Stellenbosch’s dining scene has come leaps and bounds in recent years, now home to a wealth of restaurants that rival the ranks of Franschhoek. But where do the locals really pull up a chair? It’s one thing to check off the big-name spots, but there’s something special about eating where the locals do. Genuine atmosphere, honest flavours and a sense of belonging you won’t find anywhere else. So, we scoped out four new Stellenbosch restaurants the locals would probably rather keep to themselves – yet we’re sharing the scoop. Your secret’s safe with us!
Eatery at Winshaw Vineyards
The places we enjoy most are local, usually operated by second- or third-generation family members. Tucked away on Winshaw Vineyards, this charming farm-to-table eatery serves up rustic share plates and small-scale wines. This part of Stellenbosch’s food scene was put on the wider map when Vadas Smokehouse & Bakery opened at Spier Wine Farm, followed by Geuwels and Clara’s Barn at Vergenoegd Löw The Wine Estate. Last year, Brothers JP and Pierre Winshaw followed suit with Eatery at Winshaw Vineyards. While JP and Pierre run both Winshaw Vineyards and Usana Pastures, Pierre’s wife, Elizabeth, has brought her culinary vision to life by opening a restaurant that gathers the best of what the surrounding fields have to offer. Ingredients are all from the farm and suppliers nearby. In the converted heritage building itself are roughly finished walls and reed ceilings – a space of simplicity decorated with unique trinkets and textiles that add depth and warmth. One side is the tasting room, on the other the dining room. The compact menu – grass-fed beef steak with chimichurri or béarnaise, a grass-fed beef burger and artichoke gratin made with ricotta cheese – is scribbled on a blackboard. Occasionally, there are specials like bone marrow, beef bourguignon, a brisket burger and parmigiana di melanzane, which quickly sell out. Sharing is encouraged. It’s hard not to feel the love with dishes like the perfectly portioned, densely flavoursome steak. Simple, sustainable, memorable. The gratin is a close rival. Warm, creamy and stacked with thin slices of artichoke, this creation might just steal the limelight. The mains come with hand-cut chips and aioli, but we also recommend ordering the table salad – a green salad with Usana eggs featuring shockingly orange molten yolks. If there’s a highlight at Eatery at Winshaw Vineyards, it’s dessert: Small-batch vanilla sweet cream ice cream made with a recipe of fresh cream, milk, sugar and eggs.
Winshaw Vineyards, Baden Powell Drive, Stellenbosch
083 650 9528
Lievland Café
One of best-kept secrets is the newly opened Lievland Café. Lievland Vineyards is a historical farm home to a strikingly beautiful Cape Dutch manor house. Serving luxurious comfort food in a casual contemporary setting, Lievland Café has locals swooning. The kitchen is led by an accomplished team – Christophe and Susan Dehosse and Garth Bedford, the minds behind The Vine Bistro at Glenelly and The Kraal at Joostenberg Wine Estate – along with head chef Gareth Goliath. Discreet service ensures a serene scene where all is in balance, within the room and on the plate. Amid all the greenery are deep blue walls, bare timber tables and golden lighting. A must-visit for lunch, it’s especially pleasant to take refuge in this space when the weather is at its most bleak. If the decor isn’t soul-warming enough, the hearty lunches certainly will be. In warmer months, pull up a chair next to the sun-drenched windows. The venue has ample space for groups or cosy corners for two. Sweet treats and satisfying savoury options are both taken seriously on the menu, shaped by an uncompromising everything-from-scratch approach. From the opener of Mignonette oysters festooned with just-picked flowers to the slivers of smoked trout atop warm new potatoes enveloped in a lemony chive sauce, freshness and purity are constants. Parisian gnocchi, for one, practically vibrates with the flavour of roast tomato, aubergine, artichoke and fresh herbs. Creamy peppercorn sauce complements succulent sirloin steak with an essential side of potato wedges and salad – almost a meal in itself. But if comfort food is calling your name, answer those cravings with the cheesy pancake filled with gammon and spinach. For pudding, order the Basque cheesecake that’s more like a cloud cake with a well-developed caramelised skin, or one of the silkiest dark chocolate mousses you’ll have the fortune to come across. Don’t skip out on the caffeine hit, either.
