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La Trip

This swish Italian-style social club by the team behind the achingly cool Athetic Club is the need-to-know late-night bar that would be right at home on any edgy Milanese street. The interiors drip in mid-century Euro-oppulance, with deft design plays by award-winning designer Tristan du Plessis including of scalloped archways, crystal chandeliers and layers of crushed velvet and animal print. The cocktails are equal parts heady and inventive while the menu features a considered fusion of Afro-Med small plates.  

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The Verandah

Showing no signs of slowing down, the storied Mount Nelson, a Belmond hotel has opened another must-visit on the city’s dining scene (hot on the heels of Liam Tomlin-led The Red Room that launched in April) – The Verandah. Under the guidance of Chef George Jardine, the ever-changing three-course a la carte menu focuses on organic produce with a strong seasonal bent (many of the ingredients are harvested on the grounds, from the hotel’s Wild Foods Garden. Elevating the experience, restaurant manager and sommelier Keegan Terry is on hand to curate wine pairings from the extensive cellar collection. 

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Vadivelu

Southern Indian streetfood and traditional curries get a modern revision at this intimate, unfussy-yet-slick restaurant on popular Kloof Street. The menu is concise and considered, as is the wine selection, while the pistachio and sherbet pink interiors evoke a Kipling-esque junglescape without becoming too much

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Galjoen 

Not your everyday seafood restaurant, the sustainably-minded Galjoen (named for South Africa’s national fish) leaves all the heavy lifting to the chef team – there’s no menu and set dining times – which means the only thing left to do is arrive and settle in for an inspired selection of local fish and shellfish.  

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Club Kloof

An Italian-ish (their words, not ours) restaurant that has achieved a dizzying degree of popularity most places in Cape Town rarely do. Perhaps it’s the interiors – candy-apple red and grapefruit pink walls, painted to create a kind of trompe-l’oeil panelling effect usually reserved for the stark-white boiserie of Parisian apartments. Maybe it's the menu, with dishes designed for sharing (tables laden with six or seven plates are par for the course, here). Or perhaps it's the shady, tucked-away courtyard out the back, where the city’s achingly chic drink Aperols away from the busyness of Kloof Street. Whatever it is, it’s working.

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