Cape Town is a gastronome’s city. There’s no shortage of calories worth consuming here. From molecular gastronomy to an authentic farm-to-table experience matched with local wines, your love for this food scene is easy to explain. Still, the relentless wave of launches can leave one breathless, so we’ve gathered the best of them into this checklist of the “wheres?” and “whys?” of Cape Town’s hot-ticket tables. Expect projects from legendary chefs alongside generations-old spots that get better each year. The only question is: Where to book first?
The Fountain by Planet Bar
The prettiest outdoor restaurant for a picture-perfect meal
One of Cape Town’s most iconic luxury hotels has revitalised its central courtyard – adding The Fountain, an alfresco expansion of the famed Planet Bar. With its pink exterior and surrounding palm trees, Mount Nelson, A Belmond Hotel, is a beloved grand old dame, and with this comes lashings of old-world decadence: A revolving door, an elegant doorman, Aubusson carpets, generous verandahs and restaurants that further the glamorous ambience. Under the glare of Table Mountain’s slopes, The Fountain by Planet Bar is a throwback to English colonial style with a dash of millennial pink maximalism. This otherworldly oasis is a verdant little Eden where striped umbrellas and wrought-iron tables are scattered amidst potted palms and flower-filled gardens, inclusive of live piano music for the social affair. Throughout its history, the hotel has been a gathering place for the glitterati, and the feeling remains that this is a place of jet-set types, whether convening for lunch or a drink or on holiday. Begin any luxuriant afternoon with a spritz or Negroni while you breathe in the beauty. Relaxed walk-in-only lunches see a selection of hot and cold antipasti as well as flatbreads. The Mediterranean-influenced menu manages to toe the fine line of casual yet refined fare, with lots of fresh seafood. Standouts include the local burrata cheese with heirloom tomatoes and just-picked green leaves, delicate calamari served with pizza bread to mop up all the spicy sauce, pork and beef meatballs in a tomato sauce with shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Saldanha Bay mussels complete with a garlic and herb white wine broth and toasted baguette. But the real star of the show is the prawn scampi – oh-so-sweet West Coast prawns mingling in a bath of garlic butter plus a good dose of lemon for brightness. Pudding is a fabulous finale: The not-so-traditional version of the classic tiramisu swaps coffee and fortified wine for zesty limoncello, while the pistachio bomboloni is its impossibly light counterpart – Italian-style doughnuts with a sweet, creamy cannoli filling.
Mount Nelson, A Belmond Hotel, 76 Orange Street, Gardens, Cape Town
021 483 1000
restaurantreservations.mnh@belmond.com
Arum
For a taste of smoke and flame
As the days grow shorter and a chill settles in the air, our appetite for warmth and indulgence intensifies. But if you’re torn between hibernating and soaking up the Cape Winelands’ exciting dining scene, Arum – the FYN Restaurant Group’s new establishment at Boschendal with executive chef Travis Finch in the kitchen – could offer the perfect solution. Franschhoek’s latest hotspot not only respects and modernises the art of wood-fire cooking but also provides the cosiest design-forward setting. The historic Werf building has been reinvented in a contemporary cream and mushroom colour palette contrasted with original reed-covered ceilings and Cape Dutch-style windows. Warm, subdued lighting washes over lusciously curved furniture like dark bouclé chairs, oxblood leather booths, bare wood tables, sheer curtains and nubby carpeting. The effect is comforting. Have a look at the dry-ageing cellar on your way in as a prelude to your meal, which includes an impressive selection of local meats. The wagyu sirloin is one of the most premium cuts you can get here, complete with extensive ageing and a marble score of 8-9. Start with a cocktail – perhaps the Garden French 75 with herbal notes and a tart citrus twist – and smoky bread or vibrantly sweet heirloom tomatoes. The menu dazzles from the get-go. Creamy stracciatella is a layered masterpiece of thinly sliced beetroot, hibiscus vinegar and hazelnuts. Octopus arrives with crispy guanciale, smoked corn, yellow tomato and brown butter, packing heat from habanero chillies. If we had to pick a personal favourite dish, it would be the pan-roasted kingklip on a bed of green bean and asparagus ‘risotto’, beautifully complemented by a mussel sauce. For the ultimate meat-lover indulgence, the butcher’s cut of the day is a must paired with the Arum Special Séries Mourvèdre 2024. Head sommelier Jennifer Hugé possesses an exceptional knowledge of wine; there isn’t a dish she can’t pair to perfection. And don’t forget dessert – the pain perdu with caramelised honey, coconut mousse, fresh blueberries and vanilla ice cream is as lip-smackingly good as it sounds.
