17 Best Restaurants in Cape Town, South Africa

This elegant and inviting Korean restaurant in the heart of the City Center serves meals that mix the traditional with the innovative. The small team brings the finest ingredients to life; wine pairings are available and as are numerous other house brews of teas and other beverages.

With its superb cuisine and excellent service, diners adore this French bistro located in an old Cape Dutch building on Heritage Square. Using classic French techniques but drawing on local produce and adding some fusion twists, dishes like the signature raw Norwegian salmon salad with ginger, soy, and shallots are served in a warm wood-floored dining room with a vertical garden feature, as well as in a lovely outside courtyard. The culinary magic is mostly found in the form of daily specials presented chalkboard-style, including dishes like a duo of tuna with avocado wasabi-and-jalapeño dressing, or the veal tongue with Gruyère and local waterblommetjies (water lily). Lunch is buzzier than dinner, but the food is splendid every time. In the summer enjoy a tapas and drinks menu from 3 to 6 during the week in the courtyard.

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.

A cozy 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. Expect dishes like roast Cape Bream fish with Asian greens, crispy pork trotters, lentil, and coconut curry, rabbit puff pastries, slow roast pork shoulder with gingerbread sauce, or game meat like kudu and springbok when available. Come early or make a booking as the restaurant gets full quickly in the evenings.

This highly acclaimed new offering at Maker's Landing sees chef Mmabatho Molefe putting the spotlight on modern Zulu cuisine and celebrating African ingredients with an innovative tasting menu that pushes the boundaries for South African cuisine. Emazulwini means “the heavens” and the name is befitting the delicious heights that the food will send you to.

This unassuming little bakery and deli in Dunkley Square makes the most scrumptious donuts in the city. Women-owned and all vegan, all sorts of sandwiches, bagels, subs, coffees, and treats are also on offer. Don't miss out on the oat-milk soft-serve truck outside. 

Super-stylish Hemelhuijs is both a showcase for a range of exquisite and fanciful ceramicware, and a centrally located restaurant serving equally fanciful and exquisite food. Though a little pricey for lunch, the owner-chef's inventive seasonal dishes burst with freshness and flavor (think pear-and-celeriac salad with hazelnuts and trout, or a crispy panfried veal of sublime flavor and texture) are well worth it. On one of Cape Town's few pedestrian walkways (near the footbridge crossing busy Buitengracht Street), this tiny designer space, where food is served in gold-painted bowls under chandeliers hanging with beads, driftwood, and star-shape seedpods, is truly a treat. Needless to say, breakfast and brunch are also divine.

Rightfully known as one of South Africa's most lauded fine-dining establishments and listed in the world's top 100 restaurants, La Colombe’s sublime French-Asian inspired tasting menus are served in a delightful minimalist setting overlooking the bucolic green of the Constantia wine valley. The menu changes regularly, but the best option is to order the full eight-course gourmand menu, as there is not a false note to be found. With plating so artful that you almost feel reluctant to break into some dishes, Chef Scott Kirsten’s genius does not come at the expense of taste, as evidenced in the life-changing springbok tartare with pickled chestnut, chipotle, and foie gras. The intimate cool space of white-painted timber offset by charcoal finishes and black beams is light-flooded by day, becoming elegantly refined in the evening. An excellent wine list and incredibly knowledgeable service also ensure that La Colombe will remain a favorite Cape Town splurge.

Get ready to eat with your hands at this otherwordly Ethiopian restaurant that's covered head-to-toe in obscure trinkets, plants, and trees. There's always a delightful smell of cooked spices, and the food is delicious, with meat and vegan options, all served with tangy and spongy injera (naturally gluten-free flatbread). This restaurant is open every day for lunch and dinner.

This new food market at the cruise terminal near the Waterfront showcases some of the best local foods that Cape Town has to offer. Try some killer wings from Sidewing, or a beloved traditional Koesister (a Cape Malay spiced donut) from Fuzzy's Food and grab a good cup of coffee from Coffee by Moses. Want something more filling? Try a tasty dosa from Indikaap's ayurvedic kitchen or a South African braai plate from Pitso's Kitchen. Whatever you get, enjoy it outside in the sunshine, watching cruise ships parking on the dock. 

Located in the vibey Dunkley Square, this lovely Greek restaurant serves all kinds of Greek mezzes which can be ordered as a platter, or traditional dishes like moussaka, calamari, and lamb chops. This local favorite also serves pitas, souvlaki, and burgers, as well as good vegetarian options. On good weather days, have dinner outside for a magical ambiance. 

This small, stylish gelateria has some of the best Italian gelato in Cape Town with traditional flavors like stracciatella, pistachio, and chocolate, as well as locally-inspired flavors like rooibos, milk tart, and whatever produce is in season. The cafe also serves decadent hot chocolate and thick, creamy milkshakes, and there are many dairy-free and vegan options.

This quaint little dim sum bar on the top of Long Street is often packed in the evenings. The menu is always changing with available options written on a little chalkboard, but flavorful and delicate dim sum is always on offer, as is a warm brothy soup.

A meal at this playful and inventive tapas-style venture from Cape Town star-chef Luke Dale Roberts always promises fabulous fun. With great harbor and mountain views from its position on the sixth floor of a renovated silo, this hip eatery serves an eclectic but clearly Asian-influenced array of fine-dining nibbles. Although the menu changes regularly, a few regulars like the smoked beef fillet with truffle café au lait and ceviche avocado tacos remain favorites. You'll want to order about three plates per person, so if you can, come with a crew to maximize how many you can taste. The cocktails are delicious, service friendly and efficient, and the atmosphere, with its open kitchen and gorgeous lighting, super relaxed. The all-you-can-drink sparkling-wine brunches (Sunday only) are also a fantastic treat.

At the top of the Helshoogte Pass with absolutely amazing views of the valley and mountains, Tokara is a Winelands must-visit. Chef Carolize Coetzee grew up in small-town South Africa and honors local ingredients and cooking methods in her wide range of dishes. Lunch is à la carte, while dinner guests choose between four- or six-course set menus, each with a wine-pairing option.

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.

Located near the top of Kloof Street, this Thai restaurant has an extensive menu full of flavorful grills, curries, and salads. Whether you sit on the romantic side where guests can dine at low tables while sitting on cushions on the floor, or at a table on the side with elegant traditional decor, you're bound to have a delicious meal and warm service.