7 Best Restaurants in Constantia, Cape Town

A relatively new offering on this historic wine estate in Constantia, this fine-dining restaurant serves excellent fare from an original Cape Dutch building with charming views of the vineyards. The elegant but unpretentious tasting menu is available for lunch or dinner, and the service is attentive and gracious.  Request a table on the balcony in warm weather to enjoy the wonderful vineyard views.

Located in a historic manor house, this restaurant serves tasty and hearty Italian fare from multiple dining rooms whose white walls are adorned with an impressive collection of contemporary South African art. Classics like white anchovies in a shallot-and-olive-oil dressing, escalopes of veal, and fresh ravioli are all pleasing, filling, and reasonably priced, if not culinary events. But this place is more about unpretentious food that allows you to focus on good company and the stylish but laid-back environment—and with several dining rooms to choose from, you can always find an attractive nook to do exactly that. It's also a child-friendly venue where kids often play in the small park outside the restaurant.  On a summer's day it's worth coming early for a drink at the lovely outdoor Rose Bar in the garden adjacent to the restaurant.

Set in a 19th-century building at Groot Constantia, the Cape's oldest wine estate, this family- and group-friendly restaurant provides a hearty taste of the Cape's culinary heritage, as well as crowd-pleasers of the salads, burger, pasta variety. Traditional Cape Malay dishes worth trying include bobotie (spiced minced beef studded with dried fruit and topped with a savory baked custard), the karoo lamb curry, and smoked snoek (fragrant Cape oily fish) pâté. The South African dessert melktert, or milk tart—similar to baked custard—is both traditional and delicious, and the cheesecake is legendary.

A charming cafe in the Alphen Boutique Hotel, La Belle Constantia has fresh bakes, salads, and more filling lunches, though they are known for their cakes and pastries—be sure to try the lemon meringue or the berry frangipane. In warmer weather take advantage of the delightful outside seating. 

This relaxed but glam eatery in the posh Vineyard Hotel & Spa outside Cape Town attracts well-heeled regulars, who come for chef Mike Basset's consistently excellent fusion flair, evidenced in dishes like squid ink spaghetti with yuzu pearls and the divine truffle-teriyaki beef fillet topped with perfectly crisped tempura vegetables. Evenings are all about the amazingly good-value seven-course tasting menu. Lunches are more casual but also offer a five-course tasting menu option. Black chandeliers and tones of gray and silver make for an ambience of cool evening elegance, while daytime diners will appreciate the gorgeous garden and mountain views. Don't neglect the fabulous wine list, which features many of the country's best.

Discover the wonders of South African haute cuisine in this modern, glassed-in conservatory overlooking the beautiful gardens of the historic Cellars-Hohenort Hotel. The cuisine is playful but high-end, with a medley of multicultural techniques and flavors being used to great effect on local ingredients, resulting in dishes like a springbok (local venison) loin served with tempura shiitake mushrooms, karoo lamb with pumpkin mousse and fynbos honey, or Atlantic tuna with kimchee and apple. A stylish room in tones of silver, gray, and dark chocolate with bare dark-wood tables allows the garden views outside to shine, while at night, warm lighting highlights well-chosen artwork. Solicitous service and an amazing wine list go without saying.