New Restaurants in Cape Town
Ongetem
NEW WINTER 2025 –
Ongetem! Wow! Chef Bertus Basson has burst in to the Cape Town dining scene with an absolutely brilliant concept with his ONGETEM (means “untamed” in Afrikaans). The concept and the menu are quite simply brilliant.
Prices and value for money – 10/10 – so very well priced!!!
Food – They have a braai in the open plan kitchen!!! Great flavours! Creative menu with lots of options. Perfect to share. Great team in the kitchen. Blew my socks off. Food ranges from a burger through to shared plates and big plates. 9/10.
Decor – Wow!!!!! 10/10 I would describe it as contemporary African. Buzzy. Vibey. Fun. Love it. Nguni cow skins on tables!
Cocktails – 8/10. Great!! Very well priced. Loved that they are using our local gin producer – Pienaar & Son Distilling Co.
Wine list – 8/10. I love that all of Bertus’s restaurants have great wine lists. As a local I would love to have the entry level wine in each category at a maximum of R250 a bottle. That would change me from an occasional diner to a regular diner.
Service – warm, down to earth and super friendly. Naturally there are teething problems as they get their systems set up.
Ongetem is located inside the new Hilton Hotel at the Longkloof studios development – 24 Park Rd, Gardens (just off Kloof Street). This is a great vibey new “hood”. Pauline’s has opened there (great coffees & baked goods) & there is a new wine bar there as well.
ONGETEM is open 7 days a week!!! Breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Extra X-factor for me is that we will have a fun vibey spot in our hood for dinners on a Sunday and Monday night!!!
Bookings open on Dineplan
https://www.dineplan.com/restaurants/ongetem or check out the menu here
The Bailey
Open Mon – Saturday. Closed on a Sunday
The Bailey – which is owned by rock chef Liam Tomlin, his wife Jan & the owners of Tintswalo Atlantic – has made some changes.
They still have the Chefs Warehouse on the ground floor. On the middle floor they have closed the Bailey Brasserie and replaced it with MERACHANT – a wonderful spot that celebrates our local ingredients. They are doing tip to tail dining and also a trip to the larder to enjoy local cheese and charcuterie. Gorgeous decor – lovely for an evening out. Sultry lighting. Really good chefs. Worth a trip. Check out more info and the menu here.
Scala Pasta
NOT YOUR MAMA’S PASTA!! The concept is a small plate pasta sharing menu. It is great fun to work your way through as many of the dishes as you can! Scala pasta’s menu has been developed by a collab between Italian Chef Luciano Monosilio and executive Chef Justin Barker. Chef Luciano was the youngest chef ever to win a Michelin star in Italy at age 27! The star was awarded for his incredible carbonara!!!
One of the newest food trends overseas is pasta bars! What gal does not love pasta??? What foodie does not have dreams about tasting the most incredible carbonara? Who does not love pasta with shavings of real truffle??
I was incredibly blessed to be invited to the launch dinner of Scala Pasta Bar. We were treated to a sit down dinner with multiple courses. It was a dinner that dreams are made of. The chef came out to introduce each course. I would happily return for each of these dishes! My taste buds were rocked to heaven and back on every dish. Shall we just call this my idea of foodie heaven.
TIP – they are now open for aperitivo drinks and snacks from early evening on their terrace! Perfect timing for summer in Cape Town!
Find them – 81 Church Street. Between Bree and Buitengracht. (next to the Heritage Square Parking lot!)
Hours – Open Monday to Saturday for lunch & dinner. Likely to open on Sundays from November.
Sonny and Irene
“Not-your-average neighbourhood cafe bakery, Sonny and Irene was designed to celebrate cafe-style classics with a contemporary twist.”
This restaurant reminded me of all the stories I had heard about Sea Point in its hey day. It was the posh upmarket area where locals would head to for the dinner dances and to celebrate a special occasion. Quite simply it is “GLAM” with its pink decor, beautiful bar area and retro chandeliers. The restaurant is owned by the Kove Collection and was affectionately named after Paul Kovensky’s grandparents.
They have considered all the details from all angles to make sure that they become a favourite of the Sea Point locals, the Capetonians and the visitors to our city. At the heart of the restaurant is the bakery, led by Pastry Chef, Chris Morrison. His baked goods are available in the main restaurant as well as in the more casual bakery which is located next door. The menu has been created by executive chef Amber Deetlefs and they have also added in one of our city’s most well known mixologist’s – Marshall Behaein!
We headed to try them out for brunch with my team for a farewell. My verdict – they are in the best brunch/breakfast spot in Cape Town. The menu of options for breakfast is vast. It ranges from healthy, to classics through to innovative. I loved the creativity of their breakfast menu! To add to the offering you have the fantastic baked goods from their own bakery! Thank goodness we were 8 people – we could taste some of the pastries and tarts while we waited for breakfast! Verdict – stalk them for the pastries and tarts! Delicious!
Location: 19 Kloof Road, Sea Point
Open daily for breakfast, lunch & dinner. No bookings taken for breakfast.
ëlgr
ëlgr literally blew my socks off. Trust me and book immediately. This was my best dining experience in the last year. I would go as far as to say that they are now my top restaurant in the Cape.
Firstly the decor – super stylish. I am pleased I dusted off the heels and dressed up a little for this one!
