A delight to spend an evening at The Prawnery. The food was great but the evening was made by the incredible staff. Definitely worth a visit. Its been a long time since we had a chef come out if a busy kitchen to introduce himself.

Expensive, starters are incredibly small for the price, waited very long for prawns and still got orders wrong. There wasnt many tables and I really dont think Ill be back. Food was great but I wouldnt recommend this place unless you have money to spend.

Lovely atmosphere, great background music, and delicious food 😋

First the place is easy to find and not far from Rosebank mall I bought voucher on Hyperli food and wine tasting experience and didnt regret it one bit the food was fabulous 6 dishes in total to share, we started with the rock cycle shrimp and crispy calamari I must say the sauce they use to prepare the rock shrimp is food ogarsm 👌we had it with my favorite whiskey of course Jameson and lemonade the only thing I didnt like is they use the flinch and leedes lemonade and it doesnt pair nice with Jameson they didnt have Schweppes second round I changed to apppletiser. Next they brought 4 dishes 1. prawn and avocado spring roll with a bang bang dipping sauce (in love with their dipping sauce 😍🤤)2. salmon tuna or prawn California roll (sushi) must say I love that their sushi roll was not prepared with woster sauce cause most sushi have an overpowering taste of woster sauce and u tend to miss the flavor of the meal cause they all taste the same3. Korean chicken wings they are juicy and sticky and delicious 😋🤤4. Seared beef tataki with truffle oil first time tasting it ever and it was delicious not well done was medium rare and tender the way I like my beef. Then there were one glass of wine each my friend opted for dry red and I for dry white wine. Fabulous experience it was indeed, also there is taxis to Johannesburg across the street in using public transportation or u can walk to Rosebank Mall for other taxis to different places taxi to jozi CBD is R13

Excellent food, excellent service! Had an amazing evening!!

Went for a tasting here on first Thursday... was good

First off, very good friendly and professional service. The food is good, really good, with attention to detail and clearly cooked, and prepared, freshly. The restaurant is a little rough on the edges, but that may be a COVID hangover, they have the ingredients to be really great. I will be back, and back again, because there is a perfect score waiting to be awarded here.

Food was average , had to wait for morethan one hour to be served.also ,parking is the biggest issue there.

Food was average.It took 50 minutes to get our starters even though the restaurant was at less than 50% full.Lobster bisque was 10% bisque and 90% cream (there was no bisque flavour and there was zero lobster.)Tempura prawn was not tempura but fried battered prawns.Our mains were very bland.However, service is friendly and polite and the prawns were fresh.Visited because of all the great reviews. We must have come on a bad night.For similar pricing, Fishmonger has better quality and consistent meals.

Excellent atmosphere, friendly service Devine food and amazing staff

Tasting menu. A must this June. Dont miss out on the delicious gourmet food

Food was subpar and the wait time was horrible , had to wait for more than an hour .My stomach ate itself .

Amazing lunch, with friendly staff.

The Prawnery serves great seafood and specialize in prawns as the name suggests. Its situated in a great spot in Illovo and has a vibey atmosphere. You wont be disappointed.

Ill always love this place for various reasons: small and therefore intimate, close to home and therefore convenient. Even then, the ambience, attention, personal touch in understanding what customers need. Menu - a little bit of everything - so freshly prepared! Friendly, helpful and accomodating staff!

If you are a seafood lover this is the place to go. Freshly served. Amazing service. Good ambiance. Well ventilated space perfect for Johannesburg summers. Wide range of seafood meals to please any palate. There is chicken too for those not so partial to seafood. Highly recommended.

Everytime we go here we spend a long time trying to pick what to eat. Everything is so delicious and our tummies are only so big. Some of our favourites include the rock shrimp and crispy calamari. The lobster bisque is a meal on its own. Large chunks of lobster can be found hiding in the sea of deliciousness. The main prawn meals have oversized prawns that are cooked perfectly. Excellent service in a great location and a foodie haven.

Its a place I would recommend

In a word underwhelming. Dont get me wrong... Service attentive but not overly. Wife said she had the best vodka martini in Johannesburg. Prawn springrolls tasty... But food although nice wasnt particularly special and at the cost of the dishes definitely not a value for money experience. If you want amazing prawns you better off going to the Radium Beerhall. They are larger and signifantly cheaper.