Boschendal, R310 Pniel Road, Groot Drakenstein, Franschhoek
079 640 5284
Maru Korean Steakhouse
A fashionable fried chicken feast
It’s theatre, it’s a party and yes, it’s a delicious meal. Stepping into Maru Korean Steakhouse will make you feel like you’ve travelled to Seoul, South Korea’s energetic capital. It harks back to the days when people used to meet to eat, drink and talk, and aims to remind diners of that communal spirit that brought friends and family together. The atmosphere is dark, sexy and even on an average Wednesday, Maru has a celebratory vibe. Large groups huddle around tables, while solo diners watch the chefs in action at the counter. There’s champagne flowing, glasses toasting and banchan being passed around. People-watching aside, Maru is about the food. Take your pick from a variety of raw seafood and small plates; premium cuts ranging from rib-eye on the bone to wagyu New York strip steak; and pieces of once-battered, twice-fried chicken. Don’t know what to get? Opt for one of the set menus. The 24-karat gold leaf chicken nuggets topped with caviar make every meal one for the books. The only way this could be improved is in quantity. Wash it down with chilled bubbly, or sample the K-pop cocktails if you’re in the mood for something stronger (like the Honmoon Margarita, a punchy blanco tequila, sakura, jasmine sambac, harissa and Persian lime concoction). The bucket of chicken is a proper guilty pleasure, served plain or brushed with your choice of glaze – umami-forward soy and garlic or sweet, spicy gochujang. Juicy, with all the true taste and texture of free-range chicken, it’s coated in a consistently golden, crunchy batter; making it quite possibly the best you’ll ever eat. The bucket is teamed with chicken consommé, dainty dishes of banchan, scallion salad, cold noodles and addictive house-made sauces. The blast of flavours is remarkable. There’s also the meat option – chef’s choice of four cuts of beef served with Angus beef consommé, lettuce leaves for wrapping, pickled seasonal vegetables, ssämjang, savoury egg soufflé and spicy fish stew. For dessert, it could only be vanilla soft serve drizzled with salty soy caramel.
107 Bree Street, Cape Town
021 109 0039
Geuwels
Food with a sense of place
Vergenoegd Löw Wine Estate has long been a destination for locals and out-of-towners seeking a slower pace of life. The estate’s Cape Dutch gabled buildings and barns rise above vineyards ablaze in autumn colours and oak-dappled lawns – and its history runs deep. Vergenoegd Löw has become one of the Cape Winelands’ most ambitious eco-friendly projects, transforming this historic home into one of the country’s best examples of regenerative farming and biodiversity. Now, it’s entering an entirely new chapter: A reopened tasting room, a lounge-like tasting deck and reimagined restaurants. On the pass is executive chef Michelle Theron, who passionately pursues locavorism in the Winelands. This is most evident at Geuwels – a dimly-lit, well-upholstered space where guests can enjoy a terroir-driven dining experience while swirling full-bodied reds. Thick whitewashed walls and dark woods complemented with modern furniture echo the landscape outside, enhancing dishes plated on bespoke ceramics. With ingredients harvested on their own land, Geuwels brings a new level of hyper-seasonality – yes, you’ll find clear broth flavoured with vegetables grown on-site and honeybush-glazed free-range chicken encased in flaky pastry, but also Cape Malay-spiced pumpkin tart with mango chutney, a nod to the boerewors roll made with Dexter beef sausage and hearty puddings that are sure to send waves of nostalgia. And it’s all served looking like it’s come out of a cookbook. We were particularly impressed by the smoked mussels escabeche on charred roosterkoek spread with seaweed butter, as well as the beef carpaccio served just-seared accompanied by a curried green bean salad. A main of dry-aged steak topped with spekboom relish and amasi-battered onion rings is cooked with care, the pan-roasted line fish with capers and crushed potatoes aromatic. Order wine by the glass – so that you can try a few – and finish with the karamelltaler. It’s essentially the poshest millionaire’s shortbread we’ve ever had, and needless to say, we’re still thinking about it now.
Vergenoegd Löw Wine Estate, 1 Faure Village Road, Somerset West
021 843 3248
