Japanese food makes my heart sing, and it seems that few do it better than the relatively newly-established Restaurant Bôujee in De Waterkant, Cape Town.
Bôujee is as much a looker as it impresses with its food.
There’s no name at the door (at least there wasn’t when I went) but you won’t have a hard time recognising the spot – cherry blossoms, an assortment of plants and colourful (plastic) roses, plush armchairs, and an elegant bar grace the stage as soon as you enter.
For a restaurant with such a presence, you’d expect the space to be a little bigger than it is.
But it stretches lengthways across the bar to an outside dining area, which is great for some fresh air and additional Covid safety, weather depending. I went on a quiet, sunny Friday afternoon so, for me, it was perfect.
Welcome To Bôujee Restaurant Cape Town
I know some of the team behind Bôujee from Nobu days, and I could probably best describe the restaurant as a less expensive but equally classy and absolutely mesmerising Nobu.
Of course, your interpretation of this will depend on the experience you’ve had at Nobu. I had a fantastic time at Nobu back when I visited a few years ago but my friend Jenny, who joined me for the Bôujee lunch, had a horrible time at Nobu.
We both agreed, though, that Bôujee was world-class & one of those spots that you’re likely to fall in love with just as much as we did.
Floral and unique – Restaurant Bôujee is a feast for the eyes.
Even the terrace area is beautiful, with lots of colours and flowers.
The Restaurant Bôujee Menu & Prices
The menu at Bôujee is simple: A few cold dishes, some hot dishes, tons of sushi, a few desserts, and a whole world of the most amazing cocktails.
They may not have a huge selection, but if you’re looking for simple food that’ll impress with every bite, then you can’t go wrong at Bôujee.
Prices are on the upper side, but far less than what you’d flesh out for similar-quality elsewhere.
You’re looking at an average of R120 for cold dishes, R150 for hot dishes, R80 – R100 for sushi items, and around the R90 mark for desserts.
The Bôujee Cocktail Menu
Cocktails average at around R100 – but here is where it gets interesting.
For many of the cocktails listed, you’ll see two prices. These aren’t happy hour versus regular prices.
Instead, Bôujee gives you the option of which hard liquor you want in your cocktail.
If you’re after the craft, then you can order the more expensive version with premium liquor. If you’re there for a fun night with friends and likely to have a couple of cocktails, then you can stick to the slightly less expensive version.
Cocktail connoisseurs are likely to disagree with this, suggesting that the craft should not be compromised, but for people struggling with the prices of cocktails these days, I think it’s a really cool idea.
The Bôujee Martini and Purple Rain cocktails.
The Restaurant Bôujee Cocktails
With that, we also tried a couple of the Bôujee cocktails:
- Bôujee Martini: Grapefruit juice, muddled cucumber, elderflower syrup, Hendrick’s gin (R110)
- Purple Rain: Hendrick’s gin, grenadine syrup, lime juice, smashed basil (R120)
- Bôujee Rain: Jack Daniels, lime juice, grapefruit, basil (R100)
- Tori “Tweety”: Table-spoon honey, Woodford Reserve, Yuzu sake, orange juice (R125)
And all of these were not only insanely beautiful but also insanely delicious!
I love cocktails – or, more accurately, I love the idea of cocktails. But very often I think they sound great but I actually end up a little disappointed. Lots of fluff with very little flavour.
The Bôujee cocktails are everything you’d dream a cocktail to be – they’re not skimpy in their portion, so you actually get a good amount of cocktail for what you’re paying, they’re absolutely beautiful so you can get your Insta-moments if that’s your vibe, and they’re absolutely delicious!
I couldn’t tell you which one was my favourite as they were all great, but if I had to choose just one, I’d probably go for the Bôujee Martini.
The Bôujee Rain and Tori “Tweety” cocktails, together with the Bôujee salad selection.
The Restaurant Bôujee Sake Selection
Of course, as a Japanese restaurant, Bôujee doesn’t limit itself to cocktails, wine, and bubbly.
They also have a great sake selection, including:
- Hokusetsu Kinpaku (R180)
- Junmai Shu Sake Sado No (R125)
- Sado No Onigiri (R145)
- Flavoured sake at R15 a shot – white chocolate, passion fruit, and caramel
Sake isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
If you’re an avid sake drinker, then you’ll certainly enjoy their selection. If sake is a new flavour for you, then you can try one of the flavoured ones.
We tried the passion fruit sake and the caramel sake, and both were lovely. Again, I couldn’t tell you which one was my favourite. But if you prefer tartness, go for the passion fruit. And if you prefer a hint of sweetness, stick to the caramel.
Salmon and tuna sashimi dishes, with salted edamame beans.
The I Love Foodies Restaurant Bôujee Review
Of course, no I Love Foodies experience would be complete without trying the food.
We were lucky enough to try a wide selection of Bôujee dishes, which, for the sake of clarity, I’ll divide into separate sections.
Bôujee Cold Dishes
From the cold dishes side, we had the following:
- Spinach Salad: Drizzled with yuzu olive & truffle oil, dry miso, and Parmesan cheese (R105)
- Lobster Tail Salad: Field greens drizzled with spicy dressing, topped with 2 lobster tails (R120)
- Bôujee-Style Salmon: 8 pieces of thinly sliced, lightly seared salmon sashimi drizzled with yuzu soy, sesame oil, and sesame seeds (R145)
- Bôujee-Style Tuna: 8 pieces of thinly sliced, lightly seared tuna sashimi drizzled with yuzu soy, sesame oil, and sesame seeds (R135)
I’ll start with the last two first.
