These top 12 restaurants in South Africa are among the best in the world

As many as 12 South African restaurants have been listed among the top 1,000 in the world – with two ranking inside the top 200.

Based on the compilation of hundreds of guidebooks and millions of online reviews, La Liste offers the best global restaurant selection handpicked by discerning food critics and expert guides.

The restaurants were ranked in the 2020 La Liste, which comprises 1,000 top restaurants around the world, all of which scored 75 points or higher in the group’s analysis.

La Liste is inspired by “meta-classifications” used in the academic field (Shanghai ranking), sports (ATP) or other domains (movies, gaming): for each restaurant, the group summarises the evaluations available online or on paper.

The ratings assigned by different guides and publications are harmonised and weighted.

The result is an overall score between 0 and 100, rounded up to a quarter of a point, which determines the restaurant’s place in the world ranking.

The Test Kitchen in Cape Town, and Restaurant Mosaic at the Orient in Pretoria, tied for the title of best restaurant in South Africa.

Guy Savoy restaurant in Paris, owned by chef Guy Savoy, retained its title as the best restaurant globally, with Le Bernardin in New York, retaining second place. Ryugin in Chiyoda-ku, Japan, was third, followed by Sugalabo in Minato-ku, Japan, and L’Arpège in Paris.

Here are the top 12 restaurants in South Africa as ranked by La Liste:

The Test Kitchen, Cape Town – 94.00

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by The Test Kitchen (@thetestkitchenct) on Nov 4, 2019 at 2:00am PST

Mosaic at The Orient, Pretoria – 94.00

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Restaurant Mosaic @ The Orient (@restaurantmosaicattheorient) on Nov 3, 2019 at 1:56am PST

La Colombe, Cape Town – 90.50

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by La Colombe Restaurant (@lacolombect) on Nov 30, 2019 at 1:43am PST

Greenhouse – The Cellars-Hohenort, Cape Town – 90.50

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Greenhouse (@greenhouse_ct) on Nov 17, 2019 at 10:38am PST

Chef’s Warehouse Beau Constantia, Cape Town – 90.50

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Chefs Warehouse at Beau (@chefswarehousebeauconstantia) on Sep 28, 2019 at 5:31am PDT

Wolfgat, Paternoster – 89.50

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Wolfgat (@wolfgat) on Nov 15, 2019 at 1:05am PST

Camphors, Somerset West – 87.50

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Vergelegen Wine Estate (@vergelegen_wine_estate) on Mar 7, 2019 at 6:04am PST

The Restaurant at Waterkloof, Cape Town – 83.00

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Waterkloof Wines (@waterkloofwines) on Oct 9, 2019 at 2:23am PDT

DW-Eleven 13, Johannesburg – 83.00

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by dw eleven-13 restaurant (@dweleven_13) on Oct 26, 2019 at 11:11pm PDT

The Pot Luck Club, Cape Town – 82.50

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by The Pot Luck Club (@thepotluckclubct) on Nov 13, 2019 at 2:01am PST

Terroir, Stellenbosch – 80.50

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Kleine Zalze (@kleinezalze) on Nov 8, 2019 at 12:00am PST

Indochine at Delaire Graff Estate, Stellenbosch – 79.50

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Delaire Graff Estate (@delairegraff) on Nov 1, 2019 at 12:10am PDT

Read: These are the 20 best restaurants in South Africa