The best restaurants South Africa

In a pop-art, baroque chic style, the Burgundy Restaurant. To set the tone, clocks of all shapes or a wall lined with black and white photos of faces. The dishes are extremely well presented and good, even if the menu looks classic. Lots of local wines and fresh fish, caught the same day in Hermanus. Reservations are recommended, especially for a table on the terrace. Please note that the Burgundy works closely with Creation wines,an estate located in the heights of Hermanus. Visits and tastings possible.

Fish and seafood to the fore in this beautiful residence dating back to 1860, one of the oldest in the city. The Belgian chef prepares excellent fish soups, fried mussels, tartar accompanied by fried squid and a curry lamb for carnivores. The dishes are served on the pleasant terrace decorated with fishing nets.

A Belgian restaurant must serve good mussels, and this one honours the tradition! The sunny terrace at the water's edge is very pleasant and offers an absolutely superb view of Table Mountain. Den Anker also has a very nice collection of Belgian beers in bottles and on draught, but also in the form of a tasting. And what else? Norman fish soup, tartars, marrow bones, Belgian chocolates. A detour into the bonhomie of the flat country, but all under the sun of beautiful Cape Town.

An Ethiopian restaurant, that's a change from steak houses. The flavours of this country, known for being spicy and rich in aromatic herbs, are here revisited in an Eastern, Western and African way. The dishes, which are eaten with the fingers, are served on pretty traditional tables called "mesob". There is a wide choice of vegetarian dishes. The service is slow, but the cuisine is fantastic. Be careful, the spicy dishes are very strong. Ask for "mild" if you are not used to it, and it is already more than spicy enough, believe us!

The Nguni Restaurant, a listed building, is located in the centre of Plettenberg. The menu is typically South African with a creative twist. Tuna carpaccio, ostrich steak, shrimp marinated in garlic and grilled a la plancha, peri-peri chicken, or vegetarian dishes such as roasted cauliflower steak or falafel bowls. The chefs are passionate about cooking and go out of their way to use fresh, local and seasonal ingredients whenever possible. A great address in Plett.

Ever since the Lighthouse Café opened its doors, everyone has been flocking there to enjoy its brightness, character and good food. Fish and chips, scrambled egg and bacon croissants, good fresh salads, garnished and colourful: in short, everything to enjoy and a beautiful atmosphere, a little French, a little Provencal, a little coastal with its shades of pastel blue. We like to spend time with friends, with a book, for breakfast with a good sparkling cappuccino, for lunch around a refreshing plate.

This sweet and savoury crêpes restaurant is excellent.

In this chain, a specialty of marines, affordable and tastier. The map is the same everywhere, but here the fish is served in a pleasant garden.

A brewery that plays the beautiful Italian behind its terrace to live in black glasses. A card full of good ideas to the tomato for a meal with family or friends.

Dinner only, except Sunday. Forget the street without soul and enter this elegant temple of the sea. Beautiful à la carte, shellfish and crustaceans. Super Zen decoration and charming service!

A historical and very traditional stopover for South African travellers, a way to enjoy a grilled meat, Mozambique-style chicken liver or beautiful homemade pies, while taking a look at the works of the legionary painter Genal. The Digger's Retreat is very busy at weekends. If you wish to stay on site and take advantage of the opportunity to discover the area around the historic town of Barberton, there are a few modest rooms, rondavels or campsites to welcome you on site.

At Die Strandloper, there's a sort of feast air. Lanterns float under the sun or in the moonlight, some wooden tables have their feet in the sand, the sound of the waves can be heard in the background... A fabulous stopover on the beach of Langebaan, for a seafood ventrée, mussels, a seafood curry, or a waterblometjiebredie followed by a moerkoffie. No questions asked here, one price for everyone. And for the children? They pay according to their size! You're still thinking, really?

Good jazz club and restaurant on a waterfront wharf. The dishes have special names: Casa Luma calamari, Parker's surfer, Soldberg's fresh water prawns.

The Roma Revolving Restaurant is nestled high perched on the huge John Ross House Tower. Here reigns then the only revolving restaurant in Natal and one of the 32 in the world. The menu is Italian and French, with Valle d'Aosta-style mushrooms, veal piccatas, and a trolley of spectacular desserts. In the evening, the view is extraordinary and sparkling over the city in its beautiful light that stretches some 136 metres below.