Service was beyond fantastic our waitress Makhosi really delivered and the owner/manager seemed friendly,the food was unfortunately a let down,the word to best describe it is underwhelming.

Overpriced for what they serve!!! King prawns were far from kingly. We ordered mussels and they were accompanied with sliced Albany brown bread IMAGINE. Steamed prawn dumpling that came highly recommended was actually itsy bitsy shrimp. Had the seafood pasta - tasted like tough boxed seafood mix. Come on guys! The few points Im giving are for a decent playlist😐

Great service and good wine. A good spot to experience Johannesburg.

What an amazing Monday discovery...Support young business with most delicious food. Out of these flavors recommended 😋❤

Seafood 🦞 was super tasty

Food is lovely, the loss of a star is for the too small portions for the price. Worth a visit to experience some of the really interesting dishes

Very cool quite place .. ideal for family dinners or catch ups..

The menu is mainly seafood like prawns, calamari, tuna, scallop, lobster, crab, mussels; and sides that are somewhat healthy, like sweet potato, cauliflower, broccoli and asparagus in addition to rice and chips. Instead of having prawn mains, we opted for a bunch of starters to share: soft shell crab with wasabi mayo (yum); rock shrimp (a fav); prawn skewers (Id skip these cos not as flavoursome); and Asian king prawn dumplings (yum). The menu is interesting with flavours from Vietnam, Sweden, Italy, Bangladesh, and Thailand. We received friendly service over lunch but it wasnt that full. Theres no dessert listed but there are some ice creams or banana spring rolls you could ask for. Would go back. Oh, the QR code on the bill is for Standard Bank, not printed anywhere 🤷🏻‍♀️ Was stumped after trying SnapScan, Zapper and FNB Scan to Pay.

Food is really good, waiters very knowledgeable and attentive, flavor profile very well planned (compliment to the chef) oysters, Tuna Sashimi, the mussels in the white wine sauce was my absolute favorite, we paired it with Gost Corner Semillion and the oysters with the cape point sauvignon blanc. #amazing experience the winelist is the best Ive seen in such a tiny establishment, very well curated! Compliments to the owner Shaniel

Superb food and friendly staff BUT the service is Monty pyton levels of hilarious. The prawns are the best I ever had and the dessert was fantastic but slow service and mixed up dishes left the food down. So maybe come with an open mind and be relaxed and wait for excellent food. So dropl one star due service but the kitchen did an excellent job.

I finally made my way to The Prawnery Bistro & BarAlthough it happened to be the day when the heavens came crashing down and the highways were flooded, we still kept our reservation.The restaurant was nice and quiet due to the extreme rains, so we got to enjoy our food even more, as well as scoring parking close by.I met up with friends for an afternoon catchup and we did just that with some great food. The Prawnery is very much a Pescatarian haven, with a limited but specialised menu.To start I had a Cappuccino, while waiting on our orders to arrive and it definitely warmed us up.I tried the Deep-fried Soft Shell Crab, with Wasabi Mayo and Soy Souce for a starter. Simple, tasty and great portion size. You can also get it steamed if you like.For mains I ordered the half portion Prawn and Scallops Pasta in an Italian tomato sauce with Linguine. Im always on the hunt for scallops in Jozi, as I really cant find them on menus, or rather ones with decent sized scallops.This was piping hot, comfort food. It was a bit bland for me, as I wanted a bit of spice so I added some of their chilli sauce and it just made it perfect. The half portion is also a decent size.My friends enjoyed all their meals too, they had a variety of Prawn Ceviche, Tom Yum Goong and Seared Tuna.There is definitely more things I need to go back and try. If you follow their Instagram feed there are also some new items they have been trying (on the catering side) which look intriguing to taste. Some might feel the prices are a bit high, but the food is quality and its made fresh, which is always a plus in my books.Service from Godrey was great, friendly and on the ball. Thanks to all for a great chilled afternoon.P.s. Please dont ever add meat to your menu. Love that you guys have a niche and keep it that way 🍤🍣#TheFoodMusketeer#TheFoodMusketeerEats#TheFoodMusketeerDrinks#TFMThePrawnery

One of my ultimate favorite places to eat. Huge value for money incredible owners and the food is this incredible mix of asian fusion ! I love it only had the best meals there and will he back over and over and over !!!

