3 Best Restaurants in Cape Town, South Africa

Elegant and tranquil, this small oasis near the Kloof Street drag serves pricey but beautifully executed Japanese fare. Sourcing as much as possible from Japan, the owner verges on obsessive in his effort to maintain a high standard of both ingredients and technique, evidenced in the lightness of the tempura and the freshness and variety of seafood. The Zen ambience of blond wood and emerald light creates a supremely relaxing setting in which to enjoy dishes like seaweed-and-shiitake salad or sake steamed clams. An unusually diverse range of sushi (by Cape Town standards) can include choice items like sea urchin, big-eye tuna, scallop, and angel prawns. Great cocktails, an impressive selection of sake and Japanese whiskey, and excellent service complete the picture.

Though unfortunately inside the mall, this buzzing hive of activity consistently churns out what many say is the city's best sushi along with a surprisingly good array of other Japanese dishes as well as seafood favorites like English fish-and-chips and a prawn pasta. It is probably fair to say that South African sushi was defined by Willoughby & Co., with its fanciful and decadent signature rolls, such as the creamy rock-shrimp maki (a tuna-style roll graced with large chunks of tempura-fried crayfish in a spicy mayo-based sauce) and the rainbow nation roll (salmon, avocado, and tuna topped with caviar and a few squizzles of delicious sesame-oil and sweet chili sauces). More traditional sushi is also very good, thanks to the fact that this shop promises nothing is ever frozen (multiple weekly shipments of fresh Norwegian salmon help make this so). The Japanese Kitchen menus are also extremely tasty. There will almost inevitably be a line during normal dinner hours; however, it goes quickly (especially if you sit at the sushi bar, which is the place to be) and you're likely to be offered free tastes of various new vintages while waiting.

Tjing Tjing House is a four-venue Japanese cuisine marvel that shares skilled chefs and bartenders, great design style, and a 200-year-old heritage building in the heart of Cape Town. On the ground floor you have Torii, serving meals and snacks comprised of crowd-pleasing Japanese bar food—think deep-fried sushi rice, excellent tempura, baos, hot-dogs, and karaage chicken; there's also a rooftop bar and the excellent and more high-end Momiji, which serves refined tasting style menus on the middle floor. Next to Momiji is a sophisticated lounge bar, where you can enjoy cocktails and a range of Japanese whiskeys. Midnight blue walls and white floors are offset by sparkling chandeliers and graphics that aim to combine hints of both old and modern Tokyo. Service is friendly and efficient (in fact you may want them to slow things down if you plan to linger), and the cocktails are fantastic (note the bar upstairs). Mochi Mochi is a recent 5th addition to the venue, found next to Torii, a cafe serving great coffee, simple sandwiches, and all sorts of flavors and types of mochis.