A Handy Guide to
Cape Town Restaurants
La Colombe
Words: Russel Wasserfall
Pictures: Provided by Restaurants
The city of Cape Town and its surrounding Winelands at the south-western tip of South Africa has become a hot destination for global gourmet tourism. Boasting a warm Mediterranean climate with balmy Summer days during the northern hemisphere Winter, it is an outdoor adventure playground. What attracts more and more visitors to the city sprawling below Table Mountain, is mainly indoors though – restaurants have become a huge drawcard.
A currency exchange rate that favours the global north means that a tasting menu experience at Fyn will cost as little as 1,000 NOK or 85 GBP (British pounds). Considering that Fyn ranked 37th in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2022 and took 75th place in 2023, that is very affordable for a world class meal.
FYN
Since La Colombe’s emergence on the global dining stage, a slew of Western Cape eateries have come to international notice. The Test Kitchen by Luke Dale Roberts is possibly the most famous, but then there is also Fyn by Peter Templehoff, Wolfgat by Kobus van der Merwe and the list is growing season after season. Circling the big names that make waves in international media and awards programmes, Cape Town offers an unbelievable array of contenders for the attention of gourmands.
So how do you decide which restaurant is best for you? More important, how do you get a table, especially during season when a million tourists arrive in December alone? Luckily, along with some of the best restaurants and vineyards in the world, Cape town offer digital tools that can help with the decision.
For this writer, the first stop on the digital road to dining bliss is Dineplan. This wonderful resource for diners was developed by local entrepreneurs and provided a booking service for restaurants. It offers the functionality to reserve tables and pay deposits to secure bookings, but it also has a review section. The most-booked restaurant on the site is Chefs Warehouse Beau Constantia, but there are many gems, like Pot Luck Club, Belly of the Beast, Epice, Waterside and Ramenhead.
BEAU CONSTANTIA
BELLY OF THE BEAST
POT LUCK CLUB
EPICE
THE WATERSIDE
RAMENHEAD
Unlike other review sites, the opinions on Dineplan come from diners who have actually booked through their portal and been to the restaurant in question. Ratings and reviews on this site are an excellent guide to take you to a restaurant you will love. There’s also a handy app, so you can use it on your phone while on holiday in the Mother City.
For research and news on the latest openings, Inside Guide is a truly excellent resource. More of a listing site than a reliable review site, it keeps followers abreast of latest developments and new venue openings. They publish regular online guides to various restaurant and bar experiences, like ‘The Top 5 Cape Town Cocktail Bars’ or ‘10 Wine Farm Restaurants You Need to Visit’, and so on. By cross-referencing these suggestions with reviews on Dineplan you’re sure to find the perfect gourmet experience for Cape Town restaurant safari.
Photo: JAN RAS
UPPER UNION - COCKTAILS
South African writer, photographer and editor Russel Wasserfall has worked in the media space for over 35 years. His work is mainly in the arenas of food and travel and has appeared in more than twenty books and dozens of magazines. Wasserfall has run bars and restaurants, including his award-winning South African restaurant The Table at De Meye, and consults to restaurant start-ups on innovative food concepts. He runs a weekly podcast on the restaurant and food scene in his Cape Town home called A Table in the Corner.
