Went to the Noon Gun Tea Room for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Scary drive, stunning view, wonderful, cheap food. Can't wait to go back to CT so I can go there again.

Plenty of good recommendations and we went to a lot of them 3 years ago on our honeymoon. We're now going back next year but with an extra little one so are there any specific places that are good for families with a 1 year old? We want a mixture of good seafood or local cuisine but which also caters for kids dining as well (or at least doesn't mind well behaved ones being there!)

Moving this thread over to Africa, where hopefully it will flourish further and serve as a useful reference to others seeking similar advice.

As usual, a marker will remain on the BA forum so regulars can follow and contribute further.

Prospero
Moderator: BA Executive Club forum

Try this: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/afric...th-africa.html

That thread was started more than 3 and a half months ago - hardly surprising there have been no posts for more than 2 months. A bump would have sufficed.

But now that this thread has superseded it, your link is very useful as it contains many more good recommendations that have not yet been mentioned here.

... which is why I posted as #3 above.

Interesting isn't it. This thread was an off topic thread in the BA forum which the moderator kindly allowed to run for a while, benefiting from that board's specific and knowledgable experience.

I wonder if it's time for a South Africa forum, just as we have France, Germany and so on as well as a Europe forum? I'm sure we would have more South Africa-specific material.

If you are out near Franschhoek I can recommend Cotage Fromage at the Vrede en Lust wine estate: http://www.vnl.co.za/our_estate/restaurant/

Very nice for an informal lunch on the patio.

I would try Topsie in Franschoek, run by an 80-year old lady and her daugther. The zebra was particularly good. The Tasting Room in Franschoek is not too bad either. For a vineyard, may I recommend Stony Brook.

Just finished my visit to CPT. We at at Five Flies, Belthazar, Wakame (lunch), Codfather and Bo Kaap Kombuis.

Five Flies was excellent, and by far the best meal we had.
Bo Kaap Kombuis was a very good Cape Malay meal with very hospitable service with fantastic views high up in Bo Kaap overlooking Table mountain.
Codfather was pretty good. Shellfish was great, kingklip was only ok (no butterfish available...)
Wakame was good, nice setting, but sushi in South Africa just isn't all that exciting. They don't have nearly the variety of fish that you can get in the U.S.
Belthazar was ok. Seafood very expensive but pretty good. Wasn't overly impressed with the (rump) steak. I'll stick to the top steakhouses in NY for beef... (except maybe when in Buenos Aires!) Very extensive wine list though, and lots of choices by the glass.

We've just returned from CPT and following are the restaurants we dined at:
95 Keerom: Very good Italian, went there last year too and certainly worth going again.
Aubergine: Very, very good indeed. Went first on Sunday evening, and then again on Tuesday as Jardine let us down (well, not entirely, but they did not advise us that they were running a NYE set menu despite it was the 30th Dec. So we cancelled and made a last minute booking at Aubergine)
The Showroom: Great disappointment. The place felt soul-less, gimmicky food average at best and certainly not worth the money.
Tank: Sushi bar at the Cape Quarter. Average experience.
Ginja: Great place but the service was very shambolic. We had to wait some 50 minutes for our main courses, and when they eventually turned up, our dishes were cold. We politely let the manager know, ans she offered a complimentary food and drink dinner at Shoga on our next visit, scheduled two days later. When we arrived, she greeted us warmly and upon completion of the (very good) meal, it all was indeed all complimentary. So we decided to leave the entire amount as tips to the waiting staff.
Bizerca Bistro: Great little place serving good French food. Only downside is the location, down on Lower Long Street, and on a Saturday night it felt rather desolated.

All in all, Cape Town provides some excellent places to dine, and generally they all are excellent value for money.

Went there last Friday and would heartily NOT recommend it. Yes, the view is good but the atmosphere is dead and the menu is way too long for the sparse number of patrons, so the food, while fundamentally well-made - excellent Denningvleis - is not cooked fresh but is precooked, stored and reheated. What this means is rapidly refried samoosas arriving within two minutes of ordering, followed a few minutes later by the farce of my main dish arriving from the microwave lukewarm without and stone cold within and having to go back for a reheat. Sosotie chops were OK but mean on the meat. While most dishes tried, in their reincarnated life, to show evidence of accomplished cookery, bhajis were stodgy, Bobotie was 'off' (at a Cape Malay restaurant!!) and their Malva pudding was like school sponge 'n' custard rather than the delight it should be. We were in and out in 75 minutes.

Really, don't bother.

Can I ask please what local dishes I should try? Also, I often find that the best food is often not from the most expensive restaurants- so am wondering if this is the case in CPT?

The unique elements of South African cuisine are two-fold IMHO; first, good (rare) grilled game meats - ostrich, springbok, kudu etc., often served in imaginative berry-based sauces and, secondly, Cape Malay dishes - food influenced by the Indian and Asian origins of the communities formed of those who the Dutch brought to SA as slaves. More here:

http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/FOOD_I...eMalayart.html

Finding places that serve the former is far from difficult in Cape Town or South Africa as a whole and, yes, "high-end" places may find them too cliched and unimaginiative (as they see it) to serve, so look at mid-range places. Finding good Cape Malay is less easy. Your best bet is probably the Cellars-Hohenort at Constantia, which I can personally recommend. Link below. Avoid the Bo-Kaap Combuis (see my note above)

http://www.cellars-hohenort.com/food...ne/cape-malay/

Hope this helps.

Thanks- that has been a great help

any nice place with an ocean view outside of Cape Town ( we will be having a car)

thanks a lot