Bucket Scene: The Dutch - ReImagined

Many a Durban night goer would be familiar with the Dutch in the Umhlanga Village, popular for it's classic 70's style decor, live bands and great bar but the owners of this fine establishment felt that it wasn't what they had envisioned for the place. After a brief shutdown in February, the Dutch reopened it's doors to the public and I was invited to sample what the new look, well rather "re imagined" Dutch is all about. 

I get asked all the time for popular night spots for people to visit and dine at, and also places that offer live entertainment, whilst there are plenty of places in Durban that offer great food, there was a gap in the market for a place that offered both. The Dutch always prided themselves in hosting some of the best local talents on their stage but their food menu was limited to tapas like variety but that has all changed now. The team has been working tirelessly behind the scenes to bring you a menu that takes your taste buds on a gastronomical adventure. 

The Dutch now operates as premium dinning and entertainment venue, with them operating from Tuesday to Saturday with live entertainment scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Unlike before, booking is a must if you want to visit the Dutch as the venue can accommodate 100 seated guest and a few more around the bar. Since the venue is now a restaurant, crowd control is paramount to ensure that diners have the best dinning experience. Whilst still enjoying themselves to the entertainment on offer.

The night of my visit, Durban's very own Gangs of Ballet were performing live. With their performance scheduled for 10pm it gave diners ample time to enjoy dinner before the show started, speaking of dinner, it's definitely not to be skipped, the menu is a mixture of local favourites with a twist only the Dutch could pull off. One does not have to do a full dinner as tapas and cocktails can be had either at your table or at the bar. 

For starters I opted for the Prawn Samoosa, which consist of a generous amount of prawns and yellow potato filling served in 3 golden brown crispy fried samoosa's served on a bed of cucumber raita and paprika oil. It's the perfect balance of hot and cool, with flavours to awaken your sense for the next course. 

For mains they have seven options to chose from, whether you looking for something light like a burger or sliders to a fillet steak served on cheese polenta and red wine jus. They even one of the few restaurants I know of that serve Norwegian Salmon that is specially imported and prepared in miso and honey glaze, accompanied with umami courgette stir fry, sweet confit cherry tomatoes and wasabi spinach mayo.

Whilst the first and second course might be quite a mouthful, be sure to save some space for dessert! With the Dutch being from the same brainchild as Remo's and Old Town Italy who are both renowned for their pastries and desserts, most particularly the ever popular cronut, you know the dessert menu is going to be good. While I opted for the lemon brulee, which was more of a deconstructed lemon meringue, a friend at the table went for the coconut macaroons. Both of which were exceptional and left us wanting more.

With our hunger satisfied, it was time for us to settle in and enjoy the sounds of the guys from Gangs of Ballet who took us away with their wonderful melodies in a great unplugged set whilst enjoying our drinks for the rest of the night. It was truly a great evening out and an experience that was missing in the Durban night. Whether you go for dinner or just for a quiet drink, the Dutch will certainly cater for even the most distinguished taste. 

For  booking inquiries and more information,

Telephone: 060 588 5674

Website: http://thedutch.co.za/

Facebook: Dutchism

Instagram: the.dutch

Address: Cnr of Chartwell Dr & Lighthouse Rd, Umhlanga

Bucket Scene: The Dutch

When I first got an invite to the official opening of the Dutch in Umhlanga Village, my initial thoughts were "not another bar!" but knowing that it was the brain child and owned by the same folk from the popular Remo's franchise, I decided to keep my views to myself until I checked the place out. I frequent Remo's on my trips to the village and they're always busy, great food, comfortable atmosphere and a general good vibe is what keeps the locals coming back for more but what stands out is that the restaurant attracts a certain class of people and it maintains that standards from their service to the food, which keep the wealthy folk of Rocks pretty happy. I presumed the Dutch would be very similar to that hence I decided to ditch the shorts and t-shirt that is so synonyms to Umhlanga bars and slapped on something classy. 

Upon arrival I was greeted by the lovely hostesses and rather big security guards at the entrance, who then escorted me into the bar area. The venue itself takes you back to a classic Italian style mafia hang out, with dark colours, low lighting, expensive paintings and extravagant ornaments. The bar is the centre of attraction and their range of spirits and beers is nothing short of what one would expect in a classy establishment like this, in fact, besides high priced whiskies, they even have a bottle of craft beer that fetches R1000! Being opening night, and having an open tab for the first hour, things were rather chaotic but the barmen have been trained well and managed to get the drinks orders on time despite the large numbers. 

As large as their whisky collection is, I opted to try some of their cocktails. There's a few of the old favourites with a bit of a spin to them and they have some of their own mixes that are sure to suit many taste buds. I was a bit disappointed with some of the sizes of the cocktails but after sipping them I realised they pack quite a punch so it was probably a good thing they kept the size at a minimum!

Crispy tempura prawn with dipping sauce

Drink in hand, I was then greeted by one of the managers who invited me to try some of the food selection off their menu. With the restaurant being next door, the menu at the Dutch is more designed on a tapas style with light finger foods on offer, like croquette's ranging from chicken or butternut and ricotta, sushi, sashimi, tempura prawns (my personal favourite) and there's even dessert! They make mini donut balls filled with nutella that would bring any girl to their knees!

