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Tokara Restaurant, situated 400 meters above sea level on top of the Helshoogte Pass outside Stellenbosch, offers its guests terroir focused contemporary cuisine, award-winning wines and dramatic views over Stellenbosch and False Bay. The building housing the restaurant is a Cape architectural icon utilising glass, steel and stone.
Tokara Restaurant opened its doors in October 2001 and was one of the very first iconic winery restaurants established in the Cape Winelands area of South Africa.
Within the first year of taking of the reigns of the Tokara Restaurant kitchen, chef Carolize Coetzee won the “Haute Performance Award” as South Africa’s most promising chef in the 2020 JHP Gourmet Guide, while the restaurant was included in the authoritative The World’s 50 Best Restaurants new “50Best Discovery” list for 2020.
We offer an à la carte menu for lunch and a set menu, either four or six courses, for dinner.
Gourmet Guide Description
Tokara takes full advantage of views that stretch gently over vineyards
and fynbos, from Stellenbosch to False Bay. Diners are seated indoors
or out, to fully appreciate what is growing on the family-owned estate.
Named after the founder’s children, Thomas and Kara, it has won
awards for both wine and olive oil. Rare artworks add to the allure and
aesthetic appeal that arrests visitors from arrival, like large-scale William
Kentridge tapestries and sculptures crafted by other artistic icons.
Chef Carolize Coetzee won the Haute Performance Promise Award
in 2020 and has fulfilled her oath of serving farm-to-table cuisine,
inspired by the produce that is growing on the farm, and sourced
nearby. The menu too is artful, both the a la carte at lunch and the
four-or-six course dinner chef’s options are paired with Tokara wines.
Dishes are mouthwatering and generous in flavour. The zesty beetroot
tartare with apple, dill, capers, cashew nut camembert, lemon and
sunflower seed is vegan and gluten-free, like many of her plates. Then
there’s crispy lamb sweetbreads with red mole, sweetcorn, spring
onion, coriander and home-grown popcorn. The roasted Bonsmara
beef with crispy Parmesan and nutmeg polenta with spinach, fennel,
bacon and smoked bone marrow jus, will satisfy those who love more
substantial, meat options.
Homegrown she may be, but global flavours gleaned from international
travels and cooking stints peek out on many plates. The salt-baked
celeriac agnolotti is a stand-out. Desserts like the unforgettable
pumpkin crème caramel with dates, salted butterscotch, orange, goat’s
milk and pumpkin seeds, and the decadent spice-poached guava, pay
tribute to home and heritage.
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