11 Best Restaurants in The Western Cape and Winelands, South Africa

For a no-frills banquet on the beach, book a table at Die Strandloper. Bring your own drinks and games and expect to linger for the afternoon. The focus is on the rustic outdoor braai (barbecue), where a 10-course feast is served over a couple of hours. If you're keen on seafood, this is the place. Dishes include grilled snoek, smoked angelfish, crayfish, mussels, and bokkoms (dried salted fish). For dessert, there's koeksisters (braided pastries) and strong coffee.

The seven-course tasting menu at this award-winning restaurant from chef Kobus van de Merwe focuses on all that is local and sustainable, including fresh seafood, seaweed, foraged plants, and pickings from the garden. The food is sublime, but very experimental, so make sure you're up for something new and inventive. There are only 20 diners per sitting, so reservations are essential.

In one of the village's original stone fishing cottages, Burgundy is one of the town's oldest and best-loved restaurants. Unsurprisingly, there's plenty of seafood on the extensive menu—try the creamy abalone with fresh sage—as well as a large choice of grilled meat dishes. The real reason for its popularity though, is the outdoor terrace with ocean views. It's not unheard of to spot whales right from your table.

Dating back to 1870, this whitewashed stone cottage is a long-standing favorite. The menu focuses on seafood, but don't let that put you off the non-seafood options like miso chicken or beef curry with freshly made roti. There's also a chalkboard that displays daily specials that depend on what's fresh and in-season. The wine list has some excellent bottles, including options from the nearby Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. 

Based in a 19th-century fisherman's cottage, this lovely family-run restaurant is perched on the rocks overlooking a little beach. It's no surprise then that the specialty is seafood; kick off with Saldanha oysters or West Coast mussels, then try the citrus and coriander monkfish. There are a couple of meaty options as well as one or two vegetarian dishes. Reservations are recommended, especially in summer.

At this casual seafood spot in pretty Pringle Bay, expect fresher fish than you'll find just about anywhere else. It's prepared simply, usually with salsa verde or just garlic butter. Everything is cooked on a wood fire, and most dishes arrive on huge platters. Beer-battered hake and chips—served on newspapers, of course—makes the perfect lunch.

Harbour Road has a string of eateries you can choose from, but you can’t go wrong at this popular place with views of the ocean. Obviously, fish and seafood are the star of the show. You can taste it all in the signature seafood stew or a generous platter to share with the table.

Quirky and brightly decorated, this unpretentious eatery and its frequently changing menu are not to be missed. Not surprisingly, seafood is the main attraction—the oysters here are legendary—but meat-eaters will delight in a wide selection of pork, lamb, quail, and Chalmer steak. Enjoy your meal in front of a warm hearth when it's cold out, or dine under the canopy, dotted with fairy lights, on a clear night.

Right on the ocean in the Mykonos complex, this convivial place serves sushi, seafood platters, and good Asian dishes. Try the General Tso's chicken or the Mongolian beer, or a platter of prawns slathered in tasty garlic lemon butter.

This corrugated-iron shack on the beach stood empty for years, then suddenly metamorphosed into a buzzing seafood restaurant. As well as the usual seafood and fish, you'll find fish curries, deep-fried calamari, and smoked snoek samosas on the menu. There are a couple of meaty dishes too, plus at least one vegetarian option. It's literally set on the sand and is an ideal location to take in the sunset.

This is one of the places where you can try abalone quite legally. At the big abalone factory the mollusks are cultivated, harvested, and packaged for local restaurants and overseas markets. The restaurant has a full sushi menu with everything from salmon and tuna to crab and eel. The fresh oysters and crayfish are sensational, but if you don't like seafood, expect to go hungry. The bar doesn't hold a liquor license, so bring your own alcohol.