A table worth planning for
Our guide to the Cape's finest tables - what to eat, where, and when to book.
Cape Town has quietly become one of the world's great dining cities. In the city and the valleys around it you will find kitchens on the world's best lists, chefs who trained abroad and came home, and produce - line fish, farm vegetables, Cape wine - among the finest anywhere, at a fraction of the price you would pay for it elsewhere. These are the tables we send our guests to, and how to plan for them.
In the city
La Colombe
CONSTANTIA | CONTEMPORARY TASTING MENU
The name most often spoken alongside the world's best - a theatrical, French-Asian tasting menu in a forest setting above the vineyards. The special-occasion table, and the one to book first.
FYN
CITY CENTRE | JAPANESE MEETS SOUTH AFRICAN
Precise, seasonal cooking with a Japanese sensibility and a view over the rooftops - a regular on the world's-best lists, and one of the hardest seats in town to get.
Salsify at the Roundhouse
CAMPS BAY | MODERN SOUTH AFRICAN
Ryan Cole's inventive cooking in a historic building above the Atlantic - as much about the room and the sunset as the plate. A beautiful first night.
The Pot Luck Club
WOODSTOCK | SMALL PLATES, GLOBAL
Luke Dale-Roberts's tapas-style small plates on the sixth floor of the Old Biscuit Mill, with a 360-degree view of the city. Livelier, and made for sharing.
PIER
V&A WATERFRONT | SEAFOOD, FINE DINING
The La Colombe group's ode to the ocean - a refined seafood journey at the water's edge. Quiet theatre, beautifully done.
In the winelands
La Petite Colombe
FRANSCHHOEK, LEEU ESTATES | REFINED TASTING MENU
The La Colombe polish transplanted to the vines - a long, elegant lunch to build a day in Franschhoek around.
Delaire Graff Estate
STELLENBOSCH | VINEYARD FINE DINING
Fine dining, sculpture and some of the Cape's finest views from the Helshoogte Pass - a lunch that becomes an afternoon among art and wine.
Gate at Quoin Rock
STELLENBOSCH | MODERNIST TASTING MENU
Artful, contemporary courses in the Knorhoek valley - for guests who like the kitchen to surprise them.
Waterkloof
SOMERSET WEST | SEASONAL FINE DINING
A glass dining room that seems to float above the vines, looking out over False Bay - as memorable for the setting as the menu.
When to book
The finest tables are small, and they fill early. As a rule, reserve the marquee names three to six weeks ahead - longer for a weekend dinner or a larger table. Lunch is almost always easier to secure than dinner, and midweek easier than the weekend. Most tasting menus must be booked in advance, and a few ask for a deposit.
The festive season is its own case: from mid-December into mid-January the best restaurants in the city and the winelands are reserved a month or more ahead, long before their guests have landed. If you are travelling then, decide early - a spontaneous dinner is often possible, but not at the restaurant of the moment in high summer.
This is where a little planning pays. Tell us the tables you would love while you are still choosing your dates, and we will do our best to secure them, and shape the days around what we can. The table worth having is almost always the table worth planning for.
Let us know which tables we can book for you!
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