Day-by-day eating plans for Cape Town. weekend classics, family routes, vegan plans, on-a-budget editions.
Day-by-day plans
Cape Town weekend: market, Bo-Kaap, harbour ★ 4.7
First-time visitor, two days2 days
A Saturday and Sunday built around the four things Cape Town does better than anywhere else: a Saturday farm market under the mountain, Cape Malay cooking in Bo-Kaap, Cape wine by the glass, and fried fish on a working harbour wall.
Day 1: Saturday: farm market, Bo-Kaap lunch, Woodstock dinner
Morning
Oranjezicht City Farm Market on Granger Bay Boulevard at the V&A Waterfront from 08:00, before the 10:00 crowd; the Saturday market runs year round, only the Wednesday night market pauses in June and July. Then up to Bo-Kaap Deli on Church Street for a bag of koesisters to take away.
Afternoon
Lunch at Biesmiellah on the corner of Wale and Pentz Street. Chicken curry with roti, a side of daltjie and samoosa, no alcohol on the premises. Walk the pastel blocks above the restaurant afterwards.
Evening
Start at Culture Wine Bar in the City Bowl for two Cape whites by the glass, then dinner at The Pot Luck Club at the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock. The room fills two sittings a night, so book well ahead and pay the R450 deposit within 24 hours.
Day 2: Sunday: coffee, pastry, Kalk Bay fish, Long Street dinner
Morning
Truth Coffee in Buitenkant Street from 08:00 on a Sunday, then a short ride out to Jason Bakery on Main Road in Green Point for a pastry before the 14:00 close.
Afternoon
Drive the coast road to Kalk Bay and eat at Kalky's on the harbour wall. Fried snoek and chips, cash only, self-service, benches outside among the boats. Kalky's serves until 20:00 every day.
Evening
Dinner at Mama Africa on Long Street, where the kitchen plates game, goat and pan-African stews and the live music starts at 19:00. Book ahead, and ask for a table away from the drums if you want to talk.
Bo-Kaap spice and Cape Flats fire ★ 4.6
Second visit, two days across the city's own kitchens2 days
Two days on the two food traditions Cape Town actually invented: the Cape Malay kitchens of Bo-Kaap on Friday, and the gatsby counters and shisanyama grills of the Cape Flats on Saturday. Book a car or a driver for the second day.
Day 1: Friday: Bo-Kaap from the deli counter to the dinner table
Morning
Koesisters at Bo-Kaap Deli on Church Street and a stop at one of the Bo-Kaap spice shops for masala and dried naartjie peel, then walk down to Hemelhuijs on Waterkant Street for coffee and a sit-down breakfast from 09:00.
Afternoon
Lunch at Biesmiellah for the Cape Malay chicken curry and denningvleis, or cross into the City Bowl for a bunny chow from about R50 at the Eastern Food Bazaar food court on Longmarket Street, open until 21:00.
Evening
Dinner at Bo-Kaap Kombuis on August Street, a house rather than a storefront, with bobotie, denningvleis and curry platters and a Table Mountain view over the City Bowl. The kitchen closes at 21:30, so book the 18:00 sitting.
Day 2: Saturday: Athlone gatsby, Gugulethu braai, Khayelitsha night
Morning
Cross the M5 to Athlone. Super Fisheries on Old Klipfontein Road is where the gatsby was first cut into wedges in 1976; the polony, chips and achar original is still on the menu. Bring cash, the counter takes nothing else.
Afternoon
A second gatsby at Golden Dish in Gatesville if you have the appetite, then on to Teez @ 115 in Gugulethu. Buy lamb chops and boerewors by weight at the butchery counter and hand the tray to the grill team outside.
Evening
Rands in Khayelitsha from late afternoon. Braaied ribs with chakalaka, cheap drinks and an afrobeat set that builds through the evening; the room runs until 23:00 on a Saturday. Arrange your ride home before you sit down.
Cape Town on a budget: two days under R300 a day ★ 4.4
On a budget, two days2 days
Thursday and Friday, because that is when the cheap food markets open. Food-court curry, a Thursday night warehouse market, Portuguese custard tarts, harbour fish and chips, and a Friday evening in an old Hout Bay fish factory turned market.
Day 1: Thursday: City Bowl coffee, food court lunch, warehouse market
Morning
Deluxe Coffeeworks on Buitenkant Street from 07:00, the Deluxe coffee bar, open from 07:00 on weekdays. Buy beans on the way out.
Afternoon
Lunch at the Eastern Food Bazaar on Longmarket Street, a canteen of Indian, Turkish and Cape Malay stalls where a giant bunny chow from the Punjabi counter starts at about R50.
Evening
Blue Bird Garage Food and Goods Market in Muizenberg opens at 16:00 on a Thursday and runs to 22:00, in an old postal plane hangar. Street food by the plate, craft beer, Cape wine and a play area for children.
Day 2: Friday: custard tarts, Hout Bay harbour, Bay Harbour Market
Morning
Coimbra Bakery on Imam Haron Road in Claremont from 07:00 for pastel de nata, baked here since 1962. A tart and a coffee is small change.
Afternoon
Out to Hout Bay harbour for Snoekies, at the far end of Harbour Road since 1951. A double fillet hake and chips parcel is R115 on the November 2025 menu.
