How much it costs to eat at South Africa’s seven best restaurants

Seven restaurants in South Africa received three stars at the 2025 Eat Out Restaurant awards, with each of their most expensive menus costing over R1,000 per person. 

The 2025 judging process for the Eat Out Awards took over eight months, with eight independent judges visiting each shortlisted restaurant multiple times during peak and off-peak periods.

Eat Out awards restaurants one, two, or three stars based on their final scores. The criteria covers every aspect of the dining experience, from food quality and technique to service, ambience and value. 

The 3-star rating is reserved for restaurants that score over 90 out of 100, while 2-star and 1-star ratings go to those between 80 and 89 and 70 and 79, respectively.

Salsify at the Roundhouse in Camps Bay was named the Eat Out Woolworths Restaurant of the Year, achieving the highest score of any restaurant in the country. 

“It is a restaurant that balances the history of its unique setting, acknowledging and critiquing its past while celebrating its immediate environment through hyper-local foraging,” said the judges. 

Johannes Richter of The Living Room at Summerhill Guest Estate in Pinetown, eThekwini was named chef of the year. 

“With a modern, innovative flair, he masterfully blends the richness of local ingredients, showcasing a profound respect for South Africa and his region’s culinary heritage,” the judges said.

The Living Room at Summerhill Guest Estate received another special award, the Green Star Award, for its commitment to showcasing local ingredients.

The Rising Star award was given to Nathan Clarke, the executive chef at The Test Kitchen Fledgelings in Woodstock. 

Seven restaurants received three-star ratings in the awards. All three-star recipients are based in the Western Cape, except for The Living Room at Summerhill Guest Estate, which is based in KZN. 

BusinessTech has looked at the most expensive menus at these seven restaurants and what is on offer for diners.

Due to the high-end nature of many of these restaurants, many focus on concepts more than actual food on offer to the clientele.

Salsify at the Roundhouse, Cape Town – R1,890 per person

The most expensive at South Africa’s best restaurant is the R1,890 per person Chef’s menu. This will rise to R4,880 per person for those who add on a R2,990 gem wine pairing.

The Chef’s Menu, which studies local ingredients and unexpected flavour combinations, features the following items:

• Coal Roasted Oyster, Spekboom & Ginger Shiso, Yellowtail, Coconut
• Raw Springbok, Local Agave, Umfino
• Simon’s Town Chokka, Fresh Amasi Curd, Peas & Beans
• Meuse Farm Summer Salad
• Pan Fried Linefish, Abalone, Lime Leaf Emulsion 
• Steamed Pork Jowl, Sultana, Pork Skin Crumb
• Karoo Wagyu Beef Sirloin, Jollof Rice, Chakalaka
• Zambian Honey, Ghanaian Vanilla, Stellenbosch Rhubarb
• Salsify Chocolate Bar, Bains 18y.o Ice Cream / Selection Of Local Cheese

The LivingRoom at Summerhill Guest Estate, eThekwini – R1,250 per person

The home of Johannes Richter’s most expensive menu is its eight-course offering, which costs R1,250 per person.

This rises to R2,090 with a wine pairing. A non-alcoholic pairing will cost R1,930. The standard eight-course menu includes the following:

• Bhaji
• Sourdough bread, lime & sweet potato
• Heirloom carrot, home-fermented pigeon peas, miso & cape rose geranium
• Watermelon, macadamia & peppers
• Westcoast mussels, tomato & sweet corn / Daikon radish, tomato & sweet corn
• uKhova banana, bushpig & imbuia / uKhova banana, mushrooms & imbuia
• Vanessa’s chicken, Hluhluwe pineapple & madumbe / Dahl, Hluhluwe pineapple & madumbe
• Imbuzi, beetroot & litchi vinegar / Beetroot, lentils & litchi vinegar
• Nottingham road lamb, leek & potato / Aubergine, leek & potato
• Richmond sugar cane
• Mango, rice & lemon verbena
• Our Lemon Tree

Dusk, Stellenbosch – R1,995 per person

The most expensive menu at the Stellenbosch restaurant is the R1,995 per person Epicurean menu. This rises to R2,495 per person for those who choose the Pandora’s Box Pairing.

Pandora’s Box sees diners choose from eleven concealed boxes, with each revealing a trio of wines designed to complement the Epicurean menu, which includes:

• ‘Your Choice’
• ‘Breaking Bread’
• Peppa Pig’s Golden Dome’ / ‘Reuben on Rye’ / ‘Chicken Liver