As I am soon to arrive on SA's sunny shores for a longish holiday with foreign friends, I thought I would ask the opinion of my esteemed fellow forumers :D for recommendations on bars and restaurants in Durban, Capetown and environs.

I think we probably can all agree on what makes a good restaurant so can I outline my opinion of the kind of bar/club I would be interested in seeing.
- Music - funky, jazzy, chillout
- Serving - cocktails, bottled beers, champagne

I am trying to avoid the archtypal tasteless Durban bar/club which has made up 80% of the ones I have ever been to there ( from '94 in bourban street via many to '02 in tiger tiger). Sorry Dysan if this seems insulting to Durban or I am out of touch. These places invariably feature:
- the DJs occasionally cracking jokes or shout to their mates
- complete mess of music - 1hour each of pop, rock, 80s, trance, grungy
- wierd unworkable mix of surfies, yuppies, office chickies, posers, sub-21yr olds standing around trying desperately to seem cool
- a shooters bar, possibly with lights telling you of specials
- pool tables crammed somewhere
- a dumb theme with motorbikes, signs, t-shirts, etc on the walls
I think you probably all know the kind of place I am trying to avoid.

Depends....

Food wise in durban i'd say:

9th Avenue Bistro (morningside) or Havana Grill (suncoast) (Both in the top 10 in SA by eat out mag)

Spiga d'ora on florida is always a winner.

So!Sushi (umhlanga) or Green mango (Morningside) for sushi

The Royal Grill has had a complete transformation and is once again a fantastic restaurant.

Ile Maurice (umhlanga) still whips up fantastic seafood.

Taca Zulu is a young and hip mexican place on florida road with too many types of tequila to try in one night.

Yossi's (morrocan/ north african) and Pizzetta (gourmet pizzas...and they really are) on the davenport strip (glenwood) also need a mention. Very good food.


As for bars...my perenial favourites are BBB (bean bag bohemia) at the bottom of florida road for the most interesting crowd of people you'll meet anywhere.

Society on florida road is uber glam, great music to suit your tastes and chilled.

And before the rest of you attack and shout...the new Joe Cool's on the beach. It has had a DRASTIC makeover by the new owner. its very classy and tastefully done and is a great place to chill...and dance on thurs and sat. (24 for guys)





There really are so many good places these days for food that there are so many i have not mentioned

sure there are many others too...just trying to limit to your music taste

Restaurants sound great. I have always liked BBB. Is cafe 1999 in Musgrave still there / is it still good?

I look forward to checking out Society. Sounds brilliant and a lot like Lost Society - (up the road from me in London) . http://www.lostsociety.co.uk/index2.htm (http://www.lostsociety.co.uk/index2.htm) I wonder if they are related?

And Joe Kools is great - exactly what a fun beach cocktail bar should be. If its improved, even better.

Dont forget KFC, lol, or our very own finga lickin, iz good good goood iz good iz nice ......chicken licken :D

just kidding, yeh spigs is always good, havana is superb. If you want indian food, the vintage restaurant isnt bad, its right next to BBB on windermere road, if its a bunny you want then I'd suggest you go to Brittania Restaurant, which is on Umgeni Road near the conard bridge, its in the Brittania hotel, the outside might not look like much but the inside is done up pretty well now, just went there last Tues for the first time & was quite surprised.

uh what else, splasher's is getting lame like Spur, Primmi is also dropping abit, Butcher Boys is nice but you hardly focus on your food with those waitress's around. Besides spigs, anyone can suggest a good pizza place, besides the norm Mimo's & pannaroti's?

In Cape Town try Tank at de waterkant http://www.dining-out.co.za/member_details-MemberID-2370.html which is great becasue after dinner you can hop across the square to gio to one of the bars there which are great.

Wakame in Mouille Point is SUPERB prob worth booking just to make sure you get a table with a sea view. www.wakame.co.za

One Waterfront at the Cape Grace is another great restaurant.

Down at Camps Bay Paranga is great for a lazy lunch overlooking the beach.

In the CBD fiveflies is another great restaurant in an old cape dutch townhouse right by the High Court. The service is sometimes a little slow but its always packed with Cape Towns legal and Banking fraternity. www.fiveflies.co.za

On Long Street Kennnedys is worth going to as the restaurant is suprisingly good and it has a great upstairs bar for post prandial drinks www.kennedys.co.za

Perhaps the hottest spot to eat in Cape Town at the moment is the showroom. It is a restaurant in a luxuary car showroom building. Sounds odd but the concept really does work. http://www.theshowroomrestaurant.co.za/

In terms of bars cape town is spoilt for choice just like it is with restaurants.