Evening
Walk along to Bay Harbour Market in the old fish factory, open until 21:00 on a Friday. Grilled calamari and prawns at Sea Bar, then a bag of ostrich droewors from Stokkies Draai to take home.
Tasting menus and Constantia wine ★ 4.6
Wine and tasting-menu traveller, two days2 days
Wednesday in Constantia, where Cape wine started in 1685 and the tasting rooms sit twenty minutes from the city, and Thursday on the Woodstock and Camps Bay side for a long lunch, a cocktail and a mountain-road dinner. Book every seat weeks out.
Day 1: Wednesday: Constantia cellars, vineyard lunch, mountain dinner
Morning
Origin Coffee Roasting in De Waterkant from 07:00, then drive south to Constantia. Twenty-five minutes on the M3 and you are among vines that were planted in 1685.
Afternoon
Tasting at Groot Constantia, open daily with the last flight at 17:00, then lunch at Simon's Restaurant on the same estate. Ask for the terrace rather than the cellar room if the wind is down.
Evening
Dinner at Chefs Warehouse at Beau Constantia, further up the Constantia Nek road. The four course set menu is served at dinner from 18:30, with last orders at 20:30, so arrive on time.
Day 2: Thursday: Claremont roastery, Biscuit Mill lunch, Camps Bay dinner
Morning
Rosetta Roastery's Claremont cafe from 07:00 for a filter from the brew bar, with the roastery next door, then drive across to Woodstock and walk Albert Road until lunch service opens.
Afternoon
Lunch at The Pot Luck Club at the Old Biscuit Mill from 12:30, where the prix fixe sharing lunch from R550 for two is the cheapest way into one of the city's best-known kitchens. The springbok tataki with miso yaki is on the current menu.
Evening
Cocktails at Fable on the corner of Bree and Wale Street from 16:00, from a menu inspired by South African myths, then dinner at Salsify at the Roundhouse on the Camps Bay side of the mountain. Last seating is 20:30.
Coffee, bakeries and a Wednesday night market ★ 4.4
Coffee and pastry traveller, two weekdays2 days
Tuesday and Wednesday through the roasteries and bakeries that made Cape Town a coffee city, from a 1940s roaster in the East City to a small-batch lab at the Old Biscuit Mill, closing on the Wednesday night market at the Waterfront.
Day 1: Tuesday: East City roastery, Green Point bakery, Sea Point bagels
Morning
Truth Coffee on Buitenkant Street from 07:00, where the house roasts run on Colossus, a 1940s drum machine standing in the middle of the room. Sit at the bar and watch a batch come off.
Afternoon
Jason Bakery on Main Road in Green Point for the bacon croissant, on the counter every trading day until the 15:00 close, then along to Kleinsky's Delicatessen on Regent Road in Sea Point for a bagel and a coffee.
Evening
Dinner at Ramenhead on Kloof Street, 18:00 to 22:00 on a Tuesday. Eighteen-hour broth, noodles cut in house, and the high tables, bar and ramen counter kept for walk-ins.
Day 2: Wednesday: Biscuit Mill roaster, District Six cakes, night market
Morning
Espresso Lab Microroasters at the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock from 08:00, small boutique batches and single-origin filters, then walk down Albert Road.
Afternoon
Charly's Bakery on Canterbury Street in District Six, open until 17:00, for a slice from the cabinet rather than a whole commissioned cake. Lunch after at Loading Bay in De Waterkant.
Evening
The Oranjezicht City Farm Market runs a night market from 16:00 to 21:30 on a Wednesday at the Waterfront, except in June and July, with its artisan food traders cooking to order.
Vegetarian and vegan Cape Town ★ 4.3
Vegetarian or vegan, two days2 days
Two days that do not revolve around a braai: a Gardens deli counter, Middle Eastern falafel, a vegetarian Indian kitchen on Wandel Street, a pure-vegetarian room in Rylands, a mushroom butchery in the city and an Observatory injera kitchen where shiro wot anchors the vegetarian side.
Day 1: Wednesday: Gardens deli, falafel counter, Wandel Street curry
Morning
The Siba Deli Foodshop and Eatery on Park Road in Gardens from 07:00, where the breakfast menu includes a plant-based bean stew and a coconut maize meal porridge. Walk on up Kloof Street afterwards.
Afternoon
Achla near Roeland Square in Gardens for falafel and shawarma with a side of its salads. It closes at 17:00 and does not open Sunday or Monday.
Evening
Prashad Cafe on Wandel Street in Gardens, which serves until 21:00. Share the paneer butter masala and the house dal tadka; vegan, vegetarian and sattvic dishes are labelled on the menu.
Day 2: Thursday: Sea Point bakery, Rylands vegetarian, city mushroom butchery
Morning
Mischu on Regent Road in Sea Point opens at 06:45 and bakes its own sourdough, croissants and canneles on site. Coffee and a pastry before the traffic.
Afternoon
Out to Rylands for Baps Shayona, a pure-vegetarian Indian kitchen in a back room behind the grocery counter, open until 17:00.
Evening
Romeo and Vero Vegan Butcherie on Dixon Street sells mushroom-based meat alternatives and serves until 21:30, or cross to Observatory for the shiro wot and injera at Timbuktu Cafe, which closes at 22:00.
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