Finally, here's a casual restaurant that's not in a shopping mall or next to the road! Leave your car in the parking lot and enter the realm of fresh fish. Walk down the wooden steps, leave the first room behind and reach a beautiful tropical garden. There, under the soft foliage, beware all the same of birds' nests, you will finally feel... in Africa. Simply choose your fish or seafood on the ice bench and off you go to the grill! Extra.

Ministers and big bosses speak here aloud and know the valuable offerings of a very @ brigade. Specialties of the Anglo-Asian dress market for the most demanding. Closed Saturday noon and Sunday. For a much more relaxed atmosphere, the bistro version, next to Turtle Creek Winery (Tel 011 884 0466), closed on Sunday evening.

Modeuse and goûteuse (this is the "and" that counts!), this address is a form of guarantee: potentially colors clientele and cosmopolitan food more pleasant than scholarly. Bar in Champagne and Martini. Closed Sunday evening and Monday.

Have we ever seen anything so grandiose? Imagine a room with a fountain at its centre, made up of four three-metre-high elephants spitting water through their trunks, bronze monkeys holding the wall lights and, twenty-nine metres higher up, hanging as a chandelier, bronze palms diffusing the light of thousands of shards of rock crystal. The show is in the hall... and also on the plate!

This is the new trendy place in the Dunkled West neighborhood where young and old alike can enjoy fresh, delicate food from all over the world. The concept is simple: several gastronomic stands share the space and you order according to your desires before settling down on large convivial tables. You can choose between Japanese, Mexican, Indian and Mediterranean cuisine. For dessert or as a snack, don't miss the gourmet waffles from Ms. Waffles, served in an original way, in sticks and dipped in Belgian chocolate.

Italy invites itself to Johannesburg with this restaurant of Italian specialties which, since its opening in 2022, has conquered many locals with its tasty and hearty dishes. Of course, on the menu, you will find the unavoidable Italian dishes, pasta and pizzas! The latter are cooked over a wood fire for a crispy dough. Soups, antipasti, salads, sandwiches and other hearty dishes complete the menu dedicated to the flavors of Italy. Some good Italian wines to accompany your dishes. Pleasant service.

On the top floor of Rosebank's contemporary art center, Keys Art Mile, this top-notch gourmet restaurant boasts superb views of northern Johannesburg. At the bar or in the restaurant, you will be served refined and creative dishes concocted by the famous chef David Higgs and his team. Like the traditional cuisine of the country, everything is cooked over a wood fire on a large barbecue. The meats are of very good quality, with a perfect cooking in the plate. Some vegetarian dishes are also on the menu. Great wines and very good cocktails.

As its name suggests, this spacious restaurant, located on the first floor of the Georgiou Centre, serves good Greek cuisine. Meze, hummus, tzatzíki, grilled salmon, soles and cooked sea breams, lovers of Greek cuisine will be delighted. Sushi is also available. For those who are more interested in delicious braised meats, you can check the menu of the restaurant next door, Braza, and order from there. Both establishments belong to the same owner. We appreciate the terrace overlooking the main street, which is a bit windy.

This family restaurant is popular with tourists for its fresh fish and its hearty seafood platters (squid, shrimp, mussels...). You can also enjoy local specialties such as boerewors & pap, a sausage served with corn porridge, good pizzas and grilled meats accompanied by fries, rice or seasonal vegetables. Also well elaborated salads and burgers. The elevated patio is a great place to sit, especially on summer evenings. Good, organized and fast service.

Frequented by regulars and tourists alike, this restaurant features Italian specialties. Bruschettas, delicately cooked pastas or natural sourdough pizzas are served with a good South African wine. The menu also includes gourmet salads and some local dishes such as chicken mayonnaise, served with seasonal vegetables and French fries. The atmosphere is friendly and warm. Attentive and efficient waiters.

In a privileged setting at the foot of the Seal Point Lighthouse, this restaurant will delight the most discerning palate with its delicate and creative dishes, varying with the seasons. Here, guests are invited to share dishes for the ultimate dining experience. Start with oysters caught off the coast served with a Thai sauce before succumbing to tuna sashimi or duck breast, accompanied by a delicious wood-fired potato bread. Ask for information, tours of the lighthouse are organized. You can also sleep on the spot.

In a New York atmosphere with a designer decor, Como Caffé is the little corner of Italy in the hectic American city of Port Elizabeth. On the menu? Paninis, gourmet burgers, colorful salads, and of course pasta and pizza. You can also enjoy a good coffee and fruit cocktails prepared on the spot. It's also a delicatessen offering well-made local specialties. Take a tour of the bar to appreciate the unique furniture and beautiful contemporary pieces. A must-see!

