Everyone is doing smash burgers in the Cape Town CBD, but a new casual eatery in the edgy East City is aiming to elevate the humble boerewors roll to new culinary heights.
Ever had a craving for something specific, savoury or sweet, and tried to ignore it? Focus on the task at hand, tell yourself you don’t need it. But the more you resist, the more the desire grows. For chef Anouchka Horn of award-winning East City establishment Belly of the Beast, a weekday craving for a delicious boerie roll – that local braai-time favourite – sparked a business idea.
“We weren’t planning on opening BURI this year,” says Horn. “We just knew we wanted to do a place that sells boerewors rolls because everyone’s opening smash burger restaurants. While smash burgers are great, what if I want a boerewors roll on a Monday morning and don’t want to wait until I can get to my butcher, or to the pavement outside a Builders Warehouse on a Saturday?
“I mean, the number of times that I’ve craved one and had to wait, just to have a boerie, is insane.”
HARRINGTON STREET HOME
Located below The Belly Restaurant Group’s Galjoen and Seebamboes, BURI has a new corner stand on Harrington Street, where Simple Bru Coffee Co used to trade. Nearby, the group also plans to open Quagga, focusing on wild game meat and fish, and No Show, its first à la carte restaurant, during 2026.
The BURI space is compact, the interior inspired by vibrant tomato sauce reds and mustard yellows, alongside blues and creams, with stools and small tables to keep things unfussy.
The floor was inspired by a childhood photo of co-owner, chef Neil Swart, playing on retro beige linoleum. Mosaic tiles the colour of coriander seeds – an essential boerewors ingredient – add visual interest. Other textured tiles commissioned by Kleipot Ceramics look like they’ve been splattered with edible sauces.
All the Belly restaurants prioritise robust flavours. Swart sums up the philosophy: “We like natural food. Taking good ingredients and making them as delicious as possible.”
The team tasted rolls from many different bakery suppliers to pinpoint “the perfect” boerewors roll. “It’s a normal hotdog roll, but the boerewors has to stick out on both sides at least a centimetre or two, that’s the rule,” says Horn.
THE BEST BOEREWORS
But any South African knows it’s the flavouring, thickness and succulence of the sausage that can settle heated boerewors debates between braai masters and champions. The Belly chef team braaied about 10 types, with everyone tasting blind and choosing their favourites.
“Sometimes a boerewors is really good, but it's not the correct wors for a boerewors roll, so we have to take that into consideration, if you eat it on its own, versus in a boerewors roll,” explains Horn. “Every time Neil and I chose the same boerewors.”
Horn lives in the Northern suburbs, where butcheries’ boerewors followings run deep and loyalties are fiercely held. “The boerewors needs to be long enough to stick out at either end. Even when you make a boerewors roll at home, it’s a requirement. So, your first bite is just that really good boerewors.
BUTTERY BUNS
“We’re toasting the buns with butter. I’m tempted to say it’s like a boerewors roll that went to private school, but really, it’s just that everything is top quality.
Top quality, but not top price. “We said we wanted a great boerewors roll that’s easily accessible. To make the space look cool, but our focus is on the perfect flavour, the best ingredients, and then taking it from there.”
She segues: “I’m very finicky about what boerewors I buy. I won’t buy just any supermarket boerewors. At home, Patty’s Boerewors in Durbanville is my go-to – it’s just a house with the butchery on the side. They've got a very, very good boerewors.
“So, when Neil goes hunting, he always shares what he hunts with me – and then whatever’s left over, we’ll take to Patty’s, and they’ll mince it, and make us boerewors.”
Horn isn’t specifying which sausage supplier made the final cut for BURI, as distribution, delivery costs and suitability are factors.
MENU MUST-HAVES
King of the boeries at BURI is Horn’s signature, served in a red oval basket. “It’s something Neil and I have been making for years. Every time I have a braai with boerewors rolls, it’ll be chilli chutney, garlic mayo and rocket. It’s a crowd pleaser, everyone loves it, so it must be on the menu.”
Standard items include boerewors rolls served with toppings, some build-your-own, and a boerie “special” of the month. It might be a curried one. “We’ll let the creativity flow, so maybe when Quagga opens, we’ll make a venison boerewors roll,” she adds.
Whatever extra sauces and toppings you choose to put on your bare boerie at the sauce station, that’s up to you. Pair it with on-tap brandy and Coke, gin and tonic, or beer.
Typical offerings include a boerie with tomato onion smoor, or a classic boerie with caramelised onions. The loaded BURI fries – sprinkled with boerewors and finished with condiments – are made for those days when comfort food is about salt, sauce and zero apologies.
In something sweet, batches of fresh mini doughnuts are incredibly enticing. Think caramelised white chocolate and pecan nuts, or milk chocolate with toasted hazelnuts and Maldon salt.
Horn and Swart’s plan is for diners to grab an affordable lunch. Or to pop down for a drink and to line their stomachs before a night on the town. Says Horn: “A boerewors roll is so South African; it needs to be a staple that you can just get everywhere.”
BURI, 99 Harrington steet, Cape Town. @buri_cpt
Open for lunch and dinner Tuesday to Saturday.
IMAGES: Claire Gunn
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