walk in and out of the shops.

African prints and Shwe Shwe can be found at Style Fabrics though they don’t have a huge collection. If you want African style prints you should go into the CBD. I went on a Fashion District tour of CBD and loved it!

If you continue to shop number C103, you will also find some African print fabrics. I bought some fabric from here for a dress for our friend’s wedding!

Desi and Dress Shopping

There are fabulous saris and lenghas available in Oriental Plaza. Combo it with some fun jewelry shopping too. It’s the perfect one-stop shop to get anything you need if you’re attending a traditional Indian wedding. My friend used this tailoring service here too by asking for a recommendation from where she bought desi fabric to make a lengha.

You can also buy dresses and suits for fancy occasions, weddings, and more. There are also a lot of shoe shops to pair everything together.

If you’re feeling stressed about finding the perfect outfit, I suggest you dedicate 2 hours to wandering around the mall to find something in your price range that you love. From shoes to earrings and cufflinks to pocket squares, you can find everything in Oriental Plaza.

Homeware

There are kitchen supply shops, curtains, bathroom towels, and almost everything else in between on the ground floor of Oriental Plaza.

Fordsburg Plaza

Art Galleries

The Lilian Road Studios is located in Fordsburg.

You can also visit the Bag Factory.

Both galleries are best to visit during one of the city’s Open Studio events as they are typically not open to visitors without a tour.

Tailors in Fordsburg

We started using Diamond Tailors for men’s clothing as it was recommended by M&P when we bought fabric there for Wilhelm the first time. The tailor is reliable and fast. He made a suit for my brother in 2 days (though I did give him advance warning when this needed to be done). The shop is located at the back here. Go past the cell phone shop into the building and you’ll see the shop. Cash only. You can get in touch with him on WhatsApp at +27844842171. A two-piece suit costs R1800.

Inside Style Fabrics (in Oriental Plaza) at the back is Big Show Tailor. I got a dress made (using a Pinterest picture) for R700 and Wilhelm got a white linen shirt/pants sent for R1200, excluding R930 for the fabric that Big Show would buy. Style Fabrics is on the same side of the mall asile as World of Samoosa. You can contact Big Show on Whatsapp at +27710805632. You can come with your own inspiration or choose from his photobook.

Fordsburg Tours

Wilhelm and I walked by ourselves between the Dosa Hut/Fordsburg market area and Oriental Plaza.

However, for many (even locals!) it may be nice to go on a tour for the first time in Fordsburg. Once you’re used to the vibe, you can come again yourself. There are fabulous local tour guides that can take you on your first experience of Fordsburg and Eenblond offers the most popular Fordsburg Tour.

Local Favorites

I asked my lovely Instagram community to share some of their favorite spots in Fordsburg. Thanks to everyone who shared! I haven’t been to all the cool places here but will update you as I visit more.

The number one suggestion was World of Samoosa!

Oriental Plaza

Oriental Plaza is a maze. You’ll have to visit a couple of times before you get comfortable with the layout. It’s spread across two outdoor plazas and an indoor space. It’s hard to give people directions, though if I know where something is in relation to World of Samoosa, then it’s easier for me haha. I’ll try to update with shop numbers or names as I continue to visit.

  • One of the kitchenwares shops sells a delicious Masala latte that tastes like chai but is coffee. I will be on the lookout for this the next time I visit!

Around Fordsburg

Some Fordsburg History

Fordsburg was established in 1888 on land previously used as farmland. The suburb was owned and laid out by the Ford & Jeppe Estate Company and named after one of the partners, Lewis Peter Ford. Fordsburg was originally intended to be a residential suburb for white miners, but it soon became home to a diverse range of people, including Indians, Jews, Chinese, and Africans.

For more great information (and the source of the above), check out the Johannesburg 1912 website.