For Capetonians, dining has become a multi-faceted adventure that goes far beyond mere sustenance. We’re constantly seeking new flavours, experiences and innovations to tantalise our discerning palates. Delving into the culinary landscape of 2025, an array of trends has emerged – from hyper-local and micro-seasonal menus to culinary time travel and sustainable luxury. Read on to find out which new Cape Town restaurants have turned our heads, redefining luxury dining and setting new standards for gastronomic excellence.
COY
COY could easily rest on its laurels, using its idyllic V&A Waterfront location to draw a crowd. Good thing it doesn’t. Here, owner-chef Ryan Cole of Salsify at the Roundhouse interweaves inventive, interesting eating with native South African ingredients. Seafood is the fitting star, which sits well among the impressive yachts and seal-filled water. With views that encompass both Table Mountain and Signal Hill, COY holds prime real estate. It expertly straddles the line of cool and sophisticated, with a predominately black interior accented with black-and-white prints, look-at-me textures, polished concrete floors, and simple but striking furniture and art. But it’s what happens on the plate here that you’ll remember beyond any aesthetics. COY’s seven-course tasting menu explores anything from linefish sashimi swimming in a dashi broth with caramelised coconut and sugarcane to lamb served on a bed of pap with spinach, butternut, skopo jus and potjie. It’s pretty obvious that head chefs Geoffrey Abrahams and Teenola Govender’s agenda involves pushing a few boundaries and buttons. Maize chips with tahini and roasted shiitake along with a smoked Stanford, red lentil, blatjang and cashew creation set the tone for the meal to come. To follow, bokkom atop fermented amadumbe sourdough served with kefir and konfyt. Slather it on thick for a very good time. Next, you might choose venison that feels right at home with sour fig and pickled pear, followed by an ocean blast of just-caught linefish, fynbos, prawn and sumac. Onto bigger things: The braaid linefish with mussels, peri peri and askoek is somehow both light and rich. The dessert options lean equally nostalgic. The effect of ‘Tea with Ma’ – lemon cream, strawberry jam, Ceylon tea and a spiced madeleine set in (of course!) a dainty teacup – is a giddy recreation of sweet afternoons with Grandma. Burnt banana crème shows deftness too, layered with milk stout and malt ice cream.
Shop 151, The Scherwyn Pavilion Building, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
021 207 3278
reservations@coyrestaurant.com
Merchant Bar & Grill
With its dark, elegant lighting, exposed-brick walls, handsome parquet floors and richly-hued leather dining chairs, Merchant Bar & Grill is a venue that instantly conjures the classic steakhouses of New York. This place takes clubbiness to a whole new level. If you want a feel of what a charming (but unmistakably luxurious) New York steakhouse was like in the ‘60s, then go. Plus, you’ll be ecstatic about the quality and flavour that best reveals the shared DNA with award-winning sibling, Chefs Warehouse. As the name implies, Merchant Bar & Grill focuses on the most classic of dishes – meat. The best tables face the glowing larder, where meats, charcuterie, pickled items and prepared ingredients are impressively displayed. Flame-licked, smoky and salty, its prime cuts melt in your mouth – whether you opt for the dry-aged steak, cut into strips and seasoned adroitly, or the meticulously carved lamb served simply with jus and Sauce Vierge. There are no unnecessary flourishes here; just classic dishes executed with textbook precision. Tuna belly is also well suited to the grill as it can stand up to a really good charring. There’s a world of balance and flavour on the plate – meaty tuna with burnt thyme, globe artichokes, tomatoes and capers for contrast. The retro small plates, such as simple oysters, are equally impressive. The carbonara speckled with crisp guanciale (pork cheek) is made with a rich egg and six-month-aged Klein River Gruberg sauce. It’s quite possibly the best we’ve had in Cape Town. And don’t sleep on the Scotch egg – an egg rolled in fennel sausage meat, dusted with brioche breadcrumbs and deep-fried. The sausage-egg ratio is spot on, the meat is herby, the crumbs are crunchy and (crucially) the yolk is slightly runny. Its simplicity is particularly elegant – especially when washed down with a spicy margarita with a warming spice-salt rim. They say the classics never go out of style, and Merchant Bar & Grill is proof.
91 Bree Street, Cape Town
021 773 0440
91breestreet@chefswarehouse.co.za
Terrarium Restaurant
The new signature restaurant at the swish Queen Victoria Hotel nails the five-star hotel restaurant brief. At Terrarium Restaurant, the line between the kitchen and the surrounding flora and fauna is all but invisible. Head chef Chris Erasmus works directly with the gardeners to grow rare ingredients with the intention of telling a wider story that celebrates South Africa’s diverse plant species and wildlife. The result is eight enthralling flavour combinations marked by dazzling technique. The lavishly refurbished restaurant, splashed in copper and gold, delivers glamour in spades. There are fresh flowers, timber floors, hanging pendant lights, dark wooden furniture, seats upholstered in grey fabric and walls minimally decorated with modern art. The perfect backdrop, in other words, for a romantic dinner for two. On a sunny day, grab a table on the restaurant’s beloved terrace and settle in for a long lunch. The entire flora and fauna tasting menu is a true feast for the senses – exquisitely presented, with a plethora of unexpected flavours and textures, surprising and delightful at every turn. Fire-roasted bone marrow is velvety smooth and spreads like jelly on a piece of fried sourdough bread. Tomato tartare sees the addition of punchy peach atchar, whey vinaigrette and chilli oil. With a hit of Tom Yum that amplifies the flavour of the fresh fish, the linefish ceviche is balanced and artfully flavoured. Then there’s the BBQ beef brisket, slow-braised until it’s fall-apart tender. This version is rather magical, especially with pomme purée, bone broth and charred shallots. The cheese course, if you can call it that, marries deeply savoury oak-smoked cheesecake, tomato chutney and sunflower seed salad. Beautifully textured rose geranium and honey iced nougatine, combined with honeycomb and salted mushroom and cocoa crumble, rounds out the faultless cooking. The wine list is equally delectable – and the pairing directions are thoughtful and generous.
Queen Victoria Hotel, Moorings 5 & Portswood Ridge, 5 Portswood Road, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
021 418 1466