For the view la med in Clifton cannot be beaten especially when drinking a cold windhoek. www.lamed.co.za

If you wnat to chill with celebs etc then do pop to the planet champagne bar at the Mount Nelson. It is expensive but great. The same is true of the bar at the 12 apostles hotel on the road that goes from camps bay down to the southern peninsula. http://www.12apostleshotel.com/leopard_room_bar

Camps Bay is full of great beachside bars of which Ignite is a personal fave mainly cos its on the top floor and has a great view.

In the winelands just outside the city you MUST visit Vergelegan for sunday lunch in a STUNNING setting with awesome food and a superb winelist, and also the Governors Hall restaurant at Lanzerac near Stellenbosch is a must for an out of town dinner.

hope all this helps. I have only posted a fraction of the many many great places to eat and drink in town but the ones I have listed are amongst the best (at least in my opinion)

ah just one more. For the best view in the world pop up to Big Bay to the Blue Peter hotel. They have a bar which is by no means trendy or hip but it has a grassy out door area that has a stunning view of the table across the bay and also of Robben Island. It also has a lovely beach. Go in the afternoon to laze on the beach and then have a few drinks whilst watching the table turn pink at sunset.

http://www.bluepeter.co.za/

..

:cheers:

Thanks Mike, that is very comprehensive and impressive list. I will certainly check many of them out. Thanks for your efforts!

I have been to La Med and Blue Peter for sun downers but the rest are new to me.

I agree completely with Dysan that Ile Maurice still does a great job.

Nearby Kashmir is also good. In fact, I'd compare its food favorably with many restaurants in India.

Marco's, near the Butcher Boys, is also good for a quiet Italian meal.

And, like Ile Maurice, another Umhlanga staple, Razzmatazz at the Cabana Beach still makes a great meal.

BUT, I think Spice on Florida Rd. had the best food that my wife and I ate in Durban this past August.

If you get to PTA (not sure what your itinerary is), go to Cynthia's Indigo Moon in New Muckleneuk. The setting is wonderful (wine bottles on practically every wall, lots of dark wood, a very nice atmosphere), the food is incredible, the wine list fantastic, and the waitresses are the hottest I've seen in 10 years. :)

I always pimp Anatolli in Cape Town, just below De Waterkant. It's a hot Turkish restaurant, with great food and a great setting.

Tons of places in Durbs.. just get Dysan to show ya. he knows his shiz.

If you want on the beach places....then there are a few other SUPERB ones.

The beach cafe (opposite mini town). It is chic, good jazz on sunday, and funky beats during the day. GREAT cocktails...and best of all u sit at tables on the sand....toes in it!


Elements at the Beverly Hills is also a great cocktail and light food place. WHITE WHITE WHITE interior...very phillipe stark...

And for damn good modern italian BEL PUNTO is a damn hard place to beat. Its in umhloti, overlooking the beach...and u can see all the way to durban! its great. and i'd say one of the best restaurants in durban. with a great interior...

jeez these days there is alot to chose from.


Just travel up and down florida road...there are literally an endless supply of styling places

cafe 1999 is still there...and still damn good...try STORE next door for the best breakfast anywhere.

Pizzetta make the best pizzas in durban in my opinion. and u gotta love the atmosphere

Outside PTA there is this place called Mader's, its a blody small town, you will find a butchery there called "Mader's Butchery" next to that is "Mader's Restaurant" I went there on my last trip up there, very boerer town, but the locals were very friendly to a bunch of Indian fella's rocking up in their neighbor hood, the butchery & restaurant is linked, so you getting blody fresh meat! I had the lamb steaks there which was the best I have ever tasted, Alot of rich dudes from Sandton come there just to eat the steak's, thats how we heard of the place, from the CEO of a major international Charted Accounting firm.

Clive do you also want an advice for the Joburg ones?

Thanks Pule, but I sort of gave up on Joburg in the end as it was just too hard. We managed to get one night accomodation at the Palozzo Intercontinental in Fourways, but all tours were booked, didnt reply or wouldnt supply proper details before demanding prepayment. All other hotels we tried were full or ignored our requests for information.

I am rather disappointed as I wanted to stay a couple of days and do a tour and show them the Apartheid museum.

Well I think Dysan's pretty much covered Durban (great list, although I don't like Havana Grill). Hemingways in Glenwood is also good and that area is blossoming with new venues.
Anyone been to the new Jazz bar at the Playhouse? It sounds really nice.

^^ the Jazz bar is fantastic!! great decor...the whole playhouse has been given a new lease on life...if only they would do the same to the royal coffee shop!! The other places at the royal have had a great makeover and the hotel is once again looking very good! maybe it is the next place to be done on the list


Clive...where u staying in durban?

My fave restaurant in Cape Town: Royale

#

Fleur du Cap People's Choice Fab Fifteen 2006
The Eat Out website has also announced its Fleur du Cap People's Choice Fab Fifteen restaurants, based on visitor reviews posted on the site in the course of 2006.

