Buy raw meat by weight at a township butchery counter, hand the tray over, and it comes back grilled over wood coals with pap and chakalaka. A system as much as a dish, and a weekend one.

Shisa nyama means burns the meat in isiZulu, and the format began as a way for township butcheries to lift weekend sales: sell the cut over the counter, grill it out back, and the queue stays to eat and drink. Cape Town's version runs on the Cape Flats, where Mzoli Ngcawuzele opened at NY115 in Gugulethu in 2003 selling meat from his garage and turned the address into a weekend institution. Lamb chops, beef ribs, boerewors and basted chicken wings are the standard cuts, weighed at the counter and priced by the kilogram, eaten with pap, chakalaka and a plastic fork.

3 editor picks for Shisanyama in Cape Town, ranked by editorial score. All Cape Town signature dishes · Shisanyama across every city.

Nomzamo Butchery ★ 4.1

$South AfricanLanga

Nomzamo Butchery is a shisanyama and butchery on Washington Street in Langa, Cape Town, letting customers pick raw meat and have it braaied on site.

OrderBasted chicken wings and braaied red meat, weighed at the butchery counter

TipPick your own cut at the butchery counter, then carry it straight to the braai grills out back.

DirectionsView

Teez @ 115 ★ 4.0

$$South AfricanGugulethu

Teez @ 115 grills braaied meat from its own butchery counter on the Gugulethu site once famous as Mzoli's, on Cape Town's Cape Flats side of the city.

OrderLamb chops bought at the butchery counter and braaied to order by the grill team.

TipBuy your meat at the butchery first, then hand it to the braai team; that is how the whole system works here.

DirectionsView

Rands ★ 3.9

$$South AfricanKhayelitsha

Rands is a Khayelitsha shisa nyama and lifestyle venue outside central Cape Town, known for braaied meat, cheap drinks and weekend afrobeat sets.

OrderThe ribs, which co-owner Mfundo Mbeki tells first-timers to try, with creamy spinach and Buffalo wings.

TipThe first Sunday of the month draws the biggest crowd; arrive early afternoon to get a table before the dancing starts.

DirectionsView

Learn to cook it, or eat it with a guide

Shisanyama makes more sense with someone from Cape Town explaining it. These are the classes and tours we have checked, with booking links.

Book food experiences in Cape Town

See all 816 bookable experiences in Cape Town