Discover what’s new before everyone else:

Get our free on-the-go African hotspot map!

The African Voyager

Cape Town, South Africa

The 10 fine dining restaurants in Cape Town to book now

Southern Africa • South Africa • The 10 fine dining restaurants in Cape Town to book now

In Cape Town, fine dining can mean a tasting menu with serious intent or a room trading on the view. This guide sticks to the places where the cooking does the heavy lifting. These are the fine dining restaurants in Cape Town, South Africa to book now, picked for chefs with a clear point of view, tight service and menus that justify the commitment.

Not sure where to begin in Cape Town? Start with our Cape Town city guide.

Top photography courtesy of Fyn

Fyn

Cape Town, South Africa

Fyn sits on the 5th floor of Speakers’ Corner in Cape Town City Centre, reached via a lift that drops you into a double-volume room with big windows and a view line to Table Mountain. The signature ceiling is the soroban installation – thousands of suspended wooden discs, designed by interior architect Tristan du Plessis with furniture designer Christof Karl. Chef-founder Peter Tempelhoff and culinary director Ashley Moss run kaiseki-style tasting menus that filter Japanese technique through Cape produce. Bento-box canapés often set the pace before the menu turns more serious. Service and beverage are led by Jennifer Hugé, sharp and in control.

Fyn

37 Parliament St
CBD
Cape Town
South Africa

Affiliate link (what is it?)

Photography courtesy of Fyn

La Colombe

Cape Town, South Africa

La Colombe sits at Silvermist Estate above Constantia, Cape Town, with a hushed room and a sense that every move has been rehearsed. Executive chef James Gaag sets the tone with his line, “Food is our theatre – we hope you enjoy the show”. The tasting menu leans French-meets-Asian and plays with signature moments rather than gimmicks, including the Tuna “La Colombe” served in a sealed tin. Service stays crisp, pacing is controlled and the calm setting keeps the focus where it belongs: the food.

La Colombe

Silvermist Wine Estate
Main Road
Constantia Nek
Cape Town
South Africa

Affiliate link (what is it?)

Photography courtesy of La Colombe

Amura

Cape Town, South Africa

At Cape Town’s Mount Nelson, the storied Belmond hotel with its pink façade and century-old gardens, Amura brings an oceanic vision to Africa for the first time. The restaurant is led by Ángel León – “the Chef of the Sea,” whose Andalusian flagship Aponiente holds three Michelin stars. His philosophy is to elevate the overlooked: plankton, halophyte plants, by-catch fish reimagined as haute cuisine. At Amura, that approach meets the Cape coastline, with tasting menus built on unsung seafood, wild herbs and open-fire cooking. Interiors by Tristan du Plessis channel the kelp forests offshore, dark and cinematic. The result is León’s marine manifesto, transplanted from Cádiz to Cape Town.

Amura

76 Orange St
Gardens
Cape Town
South Africa

Affiliate link (what is it?)

Photography courtesy of Amura

Salsify at The Roundhouse

Cape Town, South Africa

High above Camps Bay, Cape Town, Salsify at the Roundhouse occupies The Roundhouse, a historic building on Roundhouse Road. Chef patron Ryan Cole runs a hyper-seasonal tasting menu that leans hard on local produce and modern technique. The Seasonal Room is defined by an origami floral ceiling installation made from thousands of folded Salsify menus, tied to the restaurant’s sustainability messaging. The Sea Room looks out towards the Atlantic and Lion’s Head. Dishes name-check the kitchen’s signatures: grapefruit-cured sashimi with hibiscus pickled radish, smoked springbok with puffed sorghum, slow-cooked duck with pear hoisin. Sommelier Nash Kanyangarara leads pairings.

Salsify at The Roundhouse

Round House Rd
Camps Bay
Cape Town
South Africa

Affiliate link (what is it?)

Photography courtesy of Salsify at The Roundhouse

Coy

Cape Town, South Africa

Chef Ryan Cole, the chef behind Salsify at the Roundhouse, opened Coy in August 2024 in a standalone building beside the Bascule Bridge at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront, with harbour and yacht-basin views and Table Mountain as backdrop. The interiors are by KT Interiors, built around a central fireplace, with an art selection curated by Everard Read. The kitchen is led day to day by head chefs Geoffrey Abrahams and Teenola Govender. The food is seafood-led fine dining framed as “an ocean-inspired exploration of African produce”, served as a seasonal seven-course Coy Experience. Signature plates include tuna tartare with sugar cane and caramelised coconut and ox tongue with ras el hanout and black rice.