Chicken croquette's

Now if you think of an Italian Mafia bar hang out, there's always a stage with the piano and a hot dame seducing the crowd with her sultry vocals. The Dutch has that stage but instead of the hot dame, they have some of the hottest local talent performing on a weekly basis and as we head into the holiday season they have acts on almost every evening. From Ard Matthews, to Arno Carstens, the Black Lapels and many more! Be sure to check their Facebook page and instagram account to keep up with the latest happenings and make also tickets are available for purchase in advance so you avoid dissapointment.

Nutella filled donuts

Overall I was well impressed with the place, Umhlanga has many a bar but they lacked something like this, a well groomed establishment,(if I may say that). Something that brings sophistication and class to the much rowdiness of the area. A place for you to enjoy a quiet drink while listening to the live entertainment on offer. As I said, they try to keep the standards going in this place so make sure you're dressed to part, no slops, boardies and vests boets, there's always other places for that. I can see this place becoming a firm favourite with the locals and definite must visit if you're new to the area, come and experience #Dutchism

Ard Matthews performing on stage

Website: www.thedutch.co.za

Facebook: Dutchism

Instagram: @the.dutch

Bucket Scene: Lucky Shaker

We're kicking off a brand new segment on the Bucket today, "Bucket Scene" is basically reviews on the coolest, freshest places in Durban. The idea was given to me by a late friend and I've finally decided to go ahead with it. What you can look forward to is me bringing you the low down on places to visit in Durban, seeing that the Summer holidays are upon us and with that brings many a visitor to the East Coast, I might as well get the word out on unique establishments that are in and around the city for them to try instead of visiting the same old places they always do.

Lucky Shaker

Today we're showcasing something new and unique to Durban, as you don't often find places like this in a hurry, its the Lucky Shaker. Situated in Shop 9A, Mayfair on the lake across the road from Chris Saunders Park in Umhlanga, it's a one of a kind cocktail bar/ lounge. At first I thought the location was strange seeing that it was situated away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of Umhlanga but after sitting down with owner Michael Stephenson and listening to what he envisioned for the place, it made a lot of sense. He wants his clientele to come in and basically lose sense of reality while they mesmerise you with their outstanding cocktails and food, which also is why he doesn't have any TV's in the place.

The Bar, with a wide selection of the finest spirits

The set up is great with a sit down area as well as a bar where you can sit and watch Mike and his staff spell bind you in their mixing techniques, which on its own is great entertainment! After taking our spots at the bar we were told of the special s, all of which are written on a chalkboard on the wall and issued with our complimentary high fives as that formed part of the specials.  Apart from cocktails,  they serve a variety of craft beer as well as craft on tap, to which my accompanying mates were very happy with as they love the craft.

Port & Stout 

The place came highly recommended by a friend of mine and with that he told me I had to try the "Port and Stout" cocktail.  He swears it's the best cocktail he's ever had and with him being an expert on the subject, I had to try it. As Mike began whizzing it up, it was interesting to note that instead of using stout out of the can,  they actually make a reduction of it using Guinness. That added with some port and other liqueurs, shaken up with some ice strained into a martini glass made quite an experience to watch.  Now I'm not the biggest beer fan around but I do enjoy a milk stout or Guinness every now and then so I was looking forward to tasting this.  Light, with a lot of flavours but at the same time quite strong, so it's not something you would down but rather enjoy sipping. One thing that stood out the most for me was that they used only the freshest ingredients for their menu, from fruits that go into their juices to the veggies and meat that went into their food, speaking of which...

Chicken, Bacon, Avo, Feta Burger with Fries

The food menu isn't that big with them sticking to just two types of mains if you may call them that,  being burgers and tacos and some bar snacks are bites but as with most of the things in this bar, it's not your typical burger or taco. All burgers are gourmet and made on premises with them using 3 different cuts of beef to get the ideal mince mix, if you don't eat beef you can always substitute it for a chicken fillet. I have asked Mike to experiment with a lamb burger which he said he wouldn't mind trying and I wouldn't mind testing!  The one I went for was the burger special of the week being a bacon avocado and feta burger. It's the best 3 topics you can get on a burger but if one of them is off it can make or break it. All 3 were superb, creamy feta, crispy bacon and the freshest avo I've ever had in the burger, the chicken fillet didn't even have to be there I would still have enjoyed it! Served on a toasted bun with a choice of salad or fries on the side with a home made tomato sauce it hit the spot.

Taco board

For dessert I was tempted to try one of the creamy blended liqueur milkshakes,  one could opt for the Dom Pedro or Marshmallow Fizz but I sampled some of the Grasshopper which is a blend of chocolate and peppermint liqueur with milk and vanilla ice cream. The smell alone will get your senses racing. 

Grasshopper

There's honestly nothing that's on the menu that I wouldn't mind trying so if you're down in Umhlanga and looking to shake things up a bit, why not give these guys a try. You won't regret it!

Website: www.luckyshaker.com
Instagram: luckyshaker / luckshakermenu
Facebook: Lucky Shaker
Address: Shop 9A, Mayfair on the lake
               5 Park Lane, Parkside
               Umhlanga Newtown Centre
               Parking available on the road or in the building.