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South African chef Arnold Tanzer with the culinary team at The Boma – Dinner & Drum Show

THE Boma – Dinner & Drum Show, a popular Victoria Falls experience, is being refreshed with a focus on enhancing and modernising both the food and the entertainment.

The Boma’s food offering is being fine-tuned under the guidance of South African celebrity chef Arnold Tanzer, while a new logo and tagline were unveiled by Africa Albida Tourism chief executive Ross Kennedy at Indaba, Africa’s largest travel trade show, in Durban, last month.

Kennedy said: “The Boma – Dinner & Drum Show is so much more than a meal – it’s a whole evening of entertainment featuring energetic dance performances, lively songs, story-telling, face painting and an incredible interactive drumming show. It is a celebration of Zimbabwe.

“We always seek to ensure that The Boma – Dinner & Drum Show delivers a superb multi-sensory evening, and with Arnold’s input and wide experience, we are once again reshaping and restyling the product. Everything from food to service, uniforms and decor, entertainment and drumming, sound and light is under the spotlight and many changes are underway.  Part of this energy has also gone into rebranding and hence the new logo, colours and style.

“The Boma, which has welcomed more than one million guests since it opened in 1992, is not being changed, but rejuvenated to ensure it remains a favourite Victoria Falls experience,” he said.

Tanzer is assisting the team at The Boma – Dinner & Drum Show in enhancing the food offering – a delicious four-course meal that combines a mouth-watering platter of starters, soup from the campfire, a braai (barbecue) buffet and desserts.

The Boma is known for its local Zimbabwean delicacies, such as mopane worms, warthog steak and Zambezi bream, as well as beef, pork and chicken dishes, and vegetarian. They ensure there is something to suit every palate.

Tanzer said: “The Boma is iconic in Victoria Falls, so it has to be treated carefully – the essence of The Boma will remain – we are not trying to change it, but just re-energise it.”
“The Boma tells a story about the food and culture of Zimbabwe, and the changes will be about making it more on trend, more contemporary, without losing its traditional feel,” Tanzer said.

Changes so far have included introducing a new shared starter platter, featuring skewered peppered impala, smoked crocodile tail and corn ciabatta and “nyimo” fritters.

“Africa is about hospitality and generosity. Wherever you go people always offer you food. Our idea is to bring wholesome food, chunk up the salads, and also to present them in slightly bigger, beautiful platters,” Tanzer said.

Changes to be implemented later in the year include the addition of new entertainment elements, new crockery for the buffet, as well as new uniforms for the staff, which will be simpler but still colourful.

The Boma, opened with just 60 seats as an open air “bush” restaurant to cater for guests at Lokuthula Lodges, and it has since grown into a “must do” Victoria Falls experience, able to accommodate 320 diners.