The Burlesque Cafe

Monday, October 6th, 2014

Reviewed by The Fay Way

If I had a Rand for every time a person told me that they thought the KZN South Coast was “God’s Waiting room” or some kind of “Retirement village” I’d be beached on my private island in the Caribbean sipping Mai Tais. Enter, Burlesque Café, a tiny little restaurant in Ramsgate (about 1½ hours south of Durban). Burlesque café is the brain child and passion project of local businesswoman Vicky Erasmus. Now this lady has a love for all things beautiful, funky and cheeky, so it really isn’t a surprise that she took a very trendy concept of Burlesque entertainment and set it to the rhythmic beat of a culinary experience.

The décor includes a dizzying array of photographs of famous burlesque performers, musical, theatre and film décor elements as well as some antiques (which are for sale if you love them as much as Vicky does). Filled with colour, mirrored surfaces and stained glass, textures from the sheer to fluff and velvet, mismatched and fun. So if you wanted a dull waiting room this is not the place for you at all. For the rest, keep reading.

The menu is entirely eclectic with a very obvious “tongue in cheek” moments. Organic and locally sourced ingredients are prized at Burlesque and presentation is neat and always colourful carrying through the comedic and sensual elements from the décor through the menu itself. The new mezze menu is a lovely twist on the usual selections that you will find at most South Coast restaurants.
Although my personal understanding of a mezze is that it’s like tapas, where one selects a number of small dishes to make up a meal, the Burlesque mezze is not. The menu at Burlesque Café includes some really wonderful choices like the falafel starter. Incredibly filling, delicious and spiced just right. I ended up not finishing my falafels as I thought it best to leave some space for the mains. My lunch buddy had a pita with tzatziki; very refreshing and light starter with fresh homemade pitas and Greek yogurt cucumber tzatziki.
Usually when I dine out, I go with hubby and since he’s allergic to shellfish, I can’t eat any since my kisses would become deadly if I were to give him a peck on the lips after indulging in those delicious little creatures! So, since I ended up visiting Burlesque with a friend, who I had no intention of kissing on the mouth at all, I ordered the absolutely fabulous shrimp burger! Yes please!

Besides our really delicious and very filling lunch, Burlesque is well known for their home baked cakes, the wickedest Baklava I’ve ever had (presented so beautifully with hardened caramel cages) a great wine list with not only your usual favourites, but also some special select numbers from great vineyards around the Western Cape.

Burlesque is cheeky and so very colourful, if you’ve ever thought of the South Coast being bland you just have to visit Burlesque to be reminded that there are some wonderfully unique and vibrant people and places that you may just miss out on.