How to wine and dine your way around Cape Town
Cape Town’s wine valleys are renowned. However, as locally-based South African travel experts, we can attest that the city and surroundings also boast diverse, flavour-rich dining experiences spanning several culinary disciplines.
In 2016, The Telegraph stated that “there has been a gastronomic revolution that would suggest Cape cuisine is up there with the best in the world.” According to Afar.com, “you’ll find Cape Town’s food scene almost as thrilling as its dramatic setting,” while The Culture Trip describes the city as a “veritable foodie paradise”. These statements are no surprise to locals, who are accustomed to the melting pot of flavours that allows diners to pick almost anything their heart desires – if you know where to go.
While it would take a book to guide you through all the mouthwatering choices available, we hope to provide you with a glimpse to whet your appetite:
Romantic restaurants
Chefs Warehouse at Tintswalo Atlantic
This restaurant, close to Hout Bay, provides an exquisite setting for a meal, especially during summer. It’s positioned perfectly along the boulder-strewn coastline, with endless views over the Atlantic Ocean. Besides being secluded and completely Instagrammable, the menu (which provides various options and changes regularly) highlights seafood. It can include anything from line-fish sashimi with smoked haddock crème fraiche to togarashi squid with charred jalapeno mayonnaise or pan-fried kingklip with smoked snoek beurre blanc.
La Petite Ferme
La Petite Ferme, which means The Little Farm, describes its food as a “fusion of countryside cuisine with a fresh contemporary twist.” The boutique hotel’s restaurant is set high on the mountain slopes and offers exquisite views of the Franschhoek Valley. Head chef Lance Peters weaves bountiful flavour into his creations, which can include anything from pan-fried free-range duck with caramelised purple cabbage, parsnip and apple puree, apple mojito gel, Cape curry espuma and red wine jus to a Karoo lamb duo with pomegranate honey sauce, purple potato puree, deep fried maize bitterballen and confit tomato.
Le Petite Ferme also cultivates its own award-winning wines, and if your meal has left you sleepy, you can book a suite and spend the night.
Perfect for families
Boschendal Wine Estate
Boschendal is a glorious venue for families travelling with children. The shaded lawns and play area provide ample space for play and exploration. There are several activities for children, especially during the South African school holidays (it’s best to book these in advance).
Boschendal has excellent wines, and its Werf Restaurant presents “contemporary soil-to-fork cuisine.” Many ingredients come from the Werf Food Garden, while the rest come from other local, seasonal, and ethically sourced ingredients. Bright, lively colours compliment the vibrant flavours, and diners can enjoy dishes like black Angus beef, forest-reared Duroc pork, and freshly picked herbs and vegetables.
Opposite the Werf restaurant, you can enjoy more casual (yet no less tasty dining) at Bochendal’s Deli under the oaks. Pick from a range of farm-style breakfasts, including smoked salmon with herb cream cheese, fresh tomato and avocado, rocket salad. For lunch, enjoy a South African favourite: sweet and spicy bobotie. This Cape-Malay-inspired dish is made with braised Boschendal black Angus beef and a savoury custard, served with homemade orange chutney, cucumber tomato sambal and basmati rice.
Tokara Delicatessen
Tokara’s deli is perfect for families with an impressive jungle gym and a human-sized bird nest in the oak tree. There’s lots to keep children busy right in front of the restaurant. The views overlooking the vineyards and olive groves are also incredible.
The wine-tasting lounge and formal restaurant nearby are not child-centric, but you can enjoy a wine tasting before heading to the deli where your children can let all their energy abound. Micro-greens, salad leaves and strawberries are grown on the grounds, while other ingredients are sourced sustainably. You’ll find options for light lunches like roasted carrot and baby marrow tart with shaved red onion and pickled carrot salad, ricotta, garden herb dressing and toasted almonds. There are also more robust options like woodfired pizza, a deli beef or chicken burger or braised pork belly with miso glazed sweet potato, baba ghanoush purée, spring onion & roasted cherry tomatoes.
Vegan and vegetarian options
Fyn
Fyn is arguably one of Cape Town’s top 10 restaurants, and in 2022, it was listed as one of the world’s top 50 restaurants. Its Japanese-African fusion cuisine was created by Peter Tempelhoff, who has worked in several Michelin-starred restaurants in London. There, he was mentored by Marco Pierre White, among others. While the menu does cater for meat eaters, as well as pescatarians, they have an extraordinary plant-based menu. It includes delights like aubergine, shiso, heirloom carrot with fried koji and also Meuse Farm tomatoes, tofu and miso, ponzu jelly, tempura courgette flower, sunflower pesto with cucumber somen, labneh and achar.
Chefs Warehouse
Chefs Warehouse is a group of restaurants, one of which is Tintswalo Atlantic (mentioned above). There’s also Chef’s Warehouse at Beau Constantia and Chefs Warehouse Maison in Franschhoek as well as at The Bailey. In addition to each restaurant’s unique meat offerings, all of the Chefs Warehouse menus offer abundant choices for vegetarians and vegans. The group assures diners that its vegan and vegetarian dishes are “no afterthought” and that “great thought and care have gone into making sure that all these dishes are as delicious and exciting as everything else on our menu”.
For light breakfasts or lunches, try Nourish’d Café in Green Point, as well as in the Cape Town City Bowl, Scheckter’s Raw in Sea Point and Mary-Ann’s Emporium in Somerset West.
Wines
Besides visiting individual wine farms and enjoying tasting yourself, we recommend several guided experiences. Explore beyond the typical tourist routes with Bikes ‘n Wines in Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. You’ll get to cycle (you can select an electric bike if you like) leisurely on dirt roads between the vineyards and visit beautiful spaces often overlooked by visitors. Expert guides offer insider knowledge and a deeper understanding of the region’s distinctive allure as you stop to taste wine and enjoy a delicious meal at the end of your tour.
If you’re uncomfortable on a bicycle, why not explore the Winelands on foot on the Constantia Wine Walk? Described as a “sip-and-stroll storytelling journey through some of Cape Town’s oldest vineyards, you’ll enjoy fine wine at each stop and a meal at the end. Matthew Sterne, founder of this wine walk, will regale you with fascinating tales of Contantia’s history, including the famous people who drank Cantantia’s wine. These include Napoleon, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and France’s King Louis XVI (he and Marie Antoinette had nearly 3,000 bottles of it in their Versailles cellar).
If neither cycling nor walking appeals, you can flit between wine estates in Franschhoek’s wine tram or enjoy a more intimate experience on Waterford Wine Estate’s Wine Drive Safari. This unique wine-tasting experience, on a safari-type vehicle, allows you to taste the estate wines among the vineyards of their origin while enjoying a handcrafted platter selected to pair with the individual wines. The experience culminates with tasting The Jem and the estate’s well-known wine and chocolate pairing.
Whichever way you choose to explore Cape Town and its surrounding wine valleys, there’s no shortage of fine food and wine to complement the natural beauty of this city.
Happy travelling,
The Leopard Team
P.S. We celebrated the Leopard team of 9 extraordinary women this Women’s Day, read more (and see a beautiful design by Jess) by clicking here.