Went through mid-week when there wasnt that much traffic. Ambiance okay...food was great had dim sum and squid heads...a bit on the pricey side but may be a worth a visit

For lunch my daughter and I shared the 1kg prawns, it was delicious! Well worth the price. Service was great they actually split the 1 kg for us, and gave us hot towels before eating and warm water bowls to wash hands after eating.

Had a 50th birthday day and Shaniel and team were awesome and the food was excellent. Thanks guys

Delicious! Was pleasantly surprised at the portions.

Excellent service and amazing food. Definitely will be going there again

Great service, awesome atmosphere, amazing tasting menu👌🏾

Not an extensive menu and portion sizes are incredibly small for the price.

The Prawnery has delicious food, great vibe and excellent service. Highly recommended if you love sea food

Great atmosphere. The music is great and creates a really nice environment to share a meal as well as lovely decor. Our service was sub standard as our waiter hardly checked on the table to take orders. The food was great but heavily overpriced for the size of the portions. It is apparent that a lot of attention is paid to detail and flavors work really nicely but its really upsetting when your food arrives and it these measly portions. Our lobster bisque was half a bowl of soup and it contained a few shreds of lobster, when asking for more bread it seems like we received squished half thawed bread. The soft shell crab meze is R230 but taste mainly of fried batter. We also ate the ceviche (which tasted amazing), the Vietnamese prawn spring rolls (nothing really to write home about) and ginger and beef dim sum(ten out of ten would eat again). Overall, the price of the food is not worth the actual meal and I feel there are many more restaurants that are better value for money.

Delicious food & warm service. Thank you :-)

Excellent fare. Seafood and especially prawn dishes are superb. Doesnt cater too well for vegetarians though. Lovely friendly staff. Great decor. Highly recommended.

The Prawnery is absolutely wonderful. Amazing Food, great drinks, professional and efficient waiters. We had a great time. Please try the house shot.. Amazing Amazing!!!

This was a disgusting dish of cold brown refried chip and 12 barely cooked dry prawns. the prawns were inedible and the chips looked stale after two bites we decided not to risk food poisoning and threw the entire lot out. Wasted R300 and was terrible experience

Got Uber eats from The Prawnery. Wow! I’mBlown away. Most delicious crystal spring rolls and fish and chips. Brilliant value and simply outstanding!

Such an amazing restaurant. Went for supper with a friend who wanted to try the prawn pasta(which she said was amazing!). Im vegan and the manager/owner went out of her way to make me a special dish! She even went out to buy special egg free pasta. I was worried about what my pasta would taste like because its not a vegan restaurant or a pasta restaurant but it was the best pasta ever! The chef is obviously exceptional at what he does! Thank you for your hospitality, adaptability and amazing food!! Will definitely be back... Hope the vegan pasta makes it to the menu!

Great mussels, potstickers and dumplings, but a hugely disappointing seafood platter. R850 for some overcooked prawns and small crayfish tail really ruined the experience. Generally very overpriced for what you get especially considering that Fishmongers is just down the road. Our waiter was excellent however!

This restaurant has some of the most amazing seafood that I have tasted. But mostly importantly, I was blown away by the amazing service of a great waiter called Willard. He remembered the last time I came to The Prawnery in december and even remembered the drinks I ordered. He was warm, friendly, efficient and very professional. I hope The Prawnery is aware of the asset they have on their hands and I hope to see him in a managerial position very soon. Great establishment with a great staff.

Lovely setting and great staff. To be honest, the prawns were ok....no real wow factor. Did lack a bit of flavour. I enjoy the dumplings more...that sauce was seriously divine. The calamari salad was also really good. As for drinks the iceberg is probably the best. Parking is slightly difficult but not the end of the world. The setting is great. Will come again but not for the prawns.

Delicious, fresh and dripping in sauce. Did i say tasty. i must not forget tasty... actually its a taste sensation. Order the prawns

Awesome food, excellent staff, will definitely go back and recommend to my friend

One of the most delicious meals I ever had. Recommended definitely

Food and service was good.

Had the 1kg Queen Prawns with vegetables. Was more than enough to share. If you look at the quality of the food and the portion size the prise is justified.Great vibe very busy and crowded.The owner brought us some complementary oyster shots(shooter with tequila, Tabasco, black pepper) that definitely set the mood.The service is excellent you dont have to ask for a waiter and everyone servers you.