Here you can enjoy simple, no-frills cuisine prepared with quality local products. Fresh salads, tapas, poke bowls, gourmet burgers and wood-fired pizzas, the menu gives free rein to the most diverse desires. Special mention for the chicken burger, with its excellent Japanese-style marinated chicken. On the terrace or in the patio, the setting is pleasant but the seats are quickly taken, especially during the regularly organized concerts. Very nice cocktail menu. Attentive and careful service.

Overlooking the beach of Camps Bay, this bar-restaurant offers a nice view for lunch or dinner or simply to have an aperitif at sunset time. The interior is decorated in a contemporary African style, brightened up by many green plants. The menu features well-prepared signature dishes, seafood and fish, and wood-fired pizzas. Wide selection of house cocktails and a well-stocked wine list. At the entrance, a small boutique features quality local products. Good welcome from the staff.

Overlooking the lively street of Florida Road, Next Chapter Restaurant is the place to come for hearty dishes at fair prices. The menu offers a variety of dishes to satisfy all tastes: salads, pastas, pizzas, fish, poultry... The sheltered terrace is a pleasant place to rest and the interior is air-conditioned for those who wish to take refuge from the heat. The soccer matches are broadcasted on flat screen, in a friendly and joyful atmosphere.

Overlooking the main street of Saint Lucia, this café-restaurant is a good option for a lunch on the go. Grilled meats, pastas, hamburgers and classic dishes, the portions are moreover generous! You can also come at cocktail time to taste original cocktails and during happy hour (4-6pm). The table with the swings is very nice to sip your drink. A play area is open to children. You can also stay there in comfortable rooms, opening on the swimming pool. Friendly welcome.

Crowned with many awards, this award-winning restaurant of contemporary French cuisine stands at the top of a hill overlooking vineyards and the mountains. Here, an organic garden is directly used by the restaurant. All of Cape Town's good society flocks here on weekend evenings. Stilted but romantic atmosphere. Tasting menu of 7 to 11 courses for lunch and dinner, prepared under the guidance of chef Scot Kirton, each of which can be accompanied by a different wine to try. But also two menus of 7 and 11 vegetarian dishes, for the fans of haute cuisine without meat.

A modern and lively bistro, just like the youth of Cape Town. In the pleasant V&A Waterfront area of the waterfront, the terrace is large and shaded. At the Belthazar, the menu oscillates between land and sea. Sublime pieces of grilled beef, kebabs, or Mozambique camarones, seafood and other top-quality grilled fish. But the place is also known as a wine bar. On the side of the pine trees, a considerable selection of wines by the glass that you can taste with pleasure, paired with the luminous bar of the Belthazar.

Mzoli's: an institution in Cape Town. Mzoli's Ngcawuzele has helped develop tourism in the township of Gugulethu. Originally a butcher's shop, Mzoli's opened a restaurant in the garage, which soon became "the place to be". It is one of the few places where families and young people of all ethnic and social backgrounds mingle. People come here for the meat grilled on traditional braai and for the sound: kwaito, house, township music, real music, mixed by local DJs. You can buy your consos right next door. At night, we go to the nightclub!

A Latin ambiance in a popular Cape Town tapas bar. Sophisticated tapas with Moroccan influences for unusual combinations. Relax ambiance, eclectic garden and apparent brick. Interior patio. A, map.

This lively cafe offers quality salads at a reasonable price, as well as burgers, grilled meats and tapas. Facing the sea, on the sunny terrace, you can sip a cocktail while watching the golden youth of Camps Bay pass by. At weekends, the terrace, under the pretty colonnades of the pale pink facade, is always full. Inside, there are large cosy white sofas and a colourful floral decoration. For fans: the Caprice café broadcasts sporting events such as football and rugby matches.

An assiette composée and a glass of wine... what more could you ask for in such a beautiful setting? This high-altitude stopover outside town, in the midst of pinot noir, is the fruit of a tasty complicity between winemaker Achim von Arnim. Take the opportunity to taste the pierre jourdan, a well-aged gris rosé. The chef offers gourmet tasting menus inspired by seasonal produce, including an all-vegetarian option and top-notch tapas.

A large terrace on the brick paving stones and under the porch, but above all, inside, besides the beautiful parquet floor and the fireplace that warms the atmosphere: an almost open kitchen where you can see the cooks at work! We love to see the artists working on our plates! Pierre, of Dutch origin, is a lover of good food, the bon vivant, that's him. He will even let you taste his specialities in the garden of the establishment if you wish. The dishes are as beautiful and fresh as they are delicate and delicious.

