Cafe Royale review
(22 votes, average: 5.41 out of 10)You need to be a registered member to rate this post.
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You may be surprised that I have not reviewed Royale Eatery before now, believe me, I’m as surprised. I’ve eaten at Royale many times over the years and will continue to do so. It’s become a Cape Town institution and it’s the first place that pops to mind when someone suggests burgers. There are other burger ‘joints’ around, in fact further down Long Street is Gourmet Burger, but none of them match Royale. It has a cosy ambiance, it has a huge selection and it has great milkshakes (I like the espresso one).
No matter how you like your burger, they will have something to please you. You want a plain patty with a nice sauce? Or do you prefer a more interesting patty? You want beef? Pork? Lamb? Chicken? Seared tuna? Oh, what’s that? You want a vegetarian burger? No problem! Soya or lentil or one of the other vegetrian options? Vegetarians love this place.
I had the Sartori (R54) which is a pork patty with some interesting ingredients in the patty which I can’t remember. I washed it down with a glass of Welmoed shiraz (R20). They actually have quite nice wines on offer by the glass. If you have a man size hunger, try the fat bastard: double patty, double bacon, double cheese, double egg burger. Hectic.
They also have a selection of pastas, pizzas and salads. I have never tried them and I have never seen anyone else try them either so can’t vouch for them.
Royale is almost two separate restaurants. Downstairs is the original and upstairs is the newer one with different decor and its own kitchen and waiters but the menu is the same. I don’t mind which one I eat at.
If you’re enjoying the vibe you can go up another level to the 70′s style bar called The Waiting Room. It also has a separate entrance. It goes up another two open air levels where you can enjoy a quieter drink because The Waiting Room can get quite packed.
Cafe Royale
273 Long Street
021 422 4536
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:39 am
We wheat intolerants love Royale too… it’s the only place I know of that serves wheatFREE burgers. So, really really good burgers and we can actually eat them without trying to avoid the burger buns… it’s just too darned exciting. Allelujah!
March 5th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Love this place, only problem I had was this: I had read somewhere in the blogasphere that someone had seen roaches there on 2 separate occasions. Not too put off (too many good reviews to be passed over) I made the booking for my “Last Night in My 20′s” dinner party. To my (non) surprise, we did have a surprise guest. Yes, Mr. Roach crawled out of our booth. No apologies were sent, or a free drink given, just a barman sent over to catch the critter, which he did without much fanfare (how often does he do this?) Still, their food is awesome, making it almost easy to overlook the extra dinner guest/s. May just need to grab your Doom before you leave the house :-)
March 6th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
I must admit that I have seen cockroaches at many a Cape Town restaurant, I think it must be very difficult to control them.
But no matter how often I see them, I’m always grossed out! It really does detract from the experience.
September 17th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Hi Liza & Dax
Thanks for your great review and comments. Unfortunately having a restaurant in the middle of the CBD makes it difficult to control certain pests. The good news is, that we have doubled the preventative measures in that department, ensuring you wont have that experience again.
Also, our new menu brings the total number of burger choices to 49, so hope to see you there soon..
Keep up the great blog!
The Royale Team
September 20th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
The burgers are very good, but a burger is not worth the R60-R70 prices as food alone (they certainly make back 10x their money on material costs)
When you throw in the drinks and friends and atmosphere its a good experience.
September 20th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Correction to your post: there is a “Pizzas” section in the Royale menu, but if you turn to it, it is a half-page announcement that “the kitchen does not serve pizzas”
September 20th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Hi Graham,
Royale Kitchen, on the 1st floor of the Royale building does not serve pizzas, however, the ground floor restaurant does.
January 31st, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Hi Dax –
I discovered your site whilst researching Cape Town restaurants for the trivago travel community and have added a link to this review. Great stuff – thanks for sharing!
January 12th, 2012 at 5:46 pm
We just love the Royale! We are both vegetarians, and the veg burgers are delicious. Well, the traditional, ordinary veg burgers are delicious. Last time we were there, we tried two of the gourmet burgers. Not so great — one had too much beetroot and other stuff that made it cold. And the other was too gourmet in flavour with, I think, goat’s cheese (I forget). I like the old-fashioned plain patty with tomato relish.
The atmosphere is great and it’s always the same: same taste, same chips, same salad, same chilli, ie very dependable!
And now that we’ve discovered the balcony with stunning views and a great vibe, I’d say it’s the most sure thing in Long St for a good night out.
I liked that when we had to wait for our table at the Waiting Room, we could take our unfinished drinks with us to the Royale (they called on my cell phone when our table was ready). Very clever way of making sure prospective customers don’t try another place!