The website is comprehensive interactive restaurant guide that allows visitors to find the perfect place to eat out in their area, post their own restaurant reviews or read what other diners have to say.

The most popular restaurants in the country for 2006, according to Eat Out’s online readers, are (in alphabetical order):

# Adega, Johannesburg
# Bean Bag Bohemia, Durban
# Browns of Rivonia, Pretoria
# Café 1999, Durban
# Ginja, Cape Town
# Mano's, Cape Town
# Mastrantonio, Johannesburg
# Ninth Avenue Bistro, Durban
# Nuvo Cuisine, Pretoria
# Ritrovo Ristorante, Pretoria
# Royale Eatery, Cape Town
# Service Station, Johannesburg
# Smoke Café & Grill Lounge, Pretoria
# Societi Bistro, Cape Town
# The Showroom, Cape Town

Does this place have a website?

From the Durban restaurants, have any of the good ones mentioned got a particularly great view - e.g. from the Berea over the city to sea.

Clive...where u staying in durban?

Well a few days with the parentals in the 'burbs is compulsary. After we've driven eachother crazy ;) I am trying to decide whether somewhere in the Berea, or rent a villa on the beach up the coast. Not sure which side of Umhlanga yet.

I figured I would go down to the tourism office when I am there (still at old station?)

However any suggestions would be appreciated. A pool / beach or good view essential on top of all the usual expectations of service and quality. I dont mind BnB, hotel or short term rental. Dont mind spending a bit of cash so long as its merited.

Only 11 days of work left :D. Cant wait to get a break from the most miserable UK winter I have ever been in!

Only 11 days of work left :D. Cant wait to get a break from the most miserable UK winter I have ever been in!

Has your winter been bad? Here it has been quite mild. I've yet to bust out my heavy coat.

What about Gabbi's in Kensington, portuguese restaurant, similar to A grutta in Florida Rd, but I'd say Gabbi's is better, their fried calamari is the best, no views from there tho',

Has your winter been bad? Here it has been quite mild. I've yet to bust out my heavy coat.

Hasnt been cold - actually very warm: over 10 deg most days. However it has been almost entirely overcast grey for months. I think 3 days of blue sky since October.

Audacia manor (www.audaciahotel.co.za)

http://www.africanpridehotels.com/pictures/600px_w/audaciamanor/Aerial-8108414.jpg

Has an amazing view over the city from their restaurant high on the hills of morningside. you have to book in advance, but the views and food are very special. Hotel looks great too...

For hotel....hmmm....depends where exactly u want to go. if you want to stay in durban or the metro there are few places in umhlanga that stand out.

Obviously the Beverly hills, but there are many new smaller places to consider. just check with the tourist office in the umhlanga village

However if you want to go up the coast a bit Hotel Izulu in Ballito is fantastic!! Brilliant 5 star place high on ridge with fantastic sea views and an award winning restaurant (www.hotelizulu.co.za)

Also in ballito is the Boathouse (www.boathouse.co.za). The hotel is right on the beach in ballito, a short walk from the central village area with restaurants.

Lynton Hall in pennington on the south coast is also fantastic. It is the old british royal house and has exceptional sea and countryside views. Selborne golf course is next door. It also has an award winning restaurant with some of the best food in SA (restaurant in sa top 10), from chef richard castens. I personally love their breakfast (www.lyntonhall.co.za)

Posticino's on sea point main road...awesome on a summers night...excellent pizza..just when u think u've been to all the great restaurants in CT another one pops up..

Clive I went to this place in the CBD the other night and it is SUPERB. It is in an old banking hall and the decor and food are great. If you want to see evidence of the CBD now being the hottest place in town you must pop here for dinner

http://www.ribovillerestaurant.co.za/gallery.htm

Clive I went to this place in the CBD the other night and it is SUPERB. It is in an old banking hall and the decor and food are great. If you want to see evidence of the CBD now being the hottest place in town you must pop here for dinner

http://www.ribovillerestaurant.co.za/gallery.htm

there are some images i think in the cape town restaurants section

Had lunch at 9th ave Bistro - terrific food and service. The restaurant seems a bit out of place in that funny little centre though!

Cafe 1999 served up the best meal I have had in years. Fabulous.

Bean Bags Restaurant had good food, but the presence of quite a few cockroaches and the worlds most stupid surfer chick waitress spoiled the occasion. Bar still v. cool downstairs.

Went to Lynton Hall in Pennington and had terrific 5-course dinner. Proper little imperial leftover!

And its all so damn cheap!

Well check out others and report back!

^^ are u still in town?

howzit clive. are you enjoying being back in SA? when are you heading down to cape town?