Gourmet Boerie opens in Kloof Street

The moment we’ve been waiting for! Cape Town’s first restaurant dedicated to the iconic boerewors roll.

This is extremely cool. Not because I particularly love boerewors rolls (although I will admit to wolfing down 2 in succession after a long sweaty race). I’m excited about this because it relieves us all a bit from the density of burger joints. Not that there’s much of a difference in ingredients. But it’s nice to have some variety, don’t you think? Plus, boeries are SO South African and after listening to B.O’s speech on Wednesday, I think this is a great step in getting our own patriotic fire burning more boldly. Amandla! (…too much?)

I took a much-needed lunch break with Shaina yesterday and trekked from Adderley to Kloof Street envisaging soft rolls filled with juicy, meaty, tasty sausages and beautiful toppings. What do you think we got when we walked into Gourmet Boerie? Just that.

The menu format is very user-friendly.

Step 1. Choose your meat (they have the option of traditional, lamb, beef, chicken or ostrich)

Step 2. Choose your roll (white, wholegrain,rye)

Step 3. Choose your “flavour” (basically the toppings)

Step 4. Order your sides (shoestring chips, wedges, tempura battered onion rings, coleslaw, garden salad or sweet potato chips)

There are also vegetarian boeries; ‘The Herbiwors” (gotta love it!) – filled with tzatziki, grated carrot, cucumber, diced tomato, mixed sprouts, fresh mint with baby spinach (R50) and the “Veggie Vibe” – crunchy veggie balls with tomato, cucumber, carrot, red onion and cos lettuce served with basil pesto mayo (R40).

Then there’s also a variety of salads if you aren’t really into boeries. No-one’s judging. Promise!

The space is refreshing, open and airy with long benches dominating the floor, creating a sort of ‘communal’ dining atmosphere. Location is a big factor for any food service establishment and Gourmet Boerie has hit the jack pot if you ask me. It’s situated on the corner of Kloof and Buitensingel so LOADS of foot traffic mean it’s a great place for luring people inside. You can’t really go wrong with Kloof Street though, can you?

If you’re not hungry but need somewhere to meet for after-work drinks, I suspect Gourmet Boerie will be a safe bet. They have a bar that runs the length of the restaurant stocked with a decent selection of of beverages ranging from Craft beer, wine, bubbly,ciders and spritzers and not to mention the soon-to-be-famous, R10 coffee.

They also have one or two TV screens that appear to be locked on sports channels. I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise though. Blow me down with a feather if this place isn’t packed to the rafters for the next 3 Saturdays. We’re South Africa. We love our sport and we love our boeries. Simple.

Why I give it a thumbs up:

• They offer free WiFi
• They are active on social media
• It’s an easy and fuss-free experience (although I suspect if you’re driving there, parking will be a slight nightmare)
• They cater for vegetarians and have a nice Kiddies special for R25
• Their coffee is R10 – all day
• I can walk there from home and work

What I think could be improved:

• level of service at the table when seated (although I’m confident that it will get better as the restaurant gets into its own “rhythm”).
• The restrooms – there’s only one toilet per gender and is situated very much in the back-of-house, which could be off-putting for some.

The “Mexicano” with tomato salsa, sour cream, guacamole, jalapeno chilli and coriander.

Service with a smile always gets a tick in my book!

Gourmet Boerie

Like their Facebook page or follow them @GourmetBoerie

or just head straight there:

Buitenkloof Studios
Corner of Buitensingel and Kloof Street

Update – 14 Nov 2012: Gourmet Boerie have since modified its menu (see Facebook page) to include shoestring fries with all boerie rolls. Added value. We like!