130 Best Restaurants in Cape Town, South Africa

Discover the wonders of South African haute cuisine in this modern, glassed-in conservatory overlooking the beautiful gardens of swanky The Cellars-Hohenort hotel. The food is playful but high-end, with various multicultural techniques and flavors used to great effect on local ingredients, resulting in dishes like a springbok (local venison) shank served with shimeji mushrooms in a rich raviolo, Klein Karoo rack of lamb, and traditional Cape Malay babotie. The chef's Boland cheese soufflé is made with a gin-infused sauce that keeps it light, while crispy tempura prawns and charred springbok tataki reference Asian inspiration. A stylish room in tones of silver, gray, and dark chocolate with bare dark-wood tables allows the garden views outside to shine and if you're seated alongside one of the windows, you'll feel almost as though you're outside. In fact, you can sit outside at tables under the trees, between the foliage.

Away from the Camps Bay "strip" and higher up on the mountains in the historical Roundhouse building, high-profile chef Ryan Cole has created one of the country's finest restaurants. The seasonal 10-course menus are immaculately crafted, taking diners on astonishing flavor-focused journeys that could include a coal-smoked oyster starter or Wagyu sirloin; wine pairings (for an additional fee) are available, as is a reduced five-course menu for lunch. The "Roundhouse" was once a hunting lodge, and its crazy history (involving an illicit affair between Lord Somerset and a woman who disguised herself as a man so she could work as a doctor) is told in graffiti on the walls of one of the little rooms, which is where a few unusual pre-meal canapes and an uplifting cocktail is served. That's after a friendly hand-washing ceremony in the entrance and before you're led to your table—when you book, ask to be seated in the "Sea Room" with its gorgeous view of Camps Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. 

Having made their name selling delicious bao buns at Woodstock's Old Biscuit Mill, the team behind this innovative operation continues to astonish with their beautiful Asian flavors—whether it's the sauce and textures in the pork belly bao, the miso sesame and black garlicky goodness of the charred broccoli, or their addictively good gochujang sweet potato bao, there's just never a wrong note. They have a great, compact wine selection and some off-the-beaten-track beers to wash it all down. It's recommended that you order two dishes per person, or several to share. Lunch is served on Saturdays only.

Intimate, edgy, and slightly experimental, there's no telling what ingredients might have given rise to the day's dishes—the tasting menu is designed around choice cuts of sustainable meat (although vegetables and fish are served if meat’s not your thing). They don’t tell you what’s going to be served, the idea being to trust in the talent in the kitchen and in what owner-chefs Anouchka Horn and Neil Swart decide to make with what they’ve got. Whether they do something special with West Coast mussels or put some extraordinary cut of gemsbok on your plate, though, you can be sure it will please your palate and stretch your imagination at the same time. For their multi-course menus, they charge R750 for lunch and R1,050 for dinner, and you must book in advance.

Named for the year the Steenberg wine estate on which it sits was established, this not-to-be-missed bistro serves dishes intended to be paired with the estate's vintages, but remains the opposite of hoity-toity fine dining. Dishes like beef tataki with shimeji mushrooms or sustainable fish with kimchi and umami cream are the perfect foil to a minimalist environment of bleached wood, metallic accents, and high ceilings. The outside terrace with its gorgeous mountain views is the perfect setting for brunch or lunch. If you miss lunch, you're in for a treat with a tapas menu that includes the likes of polenta frittes with baba ganoush, sticky harissa lamb ribs, and rosti with goat feta.

An utterly unpretentious yet elegant restaurant with a select seasonal menu posted on a chalkboard, Black Sheep features food inspired by all of the Cape’s culinary influences: indigenous, North African, Asian, Middle Eastern, and more. Ingredients are locally and ethically sourced, and the restaurant has a nose-to-tail food philosophy with a focus on ensuring that nothing's wasted. Expect dishes like seared marlin, crispy pork trotters, rabbit puff pastries, Vietnamese style chicken, and grilled kudu. Typically, what appears on the blackboard depends on what meat's available, what produce is at market, and what's in season and freshest. Come early or make a booking, as the restaurant gets full quickly in the evenings.