Secondly – the most beautiful large back courtyard – tranquil and also super stylish – with the chefs making pizzas in the outside oven – and the bar.
Thirdly – super attentive warm service from our waiter and the manager. ëlgr works on a flat management system where everyone earns a salary and has equal status. All tips are pooled and go straight to the staff. They work as a team and it shows in everything they do.
Fourthly the food and the menu.
The menu is meant for small plate dining and sharing. It is brilliant as it is well priced and accessible. You can come for a glass of wine, a salad and a charcuterie plate to share or you can chose to share a whole array of dishes to get the flavours, or you could have a pizza and a beer or you can do the Chefs tasting menu where he simply sends dishes out for R395 per person. This spot works for all budgets.
THE FOOD
An incredible flavour journey.
The dishes were a true celebration of summer. How wonderful to have cold dishes on a summers night.
We started with the watermelon. It was the perfect start. The watermelon was cut in cubes with chilli and lime salt added. It awoke all my senses. Cleared the palate and blew me away with its simplicity and deliciousness. This course we combined with the lardo and anchovy toast. Rich and delicious it was the perfect combo with the watermelon as it cut through the richness.
Next course we did the fennel salad and the beetroot salad. The fennel salad was delicate and fresh, while the beetroot salad punched with flavours. The beetroot salad was one of the most delicious salads I have ever eaten. It combined curry and cashew nuts with coriander. I scraped the dish for every last morsel of this dish.
We then had the white pizza. We had been watching the chefs all night making them in the courtyard and cooking them in the wood burning oven. We saw the incredible looking pizzas pass our tables.
The pizza has chipotle, corn, jalapeño and coppa. It was perfection. Light, slightly chewy and once again zinging with flavour. These chefs like chilli – but it is perfectly balanced to enhance the other flavours with each dish.
We ended off with the Paris Breast and the chocolate sorbet. Perfect pastry and not too sweet. The vegan chocolate sorbet blew my socks off. It was incredible and was served with a little salt on top.
THE CHEF
We were lucky enough to have a chat with Chef Jesper at the end of the meal. Jesper came to South Africa with his family when he finished school in Sweden. They moved to Franschhoek. He studied to be a chef in the Cape Winelands and worked as a chef in the Cape for quite a few years before heading back to Sweden for two years with his partner. They moved to Malmö. Malmö has a 50 percent immigrant population and a large Turkish community. Jesper is inspired by the flavours of the food that he ate in Malmö as well as the food he has experienced on his travels. He does not follow rules and simply plays with the flavours that have inspired him on his journey.
Man oh man do I love this man’s flavours.
As you can tell by the review – I got so excited by our dinner that we arrived at 06h30 and exited at 10pm.
Find them on Kloof street next door to Yours Truly. They took the place of Janse & Co. Book in advance to make sure you get space in the courtyard.
BO-KAAP DELI
This is a great addition to the Bo-Kaap! I love that they have scattered tables outside everywhere! Even across the road on the pavement! This spot is in the heart of the Bo-Kaap as such is offering contemporary cuisine with a Cape Malay flair. Pop in here for a coffee and a koesister (local doughnut) or to try a local favourite – peri peri chicken livers. Their menu has a wonderful variety of dishes on offer. We absolutely LOVED their mango slushi. Magical on a hot day! They are proudly Halal. No alcohol is served.
CULTURE WINE BAR
Culture Wine Bar is an awesome addition to Bree Street. It is the new baby of Chef Matt Manning of Grub & Vine. Matt Manning is a hugely talented chef and is an inspirational entrepreneur. Along with Grubb & Vine and the Chefs Studio has has always had a talented sommelier by his side since he launched. As a result the wine list has always been exceptional at his restaurant. His relationship with the wine estates led to them running regular wine events at the restaurant and the cooking school. As such it was a natural evolution to take over the wine bar next door when it closed down. Decor is super stylish in the Culture Wine Bar. I love it as it still has a down to earth feel. The food is “posh” British pub food in style in the wine bar. Snacks include scotch eggs and pork pies………….definitely a tribute to the Chefs roots! They also have arancini balls, charcuterie and cheese platters ……and naturally an amazing wine list. This is a great spot to meet up with a mate for a glass of wine or bubbles and a catch up! They may be indoors – but note that they have a lovely huge window that allows a great through draft of air!
BEYOND – CONSTANTIA BUITENVERWACHTING
Peter Tempelhoff’s new restaurant at Buitenverwachting Wine Estate offers an a la carte menu aimed at locals. Peter is one of the city’s most well known chefs and is the owner of the well regarded Fyn restaurant. The interior boasts wonderful views of the vines. They also have a lovely outdoor terrace.
NEED MORE INSPIRATION:
THE WORLD MOVES TO FAST ME NOW DAYS! Somehow the luxury of having time to update my website regularly does not happen. For current inspiration check the food group I started to support the food industry of Cape Town called THE CAPE TOWN EATS GROUP on Facebook. Here you will find where I am eating and which spots I am discovering – you will also get lots of inspiration from others who are sharing what is new and what they are offering in Cape Town. Look out for my posts under PAMELA MCONIE. Click here to join our Cape Town Eats Food Group on Facebook. MAKE SURE YOU AGREE TO THE RULES and answer the question or you wont be allowed in!
For more inspiration – check out my top rated restaurants in Cape Town here.
To learn more about the cuisine of Cape Town – join us on a foodie walking tour of the city.