One question I’m often asked is, “What restaurant do you recommend in Cape Town?” While the options are virtually endless, I’ve rounded up some of my personal favourite seafood restaurants, because if you’re in the Cape, you can’t leave without some lekke fis ‘n tjips!
Family-friendly: Dunes
Dunes is a great family spot in Hout Bay where you can sit at a table, tracing patterns in the beach sand with your toes, while the kids take over the playground. You can also sit inside and soak up the peninsula sunsets from the terraces and balconies.
The seafood menu is extensive, ranging from Namibian deep sea cultivated oysters and Saldanha black mussels, to home-made fish cakes, loin of kingklip, and the daily catch fresh from the harbour. But there’s a lot more to enjoy than seafood. Dunes offers a variety of tapas, salads, grills, and pizzas, as well as a kiddies menu.
Open: Monday – Sunday, from 9am (winter opening times: 12pm on week days and 9am on weekends and public holidays)
Address: 1 Beach Crescent, Hout Bay
Reservations: 021 790 1876 / bookings@dunesrestaurant.co.za
Take-Away: Fish Hoek Fisheries
If you’ve ever driven through Fish Hoek on a Friday or Saturday evening, you’ll have noticed a queue of salivating people trailing along the pavement outside Fish Hoek Fisheries. The reason is not because it’s the only fish ‘n chips shop around – there’s another one right across the road where you will find tumbleweeds and crickets in chorus – but because they have the BEST fish ‘n chips…ever! Nothing beats sitting on Fish Hoek beach and tucking into these take-aways. Their freshly prepared hake and chips (R40) comes in a steaming bundle of salty joy; with portions so generous that you can easily split one between two people. Not that you’d want to share!
Open: Mon-Thursday and Saturday, 6am- 8pm; Fridays 6am – 8:30pm; closed on Sunday
Address: 43 Main Road, Fish Hoek
Contact: 021 782 2314
Sushi: Salushi
I’m a sucker for discounts, so after discovering Salushi’s Value Menu special, I was quick to drag my family and friends to this cosy restaurant and cocktail bar in Claremont. It turned out to be one of those rare angel-choir-through-the-clouds experiences. One bite and we were hooked!
Salushi is an Afro-fusion sushi restaurant that also specialises in salads, noodles, and grills. Salushi is famous across the city for its Value Menu, which is available every day from 12pm to 5pm and on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday evenings after 5pm.
What I also love about Salushi is their range of specialty sushi items like Prince’s Prawn Kisses (prawn and strawberry wrapped in avo, drizzled with sweet chilli sauce), Takky Tempura (seared salmon California rolls topped with tempura prawns and spring onion, and drizzled in a citrus mayo), and Rock ‘N Rolla (rainbow rolls topped with a honey/soya reduction, tempura crackling, and spring onion), which really take humanity’s love affair with sushi to new heights. There are so many tasty reasons to keep going back!
Open: 12pm – late. Kitchen closes at 10:30pm. (Close at 5pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Close on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day)
Address: Ground Floor, Intaba Building, 25 Protea Road, Claremont
Reservations: 021 671 4271
All you can eat: Seaforth
If you love prawns, you now have the perfect excuse to eat as much of them as you like! Three nights a week, from 6pm onwards, Seaforth Restaurant in Simon’s Town has “all you can eat” specials. On Tuesdays you can indulge in deep-fried prawns (R125); on Thursdays it’s calamari for a serious bargain (R55); and on Saturdays you can pig out on ribs (R108), which in this context we’ll refer to as the seafood of the land. Prepare yourself by wearing your stretchy fat pants and eating a tiny lunch.
The restaurant is beautifully positioned on the edge of Seaforth beach, offering views of the mountains, harbour, and the ever-changing face of False Bay’s waters. Seaforth also happens to be a popular hangout for the “city slicker” penguins when they’re not roaming the streets of Simon’s Town.
Open: 11h30 to late daily (closed for Sunday and Monday dinner in winter)
Address: Seaforth Beach, Seaforth Road, Simon’s Town
Reservations: 021 786 4810 / info@seaforthrestaurant.co.za
There are so many great seafood spots in Cape Town and plenty that I have yet to try. Which seafood restaurants do you recommend?