From late afternoon through midnight you can follow your ears to find the party at this hipsterish hangout, but come here for lunch, and you'll discover some of the most addictive Mediterranean- and Middle Eastern-inspired food in the city. The unusual menu items—wood-fired lettuce, beef and lamb baked into a pita, eggplant done on the coals and smothered with tahini and other goodies, and cured yellowtail on challah toast that you will dream about for weeks—are full of flavor and everything is scrumptious, simple, and served with a smile. And while there's a bar full of everything (at very reasonable prices, much like the food), you can order filtered water, still or sparkling, served from a specialized tap and free of charge. Just be warned that if you're not up for a slice of pandemonium, you'll want to make your exit before the late-afternoon partiers begin to descend, it will gradually begin to throb with young people out for a good time.

Enjoy soaring views of the Constantia Winelands from this elegant space of carved wood and huge glass windows, where a fantastic chef's menu reminds you why long lunches were invented. A variety of dishes—all marked by freshness of ingredients and a globe-trotting host of inspiration—are served tapas-style, according to various menus which in turn are determined by what's available at market, what's in season, and what's inspired chef Ivor Jones's creativity in the kitchen. Expect items like coal-fired tuna with Namibian crab and a North African dressing or a pecorino risotto with goat cheese mousse. Everything sounds simple, but the tastes are expertly elevated, ensuring that this is perhaps the city's favorite destination for off-duty chefs.

A Bree Street institution beloved by the hip, the young, and the young at heart, Clarke's is known for many things, among them its burgers (with their famously butter-fried brioche buns), drinks (from smoothies and fresh juices to excellent cocktails and everything else you'd expect from a place with the word "bar" in its name), and delicious breakfasts (the huevos rancheros are yummy if not strictly authentic). As day turns to night, this light-and-bright restaurant (seating options range from a few tables on the sidewalk to a designer-diner interior, to a small plant-filled courtyard) morphs from a child-friendly brunch spot to a casual coffee and burger joint, to a vibey nighttime bar, where DJs and parties are not unusual. Service is friendly and fast.

Inspired, clever, and—above all—delicious, the food at this excellent Ryan Cole–helmed restaurant is intent on redefining South Africa's high-end dining scene. To achieve this, Cole (whose other venture, Salsify, is also a must-try) asked head chefs Teenola Govender and Geoffrey Abrahams to create a menu inspired by personal food memories and their respective cultural backgrounds using the best seasonal ingredients. The result is set menus, with options for vegetarians and pescatarians, that are a concise, flavor-focused acknowledgement of Africa as its own gastronomic entity. There's a beautiful vegetarian dish of samp (dried corn kernels) and chakalaka (chopped veggies, tomatoes, and beans) that's quintessentially South African or maybe ox tongue with ras el hanout (a Moroccan spice blend) and beef tallow, or an incredible tuna tartare cold starter made with sugarcane and caramelized pineapple that beautifully evokes summertime on the beachfront in Durban (where Teenola grew up). Most of the dishes will be unlike anything you've ever had and will probably never have the opportunity to try again; mouthful after mouthful, you'll likely feel as though the world has shifted off its axis slightly, altering your understanding of what food can be.

Although it's on Canterbury Street, this community-building café is also accessible from Harrington via the "Electric Avenue" alleyway. Occupying a former mechanic shop, expect good, wholesome food, fresh juices, music events and social happenings, and an effort to help feed the local homeless and hungry. If you're looking for a spot to linger, fill up on nutritious drinks and bites, and maybe start a conversation with a stranger—this is a good place to make that happen. At the same time, there's plenty of choice in terms of salads, sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, flatbreads, and an extensive choice of beverages, both healthy and boozy.

