Restaurants in Cape Town
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Queen of Tarts
Images of a young Queen Elizabeth II gaze out over customers from cake tins and trays at this charming café. The sweet and savoury tarts and other confections are delish and, if you like the grandma’s kitchen-chic décor, nip across the road to their pre-loved goods emporium.
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Kirstenbosch Tea Room
On Table Mountain’s lower slopes is Kirstenbosch Tea Room where you can order English Tea for two (R120), including cucumber and cream-cheese sandwiches, mini quiches and homemade scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream, packed and ready to enjoy in the gardens.
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Kauai
If only all fast food was as healthy as that from this slick Hawaiian-franchise operation. It offers a tempting range of smoothies, juices and wraps. There are other branches around the city, including one at Lifestyles on Kloof (50 Kloof St, Gardens) and one in the City Bowl (Mostert St).
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Addis in Cape
Sit at a low basket-weave mesob table and enjoy tasty Ethiopian cuisine served traditionally on plate-sized injera (sour dough pancakes), which you rip and use to eat instead of cutlery. Also try their home-made honey wine tej and an authentic Ethiopian coffee.
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Roundhouse
This 18th-century heritage-listed building in wooded grounds overlooking Camps Bay is well suited to the sleek restaurant it now houses. More casual dining is available at the Rumbullion outdoor terrace where you can tuck into giant sandwiches, salads and roasts designed to be shared.
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Kitima
The Kronendal, a Cape Dutch farmhouse with parts dating back to 1713, has been sensitively restored to house this excellent Thai restaurant. Smiling Thai staff and chefs ensure that dishes such as pad thai gai are not mucked up. The Sunday buffet lunch (R165) is great value.
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Orchid Café
To the rear of a boutique is this lovely place, a favourite of the ladies who lunch in Little Chelsea. Sit in the courtyard draped with bougainvillea and enjoy scrumptious egg dishes, sandwiches, salads and cakes, and consider taking the nearby Wynberg Village Walk.
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Myoga
Chef Mike Bassett’s follow up to Ginja presents similar fusion-style dishes in a more spacious, refined setting facing onto the Vineyard Hotel’s lovely gardens. From the open kitchen comes creations such as trio of veal, or lamb rack reconstructed.
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Bizerca Bistro
French chef Laurent Deslandes and his South African wife Cyrillia run this fantastic bistro – the atmosphere is contemporary and friendly, and the expertly prepared food is bursting with flavour. Signature dishes include braised pigs trotter and butternut pumpkin gnocchi.
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Pigalle
Enter off Highfield Rd into a dramatic interior that's hung with huge silver chandeliers, and features multiple Elvis prints on the wallpaper. The menu offers retro favourites, such as shrimp cocktail; the seafood platter R250 is good value. There's live music most nights, too.
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Chandani
This appealing Indian restaurant is one of the tastiest places on Roodebloem Rd. There’s a great selection of dishes for vegetarians including favourites such as aloo gobi (potato and cauliflower) and dal makani (black lentils in a creamy tomato sauce).
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Blue Water Café
There’s a stunning view across towards Chapman’s Peak from the stoop of this historic property that’s at the heart of Imhoff Farm. It’s a lovely place to enjoy an all-day breakfast (R48.50) or other simple but good dishes, including pasta and pizza.
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Café Pescados
Occupying Simon’s Town’s one-time Criterion cinema (there’s a gallery celebrating South African film history) this pub-like place serves up a mean pizza and a good range of seafood at reasonable prices. Live music on weekends adds to the atmosphere.
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Loading Bay
Hang with De Waterkant style set at this low-key ‘luxury café’ serving Lebanese-style nibbles such as manoushe (flat bread) sandwiches and spedini (kebabs). There’s an attached boutique offering menswear fashion lines from Holland.
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Meeting Place
A recent renovation has left the trendy deli-café, a foodie’s delight, on the ground floor with a laid-back restaurant upstairs with a balcony overlooking Simon Town’s main drag. Build your own sandwiches for R50 or try the three-course lunch deal for R85.
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Riboville
Specialising in seafood and Asian dishes (including crispy Peking duck), this grand restaurant makes the most of its stately surroundings in a heritage-listed former bank – the smoking room was once the bank manager’s office and the vault now houses 14,500 bottles of wine.
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Vida e Caffé
Need a caffeine fix? Sprouting like wild poppies across Cape Town have been branches of Vida e Caffé serving freshly brewed coffee, orange juice, Portuguese-style pastries and filled rolls – it’s ideal for breakfast or a quick lunch.
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Sea Point Gardens
Dine on dishes such as tuna carpaccio and sole with béarnaise sauce in the romantic courtyard garden of this 1919 villa that once was the official residence of Cape Town's mayor. After, head upstairs to their slinky cocktail lounge Asylumn (open 17:00 to 02:00).
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Origin Coffee Roasting
Training many of the baristas for Cape Town cafés has been Origin Coffee Roasting. Book ahead for their coffee and tea appreciation courses (R150) generally run on Monday evenings. Apart from great coffee their traditional bagels are pretty awesome.
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Manna Epicure
Come for a deliciously simple breakfast or lunch at this trendy white-box café, or for late-afternoon cocktails and tapas on the veranda. The freshly baked breads alone – coconut, or pecan and raisin – are worth dragging yourself up the hill for.
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Portobello
This rustic veggie café serves a great range of all-day breakfasts, toasties and freshly made sandwiches. There’s also a lunch buffet (two, three or four hot or cold servings for R35/48/60) and a small organic community market on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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Paranga
Paranga’s terrace makes it one the most pleasant places to dine on a very competitive strip. It serves a little bit of everything from sushi to steaks. If you like the music, you can buy one of the series of house CDs.
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Sinnfull
In need of a sugar rush or something to cool the tongue? Head to this haven of delicious ice creams and cakes tucked away upstairs in the Promenade Centre. If you can’t make it out to the beach there’s also a branch in Wembley Sq.
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C’est La Vie
If anything can convince you to spend a bit more time around False Bay it should be the selection of restaurants and cafés. C’est La Vie is a tiny café behind the craft gallery Artvark serving coffee that everyone in Kalk Bay is raving about.
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Wakame
Tucking into Wakame’s salt and pepper squid or sushi platter while gazing at the glorious coastal view is a wonderful way to pass an afternoon. On the second level they specialise in Asian dumplings and sunset cocktails, when their deck can get packed.
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