Cape Town, Southern Africa
Time Out Market Cape Town: don’t miss these 5 highlights
An insider’s guide to Time Out Market Cape Town
Time Out Market Cape Town is part of a global food market concept that began in Lisbon, created to showcase a city’s culinary identity through its most respected chefs and food voices. The Cape Town outpost, the first Time Out Market in Africa, occupies the restored Power Station building at the V&A Waterfront. A landmark industrial space reworked into a contemporary food hall with high ceilings, exposed structure and a strong sense of scale. This food-and-culture hub is open daily from breakfast through late night, offering a true taste of the city all day long. The idea isn’t variety for variety’s sake, but a curated snapshot of how the city eats right now. It functions as a social meeting point as much as a dining destination, used by locals and visitors alike.
Top photography courtesy of De Vrije Burger
01
De Vrije Burger
Chef Bertus Basson, a legendary Cape Town restaurateur (from Chorus and Eike), has gone casual with De Vrije Burger, turning his passion for South African flavours into gourmet comfort food. Here you’ll find free-range beef, double cheese, handmade buns and other locally inspired toppings that earned this joint the reputation of having the best burgers in town. Try the De Vrije Burger. A sesame-seed bun loaded with a 180-gram free-range beef patty, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and oozy cheese. These burgers come with crispy hand-cut tjips (fries) and a fun little surprise. Each order includes a complimentary De Vrije Roomys fruit cider (also Bertus’s own brew).
Photography courtesy of De Vrije Burger
02
Ramenhead
Ramenhead is Cape Town’s answer to a Japanese noodle bar, created by the team behind Fyn (Peter Tempelhoff’s acclaimed Japanese fine-dining spot). Executive chef Tempelhoff (with partners Ashley Moss and Jennifer Hugé) literally went to the source, touring Tokyo and Osaka, to research ramen recipes. They even imported Africa’s first Yamato noodle machine to make noodles in-house, so the slurpable bowls at Time Out are as authentic as it gets. Signature bowls at the Time Out Market include the Tori Chintan (a light chicken-broth ramen) and the creamy Tori Katsu Curry Ramen, each loaded with springy noodles, tender chashu pork slices (or charred chicken), nori seaweed and pickled veggies.
Photography courtesy of Ramenhead
03
Opá
Opá is a recent addition that brings Mediterranean sunshine to the market. This Greek street-food concept is the brainchild of Chef Callan Austin (co-founder of Stellenbosch’s award-winning Dusk restaurant) and his operations chief, Daniel Martin. Opened in late 2025, Opá! is Austin’s first solo venture after fine dining. Here he trades white-tablecloth formality for food that’s more immediate, approachable and just genuinely delicious. On the menu, you’ll find open gyros loaded with your choice of shredded braised lamb shoulder or smoky grilled chicken, plus plenty of fresh herbs and sauces. Each gyro is topped with creamy sumac-spiced tzatziki, roasted tomato-chilli relish, mint and even crispy chickpeas and pomegranate molasses for a sweet-tart kick. Our favourite is the kalamaki, skewered spiced chicken in yoghurt marinade.
Photography courtesy of Opá
04
Barakat
Barakat – Arabic for blessings – is the Cape Malay kitchen at Time Out, run by chef Anwar Abdullatief and his wife, TV chef Yolani Abrahams. Anwar is renowned for opening South Africa’s first fine-dining halal restaurant and at Barakat, he brings that expertise to Cape Malay classics. The food here flips Cape Malay cuisine on its head, taking traditional spice blends and slow-cooking methods but presenting them with modern flair. You’ll find dishes inspired by generations of Cape Town history, full of warm spices like cinnamon, turmeric, nutmeg and clove. You have to try the classic Cape Malay tomato bredie. A stewy lamb neck and vegetable curry flavoured with cumin and ginger. They also serve Malay-inspired tapas like crispy apricot- and pineapple-stuffed samoosas and coconut curry rice.
Photography courtesy of Barakat
05
Unframed Ice Cream
For dessert, head to Unframed Ice Cream, the artisanal gelato lab founded by Yann Rey. A former finance and tech executive from Lyon, Rey turned his love of flavour into a cult ice cream brand after launching Unframed in Cape Town in 2016. The shop (now with several outlets and its first Time Out Market stall) is known for mind-bending ice cream scoops. At the Time Out counter, you can order scoops or sundaes (topped with things like honeycomb, toasted nuts or balsamic strawberries) and even tasting flights of five mini-scoops. There are dairy classics (like Madagascar vanilla and rich chocolate) as well as vegan sorbets (raspberry-coconut and ginger-lime).
Photography courtesy of Unframed Ice Cream
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