The best location.

At the tip of Knysna, at the level of The Head of course, this restaurant has a nice view on the ocean and the lagoon at the entrance of Knysna, either from the inside room with its chic decoration on the marine theme or from the terrace with its big white wooden tables, its umbrellas if the sun is too strong and its plaids if the wind is too cool! The dishes are well cooked, we find fish and chips, mussels, salads... Note that a nice walk is possible from the parking below the establishment.

Sophisticated are with view of the Dry Dock.

In the centre of the village of Prince Albert, we like the kindly crazy side of this famous restaurant where the shady owners propose regional specialities around the fetish sheep of the Karoo, always perfectly cooked. For dinner, the atmosphere is subdued at the Karoo Kombuis with candles on each table set on its red-checked tablecloth. Everything on the plate is homemade and served generously, just like at grandma's house. You will always find some vegetarian options à la carte for non-carnivores.

A good table that takes us to discover the many gastronomic treasures of the Karoo. In a large house with many elegant and romantic tables, and in a pretty patio and garden in front or behind, a few pleasant tables where you can have lunch under a ray of sunshine. A la carte ostrich meat of course, but also perfectly cooked lamb, beef and antelope (venison) accompanied by tasty sauces, all accompanied by a good local wine. At Jemima's Restaurant, the service is impeccable.

Located on the waterfront, this restaurant is an epic in the Cuban universe, you'd think! Thanks to the music of Buena Vista Social Club, Che's posters, Cuban cigars and Spanish colonial furniture... Not to mention the many green plants and richly carved woodwork from floor to ceiling. On one side a kitschy and colourful decoration, delirious and splendid, one is plunged into another world for the restaurant, and on the other side sand between the toes and mojitos. On the plates, original and succulent combinations like chicken mojitos.

Between delicatessen, gastronomic bistro and chic picnic, the best French chef's den in the southern Karoo is called the Foodbarn. Franck left the kitchens of the prestigious but stuffy restaurant La Colombe, in Constantia, to open his more convivial and experimental restaurant. This passionate man gives free rein to all his fantasies, and it's all the better for us. The Bistro menu, which changes according to the season, remains affordable. After your meal, you can visit the Foodbarn's delicatessen. Homemade breads, pastries.

We love this very popular establishment, with its wooded and rustic setting, which bears the name of its address, 96. On the plates, a colourful rural cuisine where the meat is presented to you before you cut your entrecote. Here, you drink your glass of wine by the fire while waiting for the potjies and other kabeljou to simmer. The wine list is excellent by the way, but would we be in one of the most beautiful wine regions in South Africa? Of course we are. In fact, there is even a small cellar for shopping.

With a few wooden tables, a light menu, healthy and organic ingredients, Café Roux stands out for the originality of its menu and the sophisticated presentation of its salads and sandwiches for an unpretentious restaurant. The butternut & goat cheese salad is undoubtedly the best salad in Cape Town. Above all, the small family business has become an essential scene in the region. The venue is open for livemusic and comedy concerts on certain nights of the week and has hosted some of the best bands and one-man shows in the area.

The Bespokery is the trendy restaurant of Parkview. In a bright, soft and comfortable atmosphere, you can sit here to share a meal with friends or family, because the concept here is to share. The plates are served in the form of tapas to share. The Bespokery is keen to take you on a journey through the essential flavours of Mediterranean cuisine according to the seasons. The place offers a tasty brunch, all orchestrated by a delicate and friendly service.

Lebo's Soweto Backpackers is also a superb open-air restaurant where you can sit under the straw huts on the wooden tables or in the garden on a blanket to have a picnic. In the centre, the fire heats up the braai or often the potjiekos, those famous and traditional stews that cook in cast iron pans, giving off delicious smells that whet our appetite. A salad bar for starters and a fresh juice bar to quench your thirst.

A really cheap address with a great choice between Indian and Chinese food, kebabs, falafels and vegetarian dishes. Inside this big cellar, the smells entice the nostrils. We go to one of the islands, each one is dedicated to a type of food. You pay first and then you come to collect your order with the ticket in your hands. On the Indian side, the bowl of manchurian with rice or noodles is more than generous, it is just necessary to pay attention to the level of spices, the "mild" (moderate) is already more than spicy!

A Bedouin-chic restaurant, traditional and senior clientele, and dark alcoves opening on the ocean show. It serves fish specialities prepared according to Angolan and Mozambican recipes.