Arguably the best dining establishment on all of Kloof Street, this always delicious, always fun restaurant is helmed by Swedish-born, South Africa–raised chef Jesper Nilsson, who does everything from gourmet pizzas to line fish with baba ganoush or lamb ribs with butter bean pilaki. His menus are a bit of a puzzle, listing the chief ingredients and making no attempt to name the dish nor describe how the ingredients will be combined. The puzzle is solved by Jesper and his chefs and the reward will be all yours: he manages to coax miraculous flavors onto every plate, and somehow achieves that "OMG" reaction every time.

Serving a range of exquisitely prepared international fusion cuisine in a casually elegant industrial setting, this restaurant and bakery in the heart of leafy Constantia is a true gem. The various dishes, each one a little more mind-blowing than the last, might incorporate flavors from harissa to ponzu to smoked garlic and feature dishes like coal-roasted lamb with brinjal curry, cauliflower parfait with baharat (an Middle Eastern spice mix), or honey-glazed duck with gem squash, turnips, and chard. The various seasonal set menus include the main chef's menu, reduced menus, and lunchtime-only winter and spring menus.

Arrive at acclaimed chef Peter Tempelhoff’s exquisite glass-walled restaurant on the fifth floor of the Speakers’ Corner building when the sun's still shining, and you'll be treated to soaring views of Table Mountain and Lion’s Head. The real focus, though, is on the open kitchen, where you can also sit at the counter and watch or interact with the team as they prepare multicourse kaiseki menus that focus intently on giving fresh and often unexpectedly local ingredients a Japanese treatment while refraining from overcomplicating what’s on the plate. There are multiple courses (fewer at lunch, and cheaper at R1,375) in this profound showcase of culinary imagination and skill: think burnt mushroom custard in a Hokkaido milk bun, Cape wagyu temaki, seared chokka, tuna with tomato ponzu and kelp biltong, and a gorgeous xigugu ice-cream sandwich or amasi cheesecake.

Across the road from the world’s first hemp high-rise building, chef Isca Stoltz heads up South Africa’s first upmarket restaurant dedicated to local, sustainable seafood. It's a strange reality that, in a city built around a harbor, local seafood is often elusive, which is why the core tenet here is refusing anything imported and using only ethical local suppliers and artisanal fishers. The result is a more adventurous approach to cooking, with diners getting introduced to seldom-heard-of fish—like katonkel and Cape bream—cooked over coals, served sashimi-style, or even poached in its own liquid. It's not fine dining so much as smart thinking about how best to create honest, authentic-tasting dishes, none of which you'll likely find anywhere else on Earth. The restaurant’s namesake galjoen, by the way, is South Africa's national fish, and though it's an endangered species (and thus never to be fished), the restaurant's name is intended to spark conversation about maritime conservation. Galjoen is also committed to minimizing food wastage by utilizing as much of the animal as possible.

Hidden in the Montebello Design Center and Nursery is this quaint little cafe that has been serving locals for decades. Serving thoughtful breakfasts, light lunches, sandwiches, and a select number of delicious hot meals. There is an extensive cake, pastry, and deli counter with all kinds of homemade goods. On warmer days, a seat outdoors allows you to view the wonderful plants in the nursery next to it and there's a small play area for kids to enjoy. 

With its unrivaled atmosphere, whimsical decor, and personality-forward waitstaff, this wonderful farm-to-fork restaurant showcases the chef's respect for local ingredients and his interest in the provenance of what he cooks with. Menus respond to the seasons and feature wonderfully uncomplicated dishes you might call "classics with a twist," such as a twice-baked cheese soufflé that will knock your socks off, and a simply wonderful French onion soup. Whether it's springbok loin with smoked artichokes and zamli dates or fish en papilotte done in a shakshuka-style miso tomato sauce, you can rest easy knowing the chef knows precisely where each ingredient came from, and possibly how it was grown or raised. Apart from the wonderful food and spirited cocktails (there are many classics and a number of in-house signature concoctions), there's the sense of being somewhere quite special so you might want to linger. So set aside enough time to let it all sink in.