Excellent food

No matter how many times you eat at this restaurant, your experiences are always surpassed!A kind gentleman named Willard, served my partner and I for the second time. He remembered where we sat and what drink my partner had ordered.It’s not often that I gush about amazing service. Willard is kind and gentle. If anything, he is the key to a winning recipe!

Staff are friendly, their drink menu is limited though. The place is definitely a good restaurant to sit at when around Illovo

This restaurant proves that focus and simplicity creates perfection. Small, refined and specialised menu. Delicious prawns, as you would expect at the coast. Owners and management are charming and hospitable.

Delicious x3 , Fresh and light the starters and prawns are made with love and attention to the way you require! Very healthy options which means you can enjoy your meal will alittle less guilt. Staff is friendly and managers are involved in every aspect! We all had the prawn platters and healthy side dishes like asparagus and cauliflower rice and basically kicked out plates clean! Can’t wait toGo back! A must 🦐

Really fresh and well prepared delicious food. Could up the service game but the warmth is there.Will be back for more wontons.

Really pleasant restaurant. Food is really good. Staff are well trained and friendly.

Very fresh prawns. Very plain. No bowls to put shells in. Just very average. Baby chicken was ridiculously small

Excellent food

Amazing!

Lovely little bistro with great food! Had an awesome lunch! We ordered a variety of items from the menu & each one was delicious!

Great restaurant with excellent food and service! The starters are amazing and the prawn platters are perfect to share. Their signature cocktail is delicious.

Expect delicious food in a warm and welcoming environment. It’s difficult to pick a favourite meal with so many options, the rock shrimp and creamy mussels are a must have.

Definitely recommend this place! The food is delicious and the service is excellent.

Excellent. Try the crab.

Absolutely terrible experience.Firstly, had to ask for menus after sitting down and waiting for at least 15 minutes. Had the prawn skewers starters and to be polite they were horrendous. Dumplings were ok. Meh.Secondly, waited over an hour for mains and eventually cancelled. The staff are are full of sweet talk and trying to fool you into thinking you are getting 5 star service - meanwhile it’s a dog show.Moral of the story: spent almost an hour and a half there and ate bang average starters, had a G&T, cancelled main course and it cost almost R400.Will never go back.

I had read about the place and ended up there accidentally and what a pleasure I did.The aesthetic is beautiful, youll love it and feel fancy. The service was amazing - the staff are friendly and engage with you wonderfully buut you only really care about the food right?Well the food was absolutely amazing, the person I was with and I stuck to starters as we wanted to try a variety of things and they were all incredible. The hot sauce that came with the meal was one of the best peri peri / Portuguese style hot sauces I think I have ever had, and the sauces that some of the starters come with to enhance their magnificence were also incredible.I didnt try the mains because I didnt need to but going on how AMAZING those starters were I am definitely going back to try out the rest of their amazing menu.So if youve heard about it, dont hesitate, GO. Great for date night :D

The prawn nacional and crispy calamari are delicous. Great ambiance and cocktails. Will definitely be back!

Imagine all the ways you love to enjoy prawns...this place is it.

Their location, their food offering, set up and service

Good value and nice atmosphere

Great Resturant to eat at, cool vibe, great food, friendly stuff, greatest wines

Sensational seafood, great music and service. Oh and btw, LURV their complimentary shot with a kick😅

Omg ! Friday nights we all almost order every dish and share. We all love the music choice and we love talking. Thank the gods of sea food for this place .

Delicious food and very friendly good service

Fantastic place, great vibe, excellent service and the food is unbelievable, best New restaurant in Joburg, full stop.

This intimate and cosy bistro is the latest establishment to open up in Illovo Junction and it couldnt be more suited to give the building a breath of fresh air.With a simple yet chic set up, plants and pretty ropes hanging from the ceiling and a solid-wood bar the decor alone will have you excited to spend some time here.The restaurant specialises in prawns and seafood dishes but also caters to the meat eaters and purveyors of a great pasta with their thick, juicy steaks and saucy dishes.The bar serves a range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks including cocktails, coffees and a range of teas to suit many a connoisseur.Relaxing music can be heard whilst you enjoy some tuna meze to start and move on to flash-fried prawns dripping in deliciousness.Whats great is this bistro and bar also caters to Halaal members of the community. The owner is friendly and goes out of her way to ensure you are a happy patron.If youre looking for authentic, one-of-a-kind tasting seafood in a relaxed and casual, yet sophisticated area, this place comes in on top of the recommended list.Its central, so great to book an Uber and get dropped off right outside, or bring your car and park alongside the pavement.The place is open from 11am Tuesday to Sunday so pop in for a hearty brunch,lunch or even romantic dinner.This place caters for it all.

