6 Best Bars in Cape Town, South Africa

Tetsuo Hasegawa, bartender and owner of this tiny, personally craft cocktail bar in the heart of the city, eschews trends in favor of creating cocktails using imagination and local ingredients. The Tokyo-born mixologist blows minds and taste buds with drinks like his innovative milk-washed, tequila-forward Beat-nik, which contains beetroot, Durban masala, and apple shrub, or his All Night Boogie made with Cape brandy, Shiraz, banana and white miso, and dark chocolate. The drinks, tailored to your tastes, are exquisite, the atmosphere impeccable (only vinyls are played), and there's food available.

We’re not kidding: the bouncer will not let you inside Art of Duplicity without the password! Once the friendly interrogation's over, you’ll be led down the alley (under drying underwear hanging from overhead lines) and past the kitchen before a rap on the door finally gets you admitted to the speakeasy-styled bar with its Prohibition Era theatricality and talented bartenders concocting one-of-a-kind libations. The idea is to get lost not just in the spirits, but in the spirit of the place, so dressing up is recommended, and then experience a bit of time-travel with its low-lighting, vintage apothecary counter, and seating between the coffee sacks. Food goes a bit beyond ordinary bar snacks: your lobster roll might resemble an éclair and your beetroot soup will require a second take. To book, go to the website—you’ll get sent all the details you require, including that crucial password.

An upscale waterside speakeasy, this warm, cozy hotel bar has long been a favorite among Cape Town's whiskey lovers and cocktail connoisseurs. There's an excellent drinks menu that includes interesting South African wines, but it's the spirits and mixed libations that steal the show, with more than 500 whiskeys on offer, cocktail hours, and occasional live jazz performances. A selection of comfort food and larger meals are available to see you through the night.

This spot near the outskirts of the V&A Waterfront has a near-religious attitude towards mixology. Cocktails are invented and perfected here and the bartenders are also specialists when it comes to Cape brandy, a noteworthy category of spirits made in much the same manner as cognac. You can taste these various libations and also tuck into food from a generous menu.

At Harrington Street, you have a choice of venues, depending on your mood. Harringtons is a chic cocktail bar where things get increasingly festive and music-oriented as the night progresses. Downstairs, a grungier, more unhinged, playful atmosphere pervades at Surfa Rosa, a hipsterish vintage-meets-punk dive bar with beers served on skateboards, pizzas to stave off hunger, loud music, a stuffed crocodile, and a courtyard for when the tight-squeeze dancing gets too raucous. There's also Rum Runner, a rum-focused cocktail bar, and—should you wish to really let your hair down—District, a dance club with live music or DJs spinning electronic music on event nights.

Before its founders decided to peddle cocktails, there was a shared love of hip-hop, and now that same energy and spirit—combined with an expert interest in spirits and how best to combine them with fresh, made-from-scratch ingredients—has resulted in one of Cape Town’s best bars.