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The year is moving fast, and Cape Town and Johannesburg’s restaurant scenes aren’t slowing down to wait for us. New openings are staking their claim, one beloved eatery is serving its final covers, and the kind of one-night-only events that you’ll wish you’d booked sooner are filling up quietly already.
Whether you’re in the Southern Suburbs or Sandton, the Waterfront or the City Bowl, this month’s list has something worth getting a reservation down for – before someone else does. Without further ado, here’s my list of must-have reservations across Cape Town and Jozi for May.
Cape Town
ëlgr
(Gardens, Cape Town)
This one stings. Chef Jesper and his team have just announced that their run at 75 Kloof Street is coming to an end on 30 May, and if you’ve never made it through the door, you’re running out of time to fix that. ëlgr has always done its own thing – a pick-and-mix style menu built for lingering over a good bottle of wine, with artisanal cheeses, house-made terrines, cold cuts piled onto boards, wood-fired pizzas with toppings that make you rethink the genre, and proper, warming food that earns its place in winter. The wine list is the kind you actually want to ponder over. Go, order the lardo toast (one of the best single bites in this city, full stop), and say a proper goodbye to a restaurant that genuinely deserved to run forever.
By far our best restaurant experience in our 4 days in Cape Town. The service of friendly and welcoming whilst very knowledgable about each dish and how much to order. Every dish was so full of flavour. The lamb rump and chicken and lemon curd eclairs stood out. The music was 80s rock which added to the slightly retro feel of the whole place.
Fishmonger Newlands
(Newlands, Cape Town)
The Southern Suburbs have been quietly crying out for a proper seafood restaurant, and Fishmonger Newlands – open since 20 April at Newlands Quarter – looks like the answer. The format is generous and unfussy: crispy squid tentacles and sharing plates of halloumi and zucchini chips to kick things off, then the main event – platters of buttery linefish, prawns, crayfish, and langoustines that are built for a long, unhurried table. Early days, but the right kind of addition to the neighbourhood.
Excellent all round – absolutely delicious grilled prawns and grilled calamari were so good. And scrumptious chips. Can’t wait to go back! Welcome to Newlands – you’re bound to be a huge success!
Noah Restaurant
(Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town)
Noah has been open since late last year and already feels like one of those reliable, do-everything spots the city always needs more of. The menu roams across wood-fired pizzas, vibrant small plates, and more substantial mains – all built around fresh, seasonal ingredients and designed for sharing. The space is stylish without being stiff, the staff are genuinely warm, and it works just as well for a family Sunday (kids’ pizza-making sessions are a thing) as it does for a proper celebration dinner. The cocktail list is also worth your attention. And then there’s the Noah Dice Challenge – book a table, eat well, and at the end of the meal, you get one roll. Land a six, and your food bill disappears.
A fantastic Sunday afternoon birthday celebration with simply exceptional food. Compliments to the chef!
COY
(V&A Waterfront, Cape Town)
If you know COY, you know the setting alone is worth the trip – harbour views, Table Mountain overhead, and a kitchen doing quietly confident things with Southern African ingredients and fresh seafood. On Friday, 29 May, they’re hosting an Elgin Winemakers’ Dinner that’s worth clearing your calendar for: seven courses of polished, locally-rooted cooking, each paired with wines hand-selected by the winemakers themselves. One sitting, one night only. R2,200 per person, all-in, from 18h30. One sitting, one night only.
Delicious food and excellent service. Really enjoyed the ambience and the tastes of Africa.
Ramenhead
(Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town)
Winter in Cape Town has a way of making you want to stay home, but Ramenhead is giving us a couple of good reasons not to. Happy Hour runs weekdays from 5 to 6 pm with 2-for-1 snacks and Japanese-inspired cocktails, and on Thursdays between 6 and 9 pm, they turn the volume up with live DJs and signature ramen bowls – the perfect meal in winter. A cold, wet midweek evening hasn’t looked this good in a while.
Love this place! Best ramen ever and the service is always excellent.
Ipic Play Café
(Durbanville, Cape Town)
Not every entry on this list is about the food – sometimes it’s about the experience around it. Ipic Play Café, open just a couple of weeks in Durbanville, is a ceramic painting studio and café in one: you pick your bisque piece, choose your colours, and paint while you eat. The menu covers breakfasts, toasties, burgers, pizzas, and wraps, with a solid kids’ menu for the little ones. It’s the kind of place that works for a rainy Sunday with the family, a low-key date, or a birthday that doesn’t need a party planner. You leave having had a great meal and something you actually made yourself.
Was really fun spending time with family while they paint. Was a really nice initiative that has been bought into the park!!!
Johannesburg
The Royal Countess Zingara Dinner Show
(Sandton, Johannesburg)
After a sold-out Cape Town season that had audiences talking, the The Royal Countess Zingara is bringing her dinner-cirque spectacular to Johannesburg this June – and if you missed her last time around, this is your redemption arc. La Dolce Royal opens at Melrose Arch on 20 June, inside a velvet, mirrored Spiegeltent that is an experience before a single performer has taken the stage. The cast is extraordinary: aerial cradle specialists from Argentina, a rola bola balancing act straight from Las Vegas, and a vocal quartet from Cape Town, among others. It’s dinner, it’s circus, it’s theatre – and it’s the kind of night out that doesn’t really have a category. Bookings are open now, and given what happened in Cape Town, don’t sit on it.
Ilios
(Bedfordview, Johannesburg)
A new Greek restaurant in Bedfordview, and from the looks of it, one that doesn’t do anything by halves. The menu is wide and unapologetically generous – breads and dips to start, gyros, souvlaki piled high, grilled meats, slow-baked kleftiko, a signature lamb kritharaki, seafood, and desserts that’ll make you regret not pacing yourself. The kind of menu that requires a return visit before you’ve even finished the first one. Beautiful room, warm staff – book a big table and bring people you like sharing with.
What an amazing experience. The staff were extremely attentive and friendly, the food was note worthy. Which I have not had at a Greek restaurant for a while. Even went back the following day. Definitely worth a visit.
Kora
(Sandton, Johannesburg)
Sandton’s newest restaurant, bar, and lounge isn’t shy about its ambitions. A gleaming wall of premium spirits, a bar backdropped by sweeping scenes of Lake Como, cigars, live music – it’s a proper night out before you’ve even ordered. The food’s good, the cocktails are standout, and if the early energy is anything to go by, this one will fill up fast. Lunch and dinner bookings are open now.
Nine Lives
(Rosebank, Johannesburg)
Nine Lives runs on after-dark energy – part speakeasy, part modern cocktail bar, entirely its own thing. On Wednesday, 27 May, they’re hosting Friends with Benefits, a one-night collaboration dinner worth knowing about: Executive Chefs Marc Robert of Nine Lives and Vusi Ndlovu of Edge share the kitchen for an eight-course menu that, going by the talent involved, should be something special! R950 per person, 6 pm, bookings essential.
Obento Ramen Bar
(Sandton, Johannesburg)
In winter, a really good bowl of ramen is hard to argue with – and Obento takes the craft seriously. Rich 12-hour broths, perfectly-cooked chewy noodles, and flavours that pull from the best of Far Eastern street food, anchored by their signature Tonkotsu ramen that earns its 5-star reputation. Boba and bao round out the menu for good measure. Now taking bookings on Dineplan, which means no more hoping for a walk-in on a cold Tuesday night.
Best food I’ve ever had! Gonna come once a month!
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