If you’re exploring South Africa by car and at some point opt to road-trip from Cape Town to Johannesburg, you might well find yourself in Britstown. This is not because it’s a must-see place you’ll be rushing to add to your itinerary. A stop in Britstown is more from necessity than choice – it’s 700km from coastal Cape Town, 250km from provincial capital Kimberley, and a whopping seven-hour drive from Johannesburg via the N12.

But what the town lacks in attractions, it makes up for with its large and likable hotel. Rooms here are simple, high-ceilinged offerings with comfy beds, trickling showers and cable TV that might not always work. Rooms at the back are quieter and look out onto a glistening, tree-edged pool – a very welcome sight on a summer’s day in the semi-desert Karoo.

The rooms are fine, the staff smile a lot and the quaint old hotel with its echoing hallways and leafy central courtyard is rather charming, but it’s the restaurant that holds the real appeal. Places like this are few and far between in the vast and dusty Karoo. Here, for R160, you can tuck into a truly authentic spread featuring the best of local cuisine. The Karoo is known for lamb and here you’ll find it stewed, curried and best of all, baked in a pie. Finish off with a slice of sticky Malva pudding doused in freshly-made custard and a good cup of coffee. Food is served buffet-style, but this is not a ‘cooked en masse and kept warm under tepid lights’ type of buffet. Food here is freshly prepared, it’s authentic, it’s piping hot and when you meet the ladies who have prepared it, you get the feeling it’s been cooked with a lot of love.

Britstown might not have any museums or galleries or even a notable church, but dinner at the Transkaroo is as good a reason as you’ll get to stop anywhere in small-town South Africa.