Restaurants in Capetown, Jo'burg
 

Hi,

Thanks to everyone who give me tips on clothes. Now, on to restaurants - 4 days in Capetown and 2 in Jo'burg. Looking for the best. Karen

Know Jo'burg better

The Butcher Shop in Sandton has great game and a good wine list. Not romantic- think noisy steak house.

Smith and Wollensky in the mall itself is a good knock off of the US chain.

There's also a great North African place in Melrose Arch that I can't remember the name.

Moyo world Music Restaurant is the African restaurant in Melrose Arch.

Here is The Butcher Shop website.
http://www.thebutchershop.co.za/

If you want just killer seafood - nothing fancy just super fresh and cooked perfectly and everything SA waters have to offer, go to Panama Jack's in Cape Town.

On the beaten track ...
In Nelson Mandela Square:
Butcher Shop
Wang Thai
Bukhara
In Melrose Arch:
Meat Company
Moyo
In Sandton City:
Smith & Wollensky = ugh, avoid!
Cape Seafood Market

Off the beaten track ...
In Rosebank:
Cranks
In Parkhurst:
Cilantro
Anno Domini
George's on 4th
Europa
In Greenside:
Icon
Lapa Flo
Addictions

Gotta add "Yum" in Greenside (Jo'burg)! Consistently in the S.A. "top ten". See www.yum.co.za for the menu etc.

Karenr,

I am cutting and pasting part of a past mail that I sent to Fodors with regard to Cape Town restaurants into this thread.

I have always been reluctant to pass on the information that I am going to write about in this mail as some of the restaurants that I am going to mention are totally unknown to most and I have always frequented these establishments as special eating places for my own visitors to Cape Town. My main reason for changing my mind and now mentioning these establishments in this mail+ is because I have changed my thinking with regard to the secrecy of these special places in that they certainly deserve clientele and I don't believe that publishing this information on Fodors will change the secretive atmosphere that my visitors enjoy when we visit some of the below mentioned venues.

If you are looking for a fish restaurant my suggestions would be:

Willoughby's in the Waterfront (no pre-booking at this restaurant)

Panama Jacks in the harbour is as per a previous suggestion in this thread sort of worth going to but I would not run too quickly to eat at this venue as there are much better in town when it comes to fish.

The big hidden secret fish place in Cape Town is Tangos (7126631) This is a venue that locals seem to have kept to themselves. You will hardly ever see tourists at this local family type fish venue. It is rather far out of the city centre (25 minutes away in Kendall Road) but imho this is the very best fish restaurant in Cape Town. When you are in this restaurant you soon realise that fresh fish is being brought through the door minutes after being caught in the local Kalk Bay harbour. Furthermore if you want to find great varieties of local fish Tangos is the place to eat. My favourite fish that I generally eat at this venue is musslecracker. You will have to go hunting all over Cape Town for to find in another local restaurant serving this delicious fish variety.

If you have a lunchtime restaurant opportunity may I suggest that you stop at Kalkies in the Kalk Bay harbour. Now heres a real typical Cape Town experience to want to savour with fresh fish being served that was caught on the day in the Kalk Bay harbour. Furthermore you wont find tourists at this venue as it seems to be too downmarket from the outside so what you finds is that all the locals eat there because it is such a treasure. Try and experience this great culinary expereince when in our city.

Btw when it comes to eating fish most establishments will serve you local fish in the form of Cob (Kabeljou,
Kingklip (Local to Cape Town, Cape salmon, Yellowtail and if you are lucky
Musslecracker. When it comes to the shelled variety of fish you will be able
to find crayfish (smaller than American lobster but definitely more
substance to the meat and sweeter), prawns (Shrimp in the USA) and maybe
giant prawns (prawns in the USA). All in all when it comes to shelled fish I
say again be forewarned against being ripped off and DONT think in Dollar
terms when ordering, think in Rand terms relative to what you will have
already learnt as far a local values are concerned. I am telling you all of the above so as to help you when it comes to eating fish in our city but also because amongst others Panama Jacks have been found horrificaly guilty with overcharging and ripping visitors off by some local newspapers in Cape Town


Spicy foods in Cape Town could land you up in many places:

Biesmiellah is a great Cape curry restaurant

Wangthai is a Thai restaurant that serves very spicy foods.

The big secret for wonderful spicy food is Bibis (7618635). This is the restaurant I would recommend most of all. Fabulous Indian cooking. Once again this venue is about 25 minutes out of the city centre and is situated in lower Kenilworth This is where our local Hindu community eat and the food is simply out of this world. Fair warning, no alcohol is served or allowed in this establishment.

KarenR I imagine that you will be reading of the normal run of the mill restaurants in answers from others to your question. Make no error there are many other wonderful restaurants in Cape Town that are well worth visiting. The above restaurants are NOT the normal run of the mill recommendations that will be made in most "eat out book"
recommendations. Willoughbys and Panama Jacks could well come in for mentioning in some of the above books or possibly by others writing to this page. The restaurants mentioned in my list are the ones that locals frequent and my advice always remains "when in Cape Town do eat what the Capetonians eat".

Enjoy our great city when you visit us .

Very proudly part of the wonderful ((r)) nation of South Africa

We were in CT in May. As I'm a real foodie eating out was an important part of our trip.

We really loved Madame Zingara. Some dismiss it out of hand assuming that the quirky decor and exterior means no attention spent on the food. This is definitely not the case. We had some delicious food. Out of our starters we thought the beer-battered camembert was particularly nice. The signature chocolate chilli steak dish is much nicer than you might think and definitely worth trying. Not too sweet (it's dark belgian chocolate) and not too hot. My chocolate cigar dessert with rose water essence over the accompanying vanilla ice cream was delicious. Prices seemed very reasonable to us though we are comparing to London.

Also liked seafood at Baia - expensive for CT but the chef certainly has a light touch to bring out the flavours. Also have good non-seafood dishes incase you have a non-seafood eater - trio of steaks was excellent. I had the squid plus a main of baby kinglip. Desserts, particularly Amarula mousse, were to die for.

Willoughby's is very casual, a place where the locals eat. A strange mix of light dishes, pastas and Japanese sushi/ tempura etc. Very reasonably priced indeed.

Also loved Harry's pancake house near the Robben Island ferry building - an amazing selection of unusual filling combinations, huge fluffy pancakes, generously filled, evry reasonably priced.

Wang Thai is a chain and the Thai food was the same as what we get in the UK. Worth saying since I often find Chinese is different in each country I visit but Thai remains the same... perhaps it's more authentic? Prices reasonable and the location in Greenpoint Main Road has a nice interior with effective split between smoking and non.

Kavey

In Johannesburg (Sandton, actually), try Linger Longer for a wonderful gourmet meal in a lovely setting -- an old home with several rooms serving as dining rooms, and a quiet, elegant ambiance. Interesting food, beautifully prepared and served.

Hi Celia, I don't know how long ago you were at the Linger Longer, and while it had its heydey, it is no longer a place you want to linger. The food quality is way down and the prices way up!

I was there in June, Traci. Both my husband and I had food that showed thoughtfulness on the part of the chef, and that was artfully prepared and served. The price was certainly higher than average, but we felt we got our money's worth.

I believe that Wine Magazine has rated it in the top three restaurants in South Africa every year for the last ten years.

When were you last there?