8 Best Restaurants in City Centre, Cape Town

Arrive at acclaimed chef Peter Tempelhoff’s exquisite glass-walled restaurant on the fifth floor of the Speakers’ Corner building when the sun's still shining, and you'll be treated to soaring views of Table Mountain and Lion’s Head. The real focus, though, is on the open kitchen, where you can also sit at the counter and watch or interact with the team as they prepare multicourse kaiseki menus that focus intently on giving fresh and often unexpectedly local ingredients a Japanese treatment while refraining from overcomplicating what’s on the plate. There are multiple courses (fewer at lunch, and cheaper at R1,375) in this profound showcase of culinary imagination and skill: think burnt mushroom custard in a Hokkaido milk bun, Cape wagyu temaki, seared chokka, tuna with tomato ponzu and kelp biltong, and a gorgeous xigugu ice-cream sandwich or amasi cheesecake.

With its unrivaled atmosphere, whimsical decor, and personality-forward waitstaff, this wonderful farm-to-fork restaurant showcases the chef's respect for local ingredients and his interest in the provenance of what he cooks with. Menus respond to the seasons and feature wonderfully uncomplicated dishes you might call "classics with a twist," such as a twice-baked cheese soufflé that will knock your socks off, and a simply wonderful French onion soup. Whether it's springbok loin with smoked artichokes and zamli dates or fish en papilotte done in a shakshuka-style miso tomato sauce, you can rest easy knowing the chef knows precisely where each ingredient came from, and possibly how it was grown or raised. Apart from the wonderful food and spirited cocktails (there are many classics and a number of in-house signature concoctions), there's the sense of being somewhere quite special so you might want to linger. So set aside enough time to let it all sink in.

You step into this revitalized historic space as much for the upbeat atmosphere and heartwarming service as you do for the delicious Japanese-Peruvian fusion cuisine that's distinctive enough to be its own genre. Order from the large and diverse menu, or select one of the set menus that will give you a good overview of the offerings like braised sesame-coated short rib with yam mash, tea-cured apricots, and black truffle sauce, or yellowtail hamachi with fermented chili, black garlic and confit yolk. If you opt for a la carte, you'll need to order quite a few of the tapas-style sharing plates. You'll probably want to linger, so book the later dinner seating so there's no time limit.

Ornate, handblown glass chandeliers, lots of dark wood, marble and luxurious fabrics, and above all, pitch-perfect high-end new interpretations of classic cuisine from across the subcontinent converge to create a space of almost fantastical opulence. There's a choice of vegetarian and non-vegetarian "Gourmet Experience" tasting menus, or you can dip into the variety offered by the à la carte options, which include a signature butter chicken in a creamy tomato gravy with fenugreek, crispy Malabar style kingklip, and a delectable dal makhani (lentil) dish that's been simmered overnight. Everything, from the refined ambiance to the authentic spicing and slow-cooking approach will transport you to a dazzling night out in India.

The front door provides access to two distinct restaurants (one up, one down) both overseen by the same brilliant team and dreamed up by chef and restaurant empire-builder Liam Tomlin who began enthralling Capetonians with his shared tapas menu concept at his first Chefs Warehouse. Now, in another handsomely transformed historic building, three chefs are using their skills and knack for sharp flavors to create more of the same, with a twist—Chefs Warehouse & Canteen (downstairs) is shared tables and global tapas like flavorsome lamb dizi while the somewhat clubby Merchants Bar & Grill (upstairs) offers a choice of an a la carte or set menu, and seating is at individual tables. The food focus is nose-to-tail cooking and slow-prepared dishes, some of them made from ingredients that have spent time in the fermentation and preservation larder. Don't miss the scotch eggs, which you can even order at the bar.

This centrally located and very popular pan-Asian restaurant's complex menu of dim sum, sushi, grilled, and wok-fried items has something for everyone, but picky connoisseurs of Asian cuisine might find the lack of specialization problematic. Popular with business and leisure diners alike, the darkly elegant lacquered box dining room affords partial views of chefs in the four kitchens preparing your food. The dim sum is probably the best option (the crispy prawn cheung fan is excellent), and the Peking duck with paper-thin pancakes are a favorite. Grills include mint lamb chops served with dry red chilies and garlic. Four kitchens mean that dishes arrive when ready, which translates into efficiency, but also the possibility of fellow diners watching while you eat, or vice versa. The owners of Haiku also own Bukhara, the very good Indian restaurant next door.

Serving locally and sustainably caught seafood, this bright and breezy restaurant has become the Bree Street go-to spot for oysters, cocktails, and fish and crustaceans prepared in a variety of ways. Bringing a contemporary take to traditional seafood dishes, expect to find things like line-caught hake and chips, Cape Malay seafood curry, game fish nicoise, fish pie, prawns and mussels in fish ink tagliatelle, and grilled whole fish. On warmer days, you can sit outside in the sunshine and watch the back and forth of pedestrians. 

Despite the off-the-wall quirkiness of the concept—a bistro and bar that exists as an homage to the stylistic idiosyncrasies of film director Wes Anderson (he of The Grand Budapest Hotel)—the menu sticks with the classics, serving simple, straightforward food prepared properly. The small yet refined selection of no-nonsense, nostalgia-satisfying choices includes bouillabaisse with a slightly localized Cape Town twist; entrecôte (rib-eye) steak with frites and Café de Paris butter; beetroot tarte Tatin; catch of the day with fennel confit; and good old-fashioned moules marinière. The bar's a big draw, too; be prepared to step into a place that, like any Wes Anderson film, is a bit fantastical, and probably best appreciated with a glass of bubbly in hand.