South Africa » Dining in Cape Town

South Africa can be said to have a real "eating out" culture. While there are some restaurants that specialise in traditional South African dishes or modern interpretations thereof, restaurants featuring other cuisines such as Moroccan, Chinese, West African, Congolese and Japanese can be found in all of the major cities and many of the larger towns. In addition, there are also a large number of home-grown chain restaurants, such as Spur and Mugg & Bean.

There is also a proliferation of fast food restaurants in South Africa. While there are some international players such as McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken active in the country, they face stiff competition from local chains such as Nando's and Steers. Many of the restaurant chains originating from South Africa have also expanded successfully outside the borders of the country.

The Cuisine of South Africa varies widely, representing the food of indigenous people and of all those who have immigrated since the seventeenth century. 

Modern South African cookery is influenced by two primary cultural strands.

• Cookery practised by indigenous people of South Africa such as the Khoisan and Xhosa- and Sotho-speaking people
• Settler cookery introduced during the colonial period by people of Afrikaner and British descent and their slaves and servants this includes the cuisine of the Cape Malay people, which has many characteristics of Malaysia and Java, and recipes from neighboring colonial cultures such as Portuguese Mozambique.

Typical South African foods and dishes

• Biltong, a salty dried meat (similar to jerky)
• Bobotie, a dish of Malay descent, is like meatloaf with raisins and with baked egg on top, and is often served with yellow rice, sambals, coconut, banana slices, and chutney
• Boerewors, a sausage that is traditionally braaied (barbequed)
• Bunny chow, curry stuffed into a hollowed-out loaf of bread
• Chutney, a sweet sauce made from fruit that is usually poured on meat, especially a local brand called Mrs Ball's Chutney
• Frikkadelle - meatballs
• Gesmoorde vis, salted cod with potatoes and tomatoes and sometimes served with apricot jam
• Hoenderpastei, chicken pie, traditional Afrikaans fare.