Stellenbosch Restaurants

Smart casual is appropriate attire for this French restaurant. Here you can expect to have the high quality foods along with the African ingredients.

Favorite Dish: I had a delicious Venison pie. The crust was perfectly cooked and the meat filling was tender and full of flavour.

The Blue Orange Coffee and Farm Shop is a perfect place for lunch or afternoon tea.
You can either sit inside or in the lovely garden.

Favorite Dish: My partner had a butternut quiche with a salad on the side, while I had a huge crab salad with home-made whole-wheat bread. With both a soft drink we paid 76 ZAR for this lunch.

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in suburbia, a few Kms from downtown
typical traditional Cape architecture
warm and friendly.
A visit after 26 years, it still gets my nod of approval
from the menu
" Situated on the oak lined banks of the tumbling Eerste River, De Volkskombuis aan de Wagenweg naar de Kaap – the People’s Kitchen on the wagon road to Cape Town – was designed by Sir Herbert Baker, designer of the Union Buildings in Pretoria and the magnificent Groote Schuur – former home of South Africa’s Prime Ministers.
Originally used as a cottage for farm labourers, De Volkskombuis was restored and redecorated by Historical Homes and started by a group of Stellenbosch farmers, anxious to preserve the culinary arts and traditions of the old Cape cooking."

Favorite Dish: Springbok and Ostrich Carpaccio.
Luanne had the Cape Platter
a Cape Country Sampler of Bobotie, water bredie, sousboontjie en kerrie beans
The Glenwood Chenin Blanc wine ;-)
i.e. An excellent Wine List

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Ideally located in the middle of town (in Dorp Street), Cognito is one of my personal favourite places to sit on a nice evening or afternoon and have a cocktail or snack. Be aware that during rush hour traffic (more or less 4h30 to 5h30) sitting outside may be a slight bit noisy, so rather go just after or for lunch.

As for the menu, there is nothing that I would change! Sourcing interesting flavours from South African, Moroccan and Nigerian cuisine and turning it into wonderful creations. They have the traditional and some extra speciality cocktails as well. A printable menu is available on their website.

Please note that this restaurant is closed on Sundays and opens at 11h30 on Monday to Saturday. Groups larger than 12 people will not be allowed to order from the usual a la carte menu, but will be served a set menu at R90 per person. A corkage (price to bring in your own bottle of wine) of R25 is charged per 750ml bottle of wine.

Favorite Dish: My favourite dish is actually a starter, but I love to sit outside with a cocktail and snack on it. Its called the 'Trilogy of Spring rolls' and consists of three individual golden spring rolls filled with gorgonzola and walnuts, creamy brie and almonds and the last with fresh goat's cheese and dukkah. The spring rolls are complemented with a strawberry sauce, Cape gooseberry sauce and honey.

My favourite cocktail is the house speciality, the Dawa, which is Swahili for "Magic Potion". Basically Vodka and creamed honey.

The food is mostly mediteranean, but it also includes a large variety of other wonderfully prepared dishes. There is a very cozy atmosphere and the staff is very helpful and friendly.

They are open for lunch (Tuesday - Sunday) from 12:00 to 15:00 and then again open for dinner (Tuesday - Saturday) from 18:00 to 22:00.

During the day you can also buy a picnic basket and relax outside on the winefarm, Vredenheim. Here you can see some South African wildlife, such as Zebras and Springboks. A deluxe picnic basket will include: Cold cuts, salads, breads, cheeses, nuts, fruit, biscuits, droë wors, paté/dip, crudités and something sweet added to round off the meal.

Favorite Dish: I am a sucker for a well prepared fish, therefore my favourite dish has to be the LINEFISH al forno (with tomato, onions & mushrooms) for R69.50. They also serve a VERY GOOD pizza! The full menu is listed on their website.

The price quoted below is more or less for 3 courses including some wine.

The Blue Orange is a coffee shop located on Dorp Street with a garden area outside on the street as well as a tea garden at the back. The shop itself is an old house with seating on the inside as well as a shop selling different souvenirs, goodies from the bakery and just lots of nice stuff to browse through.

Favorite Dish: There is a wide variety of sandwiches and light lunches and they also serve a great breakfast. They also have great scones and freshly baked cakes! The price quoted below is per person including drinks and is an absolute upper bound.

I almost feel guilty listing this as an option for a 'restaurant', because it most definitely does not qualify! This is a Stellenbosch University building with a whole bunch of small take away shops. The main goal for this building is to supply students with a cheap alternative to cafeteria food at their residences. Here you get toasted sandwiches (<2 US$), traditional 'home cooked' meals (2 US$), smoothies (2 US$) and even sushi (not for the connoisseur).

Favorite Dish: Happy buddy smoothie at Buzz cafe. Made of chai tea, bananas, fat free yoghurt and milk with added calming tonics such as chamomile.

A South African Seafood franchise with a laid back, yet classy, atmosphere. They serve a variety of seafood dishes including sushi which you can either have at your table or sit at the sushi bar and watch the chef preparing.

Favorite Dish: I just love the stacked Kingklip, it consists a prawn, spinach and feta mix sandwiched between two grilled kingklip fillets (approx 300 gram) topped with olive and sundried tomato paste. Will cost you about R90 (12 US$). Go check out the rest of the menu for yourself, available online. The price per person given below is when two courses are ordered with beverages (such as wine).