What's been termed South Africa's "first fine-dining halal restaurant," The Happy Uncles offers a chance to try dishes full of intricate and expert spicing, some that you may never have heard of, through a choice of multi-course set menus. Part of a burgeoning reinvention of Cape Malay cooking by chef and co-owner Anwar Abdullatief, dishes are elevated, beautifully prepared, and impeccably plated. From a bread course that might include springbok bone marrow and chili and ginger chimichurri to braised Angus short rib with celeriac milk and charred cabbage with truffle and nutmeg, just about every dish is some sort of fiercely novel use of local and often unusual ingredients to showcase unstoppable gastronomic pizazz. It’s not only a novelty for your taste buds, but this restaurant is a bit of history in the making, living evidence that Cape Malay cooking, frequently pigeonholed or defined by a few specific dishes, is evolving and rolling with the times.

Super-chic Hemelhuijs is both a showcase for a range of exquisite and fanciful ceramics, and a centrally located restaurant serving equally fanciful and exquisite food. Though a little pricey for lunch, the owner-chef's inventive and sometimes quite daring seasonal dishes burst with freshness and flavor (think salads composed of beets, summer orange, and fresh dates, or a crispy pan-fried veal served with artichoke, lemon, and parsley) and are worth the splurge. On one of Cape Town's few pedestrian walkways (near the footbridge crossing busy Buitengracht Street), this tiny space serves food on dishes specifically made for the restaurant and is lit by chandeliers bedecked with beads, driftwood, and star-shaped seedpods; it's an eye-catching (and impossible to replicate) retreat from the bustle outside. Breakfasts, which are served all day, are also divine, making this perhaps the ultimate brunchtime indulgence.

This friendly daytime bistro serves a variety of globally inspired breakfasts (from shakshuka to huevos rancheros and everything in between), brunch classics with a modern and imaginative twist, and an all-day lunch selection of burgers, sandwiches, salads, and more. They have a few inspired, must-try desserts, like cheesecake French toast and a lotus pancake stack, but you might simply want to be here with a coffee and an eye on the parade of passersby—the people-watching is top-notch.

This much-loved bakery and café is where locals meet for coffee, all-day breakfasts, or to tuck into some of the city's most scrumptious toasted sandwiches, stuffed croissants, fresh pastries, baked goods, burgers, and elevated hot dogs. The "kick-ass pies" are indeed kick-ass, as are the filled bagels, and the fast-flying croissant-doughnut hybrids ("doughssants") that Jason (the real-life owner-baker behind the name) regularly invents and advertises only on social media (they're usually available Saturdays, and sell out quickly).

A Sea Point institution since 2014, this New York–style deli blends traditional Jewish recipes with the best local ingredients to bring freshly baked bagels and an assortment of schmears, toppings, and homemade sauces. Be sure to try out a few of their pastries like babka and rugelach, and their New York cheesecake which has a choc-mint crust (when not sold out). They've expanded and now have a branch in Gardens (and one in Mayfair, London).

Elegant and tranquil, this small oasis at the busy Kloof Nek intersection serves pricey but beautifully executed Japanese fare that reaches far beyond sushi. 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, the freshness and variety of seafood, and the deliciousness of dishes like salmon, seaweed, shiitake, and shimeji salad; miso clams; or warm scallops in their shell.

Among South Africa's most lauded fine-dining establishments—it's been listed among the world's top 50 restaurants and named "Best Restaurant in Africa 2024"—chef James Gaag's sublime French-Asian-inspired tasting menus are served in a smart minimalist setting overlooking a pretty and bucolic patch of green in the Constantia wine region. Inspired by extensive global travels, incessant research, and an obsessive desire to improve, Gaag's menus change regularly. Having made the effort to secure a table here, you might as well go all in and have the full gourmand experience, as there is not a false note to be found. With plating so artful that you almost feel reluctant to break into some dishes, Gaag's genius does not come at the expense of taste, but instead creates breathtaking moments that become burnt into your memory.

