MY first booking at Nguni Café was cancelled due to that extreme weather we had, with floods and so on, which put a damper on the plans. Then it all cleared up and we’ve been experiencing the other extreme of Cape Town winter: beautiful warm sunny days with no wind. Mostly. I mean, what’s with the hectic south-easter in July?
Anyway, off I went to Vergelegen in Somerset West on one of those good days, where the pop-up burger joint has returned to the farm. It’s in the middle of fields where the Nguni herd, numbering around 400 indigenous cattle, graze freely on the adjacent pastures. It’s a breeding herd, used to replenish numbers in the Western and Eastern Cape. They’re virtually 100% free range with minimal human intervention, but they do know enough to follow their minders close to the café at feeding time. There are different groups within the herd; the ones pictured below are about a year old, which means it’s currently calving season again.
There you are, sitting with your juicy burger, surrounded by lowing cattle. They won’t take it personally though. Nguni are not bred for meat or milk, and they are not in your patty.
Nguni Café has indoor and outdoor (covered) seating, with the interior decorated with straw bales and farming implements and such. The menu is as simple as simple can be: burgers, four of them – beef, chicken, vegetarian and children’s. To drink, red or white wine by the bottle only, two beers, and some soft drinks and hot drinks. Dessert is soft serve ice cream, in a cup, in a cone, or with a brownie.
The beef burger is a saucy double – two patties – with cheese and pickles, served with plenty of chips. It’s delicious and I am not making it up when I say my mouth is watering in remembrance as I’m writing this. For my dessert, I had the soft serve in a sugar cone, which was immensely satisfying. Add to this amazing staff – thank you Phil, Rose and Asi – and a scenic setting and you’ve got yourself a winner. I’m not a fan of children in general but I know enough to know they will lose their minds with happiness here.
Nguni Café is open until the end of July, Wednesdays to Sundays, 10am to 4pm, on a first come, first served basis (no bookings.) There is indoor seating for 30 people and outdoor deck seating capacity for 70. Follow Nguni Cafe on social media or visit the website. Click here for the previous story on Eat Play Drink Cape Town.
- I’m going to say this, because you will find out for yourself soon enough: there are flies. This is a farm, these are cattle, you have food. It’s inevitable, and short-lived, so don’t get all precious about it.