Read the article on Coy.

Coy

Shop 151
The Scherwyn Pavillion Building
V&A Waterfront
Cape Town
South Africa

Affiliate link (what is it?)

Photography courtesy of Coy

16/5

Curate at Ellerman

Cape Town, South Africa

Ellerman House has always been the grande dame of Cape Town hospitality – now it’s adding a gallery-worthy new chapter. Enter Curate, an immersive, ultra-intimate chef’s table experience that fuses art and gastronomy in the mansion’s atmospheric wine gallery. This eight-course tasting menu is put together by Head Chef Kieran Whyte, with a focus on hyper‑seasonal South African fare like amagwinya served with caviar and Cape mushroom melktert – perfectly paired with rare bottlings from their 10,000-strong cellar. The space, designed in collaboration with sculptor Angus Taylor, melds stone, steel and light for a serene, art-driven dining chamber.

Curate at Ellerman

180 Kloof Rd
Bantry Bay
Cape Town
South Africa

Affiliate link (what is it?)

Photography courtesy of Ellerman House

Pier

Cape Town, South Africa

On the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, Pier keeps the location honest: working harbour views, Pierhead Building address, a room that stays restrained so the food carries it. It’s part of the La Colombe Restaurant Group and led by chef John Norris-Rogers, who joined La Petite Colombe’s launch team after La Colombe. The format is a multi-course tasting menu inspired by the sea, built around Cape seafood with tableside moments like poached oysters. Dishes highlighted by World’s 50 Best include crayfish tortellini with pork jowl and spiced coconut.

Pier

Pierhead Building
V&A Waterfront
Cape Town
South Africa

Affiliate link (what is it?)

Photography courtesy of Pier

Belly of the Beast

Cape Town, South Africa

Belly of the Beast is a 30-seat, reservation-led restaurant on Harrington Street in Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town, built around a “show up and trust us” format. There’s no à la carte and no fixed number of courses – lunch and dinner are tasting menus driven by what the kitchen is working with that day. The restaurant is run by chef duo Anouchka Horn and Neil Swart, with a clear nose-to-tail stance: meat and seafood are sourced from local sustainable producers and they aim to use every part of the animal. The room is small and close-range, with the chefs interacting directly with tables, which is part of the point.

Read the article on Belly of the Beast.

Belly of the Beast

110 Harrington St
CBD
Cape Town
South Africa

Affiliate link (what is it?)

Photography courtesy of Belly of the Beast

Chef’s Warehouse & Canteen

Cape Town, South Africa

Chef’s Warehouse & Canteen on Bree Street in Cape Town’s CBD, a room that runs loud and fast but takes the cooking seriously. It reopened in August 2024, led by chef-restaurateur Liam Tomlin with Jan Tomlin and partner chef David Schneider, with chef Adrian Hadlow running the kitchen. If you want the full read, order the Tapas for Two set – four courses, eight dishes chosen by the kitchen – and treat à la carte as backup. The point is pacing and precision, delivered as small plates that land with fine-dining intent, minus the hushed room.

Read the article on Chef’s Warehouse & Canteen.

Chef’s Warehouse & Canteen

91 Bree St
CBD
Cape Town
South Africa

Affiliate link (what is it?)

Photography courtesy of Chef’s Warehouse & Canteen

Terrarium

Cape Town, South Africa

Terrarium at the Queen Victoria Hotel sees Chris Erasmus, the chef behind Franschhoek’s Foliage, return to Cape Town’s dining scene. Known for his focus on regenerative, eco-friendly cooking, Erasmus – alongside head chef Anlou Erasmus – brings hyperlocal sourcing to the table, with ingredients from small butcheries, sustainable fisheries and local farmers. Diners choose between two eight-course menus: Fauna, highlighting regional seafood and lesser-used cuts of meat, and Flora, which is plant-based. An à la carte menu features seasonal, smaller plates and Marlvin Gwese’s wine list champions lesser-known, natural South African wines. Inside, expect art by emerging local artists, with live blues and folk music adding an authentic touch.

Terrarium

Queen Victoria Hotel
5 Portswood Rd
V&A Waterfront
Cape Town
South Africa

Affiliate link (what is it?)

Photography courtesy of Terrarium