The Prawnery is a wonderful concept and would definitely love to be back if the following was sorted out:1. The service is terrible, for such a small restaurant it took us ages to get an attention of the waiter and also took 10min or more to bring a glass of water.2. We were a table of 9 and 6 of the peoples prawns were unfresh and not good quality at all. 1 had his prawns served up raw and when we told the waiter - the kitchen just flayed his prawns and re-grilled them.3. When we tried to get the attention of the Manager he just looked at us and sent a waiter to us (also the manager should pay attention to his dress code - being in a restaurant environment and all).4. On Facebook you guys advertised there are non-seafood items but there isnt anything really it was either their prawn specials with chicken or beef but without the prawns. 1 got served a Rump which was more a minute steak and they made no effort to offer him an alternative option.5. 1 person on our table asked for her prawns as a take away as she had not eaten her meal due to the un-fresh, poor quality of prawns (so she could make prawn cakes or something as they wouldnt go to a complete waste as the meal was very expensive) the waiter dropped the meal on the floor and then brought it back to her in a take away. After complaining to the waiter that it had been dropped they denied it and after speaking to another manager she offered nothing but to say if there was anything wrong with the prawns the couple was welcome back to complain.All in all, we all either went on a bad night or the restaurant is just not great...for a place specialising in prawns (90% of their menu). You as the owner of the restaurant should make sure your prawns are of good quality and FRESH because your meals are rather highly priced so if people are paying lots of money make sure your product is good.

Great service, great bar, great atmosphere.

Great place but terrible location. . . Sad because this place couldve been great and now in about 2/3 years it may not be around

Very good food and atmosphere ! I went there 3 times already and I never been disapointed by the food and the service !

Great food. A must for all who like food.

Good eating. Joburg needs more of these

The name might indicate what they specialise in, however the prawns was pretty average in quality and taste

I kinda enjoyed their fish

Lovely atmosphere and prawntastic!

Best rugby host also... :)

Great service, the calamari is a must!

Very very nice

Fantastic service and food

Very good king prawns

Great place compliments to the Chef and team and to mention the owner tooo. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

What a disgusting place.

Excellent food!

Great place

We had THE MOST AMAZING culinary experience today, at @theprawnery 🙋‍♀️😁🥂🙌🔥🦪😁 I can definitely tell you that Gordon Ramsay would approve of this Bistro! If youve heard about it and contemplating on going, ITS WORTH IT and so is the money spent.I watch Hells Kitchen and he is pedantic! Im mad about Gordon Ramsay!!!!Im such a foodie....I am a frequent winer and diner, Im fanatical about things and especially, the plating and presentation because thats where it all starts!Your experience starts here!!!!!Its not for the light pocketed folk and you need to have time for the experience because everything is made.....FRESH....for you! Nothing is pre-prepared and its 5 star with a European feel! The ambience and the vibe is just on point, the staff is sooooo incredible and the owner is a beautiful lady, welcoming her patrons with the friendliest face and the warmest hospitality. Shes also hands on, right there, serving people and putting her personal touches on things, clearing tables and looking to make sure that all is on point. Stopping at your table to engage and share stories....it was also a win, because we have familiar and mutual social networks and interests.The staff are very friendly, very knowledgeable and eager to serve you, to look after you and make sure that you leave there....well taken care of, satiated 😌! I love that recommendations can be made and YES, the prawns nationale was MY WIN!The food may look simple but its out of this world and ohhhh my goodness, the fusion of flavours...you will literally clean your plate with your finger because it just has you wanting more and more!THANK YOU SO MUCH for the outstanding service, the experience and the delectable cuisine!Well definitely be back and we looking forward to the Bubbles event 🍾🥂.ITS A MUST ADD to your list of places to visit when travelling to Johannesburg/South Africa 🇿🇦 or looking for a stunning place to eat, if you live in Johannesburg!