If you’re a fan of sashimi or tataki, then you’ll love both the Bôujee-Style Salmon and the Bôujee-Style Tuna. These are super thinly sliced, really bringing out the flavours of the sauces, and very enjoyable.
The flavours are quite similar, especially since the sauce is quite prominent, so I would really just recommend you choose the fish you prefer.
The lobster tail salad is divine and very well-priced.
Bôujee Salads
The Bôujee salads – rather surprisingly – are definitely worth writing home about.
The Lobster Tail Salad is insanely well-priced and absolutely delicious, though be aware that the spicy dressing isn’t merely termed as such. The salad does indeed have a hint of spice to it, so if you’re not a fan of anything with a bite, then maybe this isn’t for you – or ask for it without the spice dressing.
I didn’t think the dressing was too spicy – and I’m generally a spice lightweight – but it was too spicy for my friend Jenny, who doesn’t do any spice at all.
The Spinach Salad rocked my world. This may sound absolutely bizarre. I mean, how great could a spinach salad be? But this Bôujee spinach salad is beyond divine.
It’s probably the oils that make it, but each bite is so intensely flavourful that this is beyond a doubt the best spinach salad I’ve had in my entire life.
Even if you don’t like spinach, you’ll probably like this salad!
You wouldn’t think that this spinach salad is to die for – but it’s so delicious!
Bôujee Hot Dishes
Bôujee does have a beef steak (R200) and a salmon steak (R220) on the menu if you’re craving something a little heartier, but we tried their lighter options.
We had:
- Salted Edamame: Garnished with Malden salt (R50)
- Beef Kushiyaki: 2 skewers served with vegetables (R140)
- Chicken Kushiyaki: 2 skewers served with rice (R125)
For the kushiyaki, you can generally choose whether you want rice or vegetables.
Usually, I’d say rice because it’s a little heartier, but those vegetables blew my mind. I honestly can’t tell you what they did with these or what sauce they used (I was too much in my food coma) but these veggies are fantastic!
The kushiyaki are great if you’re looking for something that will fill you up but not leave you feeling full and uncomfortable. They also have salmon and prawn kushiyaki available.
The edamame beans, of course, were absolutely more-ish, and we devoured two bowls of these with our cocktails.
Beef and chicken kushiyaki, served with rice or vegetables.
Bôujee Sushi
This is probably what you’ve been waiting for. Yes, we did indeed have sushi at Bôujee, and, yes, it is everything you’d expect it to be – fantastic!
We had a nice selection of different items, including:
- Salmon Belly Nigiri (R120)
- Tuna Nigiri (R85)
- White Fish Nigiri (R70)
- Rock Shrimp Roll (R140)
- Full House (R140)
Nigiri portions include 5 sushi pieces each, while other maki and inside-out rolls come with 6 pieces.
Usually, I’m not a fan of nigiri – too much rice, too little fish – but Bôujee definitely inverts this.
The fish is very thickly cut, so you definitely get lots of flavour in each bite. And the fish is so wonderfully fresh – this was really delicious!
I also really, really enjoyed the full house rolls. These are slightly larger sushi rolls filled with 5 different types of fish (salmon, tuna, yellowtail, white fish, lobster) and they’re an absolute flavour explosion.
If you’re looking for great bang for your buck, then these are the way to go.
Jenny had most of the rock shrimp rolls as she loves tempura but I did try a piece and enjoyed it.
The sushi selection at Bôujee is fantastic.
Bôujee Desserts
Even though we were pretty (happily) satiated at this point, there’s no way we could leave without at least trying the deserts.
So we had the:
- Yuzu Cheese Cake (R120)
- Bôujee Hennessy 3Cs: A trio of chocolate truffled infused with Columbian, each imbued with either spice, caramel, or citrus flavours, served with a shot of Hennessy or espresso (R95/R110)
The Yuzu Cheese Cake was lovely – soft and fluffy but with a unique yuzu aftertaste so you definitely know you aren’t eating “normal” cheesecake.
My favourite was the chocolate truffle dish, though. These are the perfect ending to a meal, adding just that touch of sweetness you’re likely to be craving.
Of course, you can choose to have it with either Hennessy or espresso, depending on your mood. The two prices reflect the two options.
Yuzu cheesecake and Boujee chocolate truffles with Hennessy.
Restaurant Bôujee Is A Must-Visit
I loved my experience at Restaurant Bôujee – so much so that I had to add them to my Top Cape Town Restaurants To Visit In 2021 list!!!!
I visit a ton of restaurants all the time (of course, slightly less these days due to the Covid-19 pandemic as I’m going out less in my personal capacity) and I am often left with a very good impression.
But, it is rare for a restaurant to hit all the boxes like Bôujee does – great food, great drinks, great service, great ambience.
Visiting is definitely worth every second!
Bôujee Restaurant Cape Town Contact Details
You’ll find all of the Restaurant Bôujee Cape Town contact details below.
Bôujee Restaurant
Address: 2 Liddle Street, De Waterkant, Cape Town
Opening Times: Tuesday – Sunday (13:00 – curfew)
E-mail: reservations@restaurantboujee.co.za
Call: +27 60 829 1877
Written by Benike Palfi
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Article Date: June 2021
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