Restaurant Review: Saul’s Saloon and Grill

Posted by Sarah Graham on 15 November 2010

Saul’s in Wynberg – Where it all starts and ends with the burger.

Saul Beder has had many titles during the course of his twenty year long and very colourful restaurant career in Cape Town. Amongst them are “˜culinary rock star’ and a “˜no frills foodie maestro and magician’. And there certainly was a sparkle about the place when he warmly welcomed our jolly bunch to sample the burgers at his latest brainchild in Wynberg recently.

Saul says of his inspiration for opening this new eatery is that Sea Point has been the pinnacle of his food empire for so long he felt it high time to bring his old fashioned values to the Southern Suburbs.

Saul’s brand is already famous for Saul’s Sushi @Vegas in Sea Point, fresh faced and renowned for their killer week-day specials, and Saul’s Taverna also in Sea Point, an old-style Mediterranean piazza restaurant that just oozes summer in Italy.

But Cape Town is fickle, says Saul somewhat sardonically. The Waterfront has forever changed the face of food in our country’s most beautiful city. Moneyed franchises and slick well-oiled machines govern our eat-out lists with little consideration for the people who have poured their heart and souls into what ends up our plates for so long. Marketing is indeed king at the end of the day, and he knows he has to keep on his toes to stay in the game.

Saul also says that the majority of his burger joints have been pigeon-holed as the perfect spot for a 2am burger for partygoers headed home, and he’d really like to change that. Introducing a child-friendly playground and a much more funked up environment in the Wynberg Saloon & Grill is just one small testament to this. He is after all a proud father himself.

And while Saul is all set to woo the family market, I was left wondering whether the usual traditional Saul’s trappings of bar and slot machines aren’t more suited to his already-loyal demographic? My one and only proviso is therefore: take a laid back, HUNGRY, humble group of mates and you’re exactly on the money, and leave behind vegetarians, health-freaks and haute-cuisine snobs (or snobs of any other description).

Besides offering South African families great value for money, has set the stage for otherworldly elegance and glamour with larger-than-life images of the ever-iconic Marilyn Monroe and the dashing and debonair James Dean. It’s comfortingly nostalgic. The venue is a shrine to all that was best about the 50s. Although I must admit that perhaps the final effect does not do the vision full justice, and could be enhanced with old-school booths and pukka linoleum floors. And I reckon a jukebox would perfectly match the characteristic glint in Paul’s eye. That said, this was to be the setting for one of the best burgers I have eaten. Ever. And there’s something very special indeed about that.

You can really taste Saul’s passion for good-value, no mess no fuss food. It’s far more important to him that people walk out the door happy with their visit than that he grows his bottom line. His patties are proudly made from 80% prime beef and 20% lamb fat and before you curl your lip, listen to this – the lamb fat is the only binding agent used in the burgers, they are 100% au natural, plus, the fat almost all drips out on the grill during cooking, and what you are left with is deliciously smoked patties that you won’t find anywhere else.

Heard the word on the street that there’s a 1.2 kg burger available for real superheroes? 100% true. If you can make a meal of this burger within 15 minutes, your name goes on the Saul’s Wall of Fame. You also win a free t-shirt, certificate and a R50 meal voucher. Pretty nifty hey? And let’s not forget the legendary Bronto Burger – a 700g beef pattie on a deliciously fresh bun served with chips, or the student-friendly jugs of beer coming in at under R30 each.

And as for the chips. Well. He had an official disagreement with the head of McCains when they wanted to cancel production of his special 14mm french fries, and thanks to that we got to sample them in all their glory. Do not mess with the french fries.

So”¦ Saul’s in Wynberg is sizzling. Go see for yourself, and go hungry.

Saul’s Saloon & Grill: Vital Information
Saul’s Saloon & Grill
74 Church Street
Wynberg
Cape Town
021 761 9008
Open 9am until after 2am
Seven days a week
www.sauls.co.za
[email protected]
Tel: 08611 SAULS (72857)

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