Lievland Vineyards, R44, Stellenbosch
021 879 7892
Melfort
Farm-to-table isn’t just a tagline at Melfort. Despite Marianne Wine Estate’s central location, the sense of peace and quiet is second to none. Melfort’s main dining space looks out over a serene lily pond from a wooden deck. Peacocks roam the property and chickens peck at the ground, soundtracked by little more than the distant chirp of birds. Diners, meanwhile, leisurely make their way through chef-owner Tasmin Reed’s hyper-local seasonal menu. Three years after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that forced her to leave the kitchen, she thought her chef days were over. Now, through Melfort, she’s sharing the food that restored her health. The à la carte menu might include still-warm sesame seed-encrusted sourdough; pockets of spring pea and buffalo curd agnolotti; slow-roasted leg of lamb teamed with onion gravy and garden pesto; point brisket that’s slow-smoked before it’s served with gremolata and a rich red wine jus; and vegan cauliflower cheese casserole that bakes roasted cauliflower and cashew cheese together until bubbly. There’s a light, unpretentious touch here, also apparent on the five-course set menu, which is served for dinner on Fridays and Saturdays and lunch on Sundays. If you can nab a Sunday booking, long lunch is the play. Dishes are uniformly pretty and full of farm-to-fork flavours. During our visit, a delicate zucchini flower starter – featuring buffalo curd, charred tomatoes, nasturtium flowers and the lactic goodness of Dalewood Huguenot cheese for good measure – commenced the menu with confidence. The sides shared with the mains were another standout. Braaid cos lettuce and tenderstem broccoli combined char, crunch and depth of flavour with aplomb. Add the blissfully smooth rhubarb custard tart and Melfort is very easy to digest. It’s a place of surprises, storytelling – and inspired food.
Marianne Wine Estate, Valley Road (off R44), Stellenbosch
Mill St Bistro
Think of Mill St Bistro as bistro-plus. A neighbourhood local given a bit more muscle by the high polish chef Phil Carmichael gives his food. The Welsh chef, a former protégé of culinary legends Gordon Ramsay and Michel Roux J, has honed his skills across the UK and Europe. He’s now bringing his international expertise to Stellenbosch. Inside is a celebration of good, simple design, achieved through a mix of earthy colours, natural light, potted plants in woven baskets and local ceramics by Mervyn Gers. The room isn’t huge but the comfort level is high, service is affable and a handpicked wine list featuring selections from small-scale vineyards covers the bases. At Mill St Bistro, chef Phil turns out food that surprises in its precision – and offers consistently good value. He’s a gentle man who likes his food to do the talking. European training underpins starters such as Wild Kalahari beef tartare, a dish of contrasts: The mellow meat and rich egg yolk sitting against pickled mushrooms and grilled flatbread. Another highlight is the Saldanha Bay oysters – carefully sourced and sublimely fresh – doused with Vietnamese dressing, as well as the oozy jalapeño and Klein River Gruberg cheese croquettes. The main courses, in particular, have chef Phil’s stamp. Perhaps most impressive is the free-range beef steak served with chips and an organic baby leaf salad. It’s got the marbling you’d expect from grass-fed beef, interlacing lovely ruby-red flesh. The burnt aubergine ketchup comes on the side, so you can add it to your taste. The day boat-caught fish is another affirmation of chef Phil’s way with flavours. Sweetcorn succotash with mussels and ginger, along with baby marrow and nasturtium pesto, meshes well with the fish. As a curtain call, citrus crème brûlée with green cardamom shortbread and freshly baked, golden-brown malva madeleines (even better when dipped into the miso butterscotch) make for a playful finish. Our verdict: This bistro is hot stuff.
Cluver Markotter Building, 1 Mill Street, Stellenbosch
021 020 1301
