restaurants in the wine region of South Africa

[rshorens]

I would appreciate any suggestions for restaurants in Stellenbosch and Franshoek

areas of South Africa for an upcoming trip at the end of February. We are a young couple looking for good local food, excellent value, and a fun,enjoyable setting.

Thanks for your help!

Roz

[ast13]

Assuming you are from the US, you'll generally find most of the food in ZA to be an excellent value because of our strong currency.

In Stellenbosch, we found Bukhara to be rather delicious for Indian food.

In Franschhoek - We ate at La Bon Vivant, the Tasting Room at LQF and Reubens. All three were good. Le Bon Vivant was the least favorite of ours - don't get me wrong, it was very good, but the menu wasn't as creative or interesting to us than the other meals we had. The Tasting Room was fabulous, but also the priciest meal we had. We didn't think the food and scenery topped Bosmans (see below) but it was good if you're in town and looking for an excellent long tasting-menu dinner. We chose to do a 6 course menu which was more than enough food. There are also 4 and 8 course menus. It was enjoyable because it introduced us to a number of new foods we haven't had before, such as springbok, wildebeest, etc. Our menu Reubens was delicious as well - our favorite non-multi-course/tasting menu restaurant. We had a simple dinner, some nice fish and a steak but it was well prepared. We have heard wonderful things from friends about Bouillabaisse but have not had a chance to dine there yet.

Outside of Franschhoek we had lunch at Bread and Wine at the Moreson winery which was very good. We had a very nice salad and a pizza which was very tasty.

Since I assume you will have a car, we highly recommend Bosmans in Paarl. It was our best meal - food quality is excellent, the ambience is rather spectacular and the service was wonderful. It is expensive, but we felt the experience was worth it.

[rshorens]

Thanks for the suggestions! I tried to get a reservation at The Tasting Room (which looks fabulous) but unfortunately they're booked. We have opted for dinner at a place called Rust en Vrede instead, which also has a tasting menu and was recommended to us by someone at our hotel. Has anyone eaten there before? I didn't see it mentioned in any of the other forum discussions, which hopefully isn't a bad sign! We will have lunch at Bread & Wine.

For Cape Town, I have reserved dinner at Savoy Cabbage, which seems to be quite popular. I was looking at Five Flies, but I was reading mixed reviews. I would appreciate any recent opinions on meals there. I also might try Codfather for seafood - I read good things elsewhere on the forum. Does anyone have any recommendations for places to try braai, and also to try different types of African food? I was reading about a place called Africa Cafe, but it looks quite touristy. We want to make sure we try a lot of local specialities, and we of course want to balance some of our more upmarket meals with visits to more casual, local spots.

Thanks again!

[ast13]

For Cape Town, I have reserved dinner at Savoy Cabbage, which seems to be quite popular.  I was looking at Five Flies, but I was reading mixed reviews.  I would appreciate any recent opinions on meals there. I also might try Codfather for seafood - I read good things elsewhere on the forum.  Does anyone have any recommendations for places to try braai, and also to try different types of African food?  I was reading about a place called Africa Cafe, but it looks quite touristy.  We want to make sure we try a lot of local specialities, and we of course want to balance some of our more upmarket meals with visits to more casual, local spots. 

Thanks again!

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Savoy Cabbage is delicious, one of the best meals i've had anywhere. I've heard good things about Jardine as well. Africa Cafe is quite touristy but its food is interesting and decent, though i'm sure there is better out there. You could go to Bo-Kaap area and get some Malay Curry which is rather tasty.