In a dizzying rooftop venue that was purpose-built (on top of one of the Waterfront's 100-year-old buildings) for this outpost of chef David Higgs' most iconic Johannesburg restaurant, this glamorous spot opened at the end of 2024. With "meat, salt, and fire" its watchwords, the focus is on food cooked over an open flame, inspired by a kind of upmarket rendition of what South Africans call braai and Americans refer to as barbecue, and undertaken in kitchens decked out in the world's most state-of-the-art grilling equipment. Steaks of the highest caliber are only the beginning—the entire menu, from wood-fired linefish with burnt leeks and seaweed butter to mushroom paella made with rice from the wood-burning oven, is a charred, smokey, coal-tinged thing of beauty. Plus there's a scene-stealing bar (for which walk-ins are possible) and a wraparound balcony where it's possible to feel elevated in ways both literal and metaphoric.

Located on vibey Dunkley Square, this lovely restaurant is one of Cape Town's oldest dining establishments, initially started to provide traditional dishes to Greek immigrants. Its owners, one of whom dined here as a boy, continue that tradition, serving all kinds of mezzes which can be ordered as a platter, as well as traditional dishes like moussaka, calamari, lamb chops, pitas, souvlaki, and even burgers, plus new recipes and ideas to keep things interesting.

From among a seemingly endless variety of flavors, ranging from super-traditional (stracciatella, pistachio, chocolate) to singularly South African (rooibos, milk tart), and seasonal and slightly experimental, the day's selection of what's available is listed on the wall-mounted menu. Better, though, is to chat with the gelato-slingers behind the counter—they'll have tasted them all and will make personalized recommendations. As at other Moro branches across the city, they also serve vegan sorbetto, in flavors like turmeric ginger lemon, gingerbeet, fig, and mandarino.

Delicious things—think eggs Benedict, French toast, American-style pancakes, ostrich bacon with smashed avocado on toast, warm polenta porridge, and buttermilk-fried chicken with waffles—are the norm at this designer space (with its dark-wall exterior and pale pink interior). With an all-day breakfast menu that's purpose-made for the brunch crowd (lots of drinks options), this feel-good space is a favorite for lingering catch-up sessions (over coffee or over mimosas), perhaps after a late night on the town or as a preamble to a day's exploration.

You step into this revitalized historic space as much for the upbeat atmosphere and heartwarming service as you do for the delicious Japanese-Peruvian fusion cuisine that's distinctive enough to be its own genre. Order from the large and diverse menu, or select one of the set menus that will give you a good overview of the offerings like braised sesame-coated short rib with yam mash, tea-cured apricots, and black truffle sauce, or yellowtail hamachi with fermented chili, black garlic and confit yolk. If you opt for a la carte, you'll need to order quite a few of the tapas-style sharing plates. You'll probably want to linger, so book the later dinner seating so there's no time limit.

"No drama, just shawarma" is the motto of this cute Middle Eastern street food joint started by Israeli-born Ofer Hollinger in the stone-walled bowels of the repurposed St Stephen's Church. If you're looking for the juiciest shawarmas and the best-tasting falafel in town, not to mention wonderful stuffed pitas topped with hummus and tahini, there's nowhere quite like this. They also do Lebanese arayes, Yemeni zhouk, burgers with either kofta or falafel, and absolutely delicious Iraqi-style sabich pita with eggplant and boiled egg. Order some mezze to share, along with crispy fries served with spicy mayo, and a bowl of hummus for dipping. You can grab a seat (there is a small outdoor courtyard at the back, and you might find tables of backgammon players out front on the sidewalk) or grab it to go, best washed down with a homemade lemonita (although they do have wine and beer, too).