The Burger Festival

The Burger Festival made it's debut in Cape Town last weekend, at the foot of table mountain. The organisers were lucky enough to have Jan Van Riebeeck High School's main rugby field as a venue and what a venue it was!! This festival not only featured awesome burgers and an assortment of craft beers, treats and wines but the views were breath taking and Cape Town really showed off. Despite the periodic rainfall on Saturday, the organisers kept everything running smoothly and ensured a good time was had by all. They were very attentive to everyones' needs and I highly commend them on this.

 

I was lucky enough to be invited to the event as media and had the opportunity to chat to the vendors and enjoy a burger of my choice. I circled the venue a couple times trying to decide which burger I wanted (which proved to be a really tough decision). The vendors did a great job at presenting the most mouth-watering menu's with items such as "Pulled Pork", "Smoked Brisket" and "Wagyu Beef". Not to mention the delicious toppings such as "almond pesto", "sundried tomatoes" and "salsa". I finally made a decision and went for the slider combo from Lunchworks. This consisted of 3 mini burgers: a BBQ Pulled Pork and Coleslaw Burger, a Cheese and Salsa Beef Burger with Ranch Sauce and an Ostrich Burger with Cream Cheese and Jalapeno's topped with Sweet Chilli Sauce. Needless to say, it was delicious!! I really enjoyed all three burgers and found it difficult to choose a favourite.

 

Lunchworks is a restaurant and catering company situated in Waterkant street in the City Bowl which strives to prepare food from free-range, organic and local produce. They are a fresh food café, open from Monday-Saturday, which serves breakfast & lunch. They also do daily deliveries of freshly prepared meals to those nearby. Their festival burgers did not disappoint and left such an impression on me that I highly recommend checking this place out.

 

There were numerous vendors at the festival, but the three that really stood out to me were: Lunchworks, Kitchen Cowboys and Tre Eatery. Lunchworks meal was delicious, as I have elaborated on. Kitchen Cowboy's presentation was impressive and Tre Eatery oozed atmosphere and the ultimate vibe. I love how Tre Eatery had their own relishes on sale and served their burgers with Jack Daniels (which was also there "secret" ingredient in their basting). The Tre vendors left a really great impression on me and I am super excited to make a trip to their restaurant in Somerset West which they refer to as a "gourmet food and designer drinks bar".

 

Kitchen Cowboys appealed to me because of their elaborate stand. I loved the innovation and the burger which stood out to me the most was a cheese, sundried tomato and almond pesto burger. The combination sounds deadly and if my stomach was big enough, I definitely would have devoured one of those. 



Kitchen Cowboys can be found at numerous Cape Town markets running from Wednesday-Sunday. They also have their own Canteen in Woodstock which runs from Monday-Friday. Chef Pete Goff-Wood (who most associate with Masterchef SA) runs this eatery at his cookery school and serves an assortment of foods ranging from burgers and sandwiches to pies and bunnychows.

Besides the great food, there was awesome "coffee-on-the-go". Obviously, being the coffee lover that I am, my first purchase at the Festival was a "Bean There, Drunk That" Cappuccino. This company is partners with Blasters - a family restaurant/entertainment centre who was serving their burgers at the festival. The coffee was right up my alley and the staff were delightful. I was thoroughly impressed with my "hug in a mug" and could not stop raving about this purchase.

 

 

 

All-in-all, The Burger Festival was a great place to hang out with friends and eat good food. I look forward to seeing this festival grow and develop in the future. Congratulations to all involved and for all the effort and hard-work you put in to the event. It does not go unnoticed.