Another
restaurant review this week but rather different from the Mondiall one
The
restaurant is at the corner of Buitensingel and No 8 Kloof Street on the edge of central Cape Town, opposite the Long
Street Baths and St Martini Church. Parking is an issue - be prepared to walk a
short distance. It does not yet have any
branches but they are planned and will happen if you support them and like the
concept.
Large and
modern, it has been open about a year and a quarter. Customers seem mostly local
with the occasional adventurous tourist.
You don’t book,
you can sit where ever you like, as long as it is on benches next to other
people or up at the bar. Here we are welcomed by their manager Gerald Veltman, who treated us very well indeed. Thank you.
and
our friendly waiter
Only
local beers like Jack Black are served. This was the Jack Black Amber Ale, rich malt with hops and a perfect match for the sausage and the accompanying sauces
with
a couple of other choices
Something new
for us, a phone charger in the restaurant. You put in R10 and plug in your phone
in a private coded compartment to charge
We loved the
purely South African decor: lamps with shades covered in local floor polish
advertising, pictures on the wall of Mrs Ball’s Chutney, All Gold Tomato sauce
and many other iconic well-loved products.
They run
daily and weekly specials. Check out their web site or https://www.facebook.com/GourmetBoerie.
Happy hour sounds fun if you are going to a later movie or show
And all the
food and drink they use is purely locally sourced. Their own sausages are specially made for them and they use only the best ingredients, we were told.
A
solar charged four LED lamp in a Consol Jar is used on each table instead of candles
The
drinks menu
The
food menu
We started
with a plate of sliders (mini one or two bite rolls) giving us a small taste of
several of the combinations on the menu. We cut each in half and then we were
able to see which one we would choose to eat full sized. These are all
traditional beef with some pork added. You can have pure beef, lamb, ostrich,
and chicken. Spicing of the sausages is good and they are moist and meaty. We
didn’t encounter any fillers.
From right to
left the flavours are Gorgonzola, Tomato Madness, Chakalaka, Mexicano, Pure
Sophistication, Hangover, Old School – see the menu for details. You can order this plate for R74.90
These come
with a small portion of chips
We were also
given a huge portion of fried onion rings, which perhaps needed longer in the fryer, as the onion was a little uncooked and the batter definitely needed seasoning. The best
accompaniment was the large bowl of very crispy sweet potato (yam) chips. Crisp texture resembling duck fat potatoes,
these stayed crisp and delicious even when cold. Go try some.
After trying
all these, we will admit that having a whole Boerie roll was perhaps a little
silly, but they were very enjoyable indeed, even if we did pay with a few hours
of fullness afterwards. John really liked the very spicy Chakalaka with a pure
beef Boerie, which was not at all to Lynne's taste and she chose the Hangover. This came with a lamb Boerie. It has a
thick cheese sauce, chunks of avocado and pineapple and nests in the roll
on a strip of crisp streaky bacon. The
white rolls are not stodgy and don’t overshadow the sausage. In fact, you hardly notice they are there,
until about an hour later, when you realise how full you are.
Would we go back?
Definitely, if in the area and needing quick reasonable sustenance, rather than fast food, and more of those sweet potato chips. They do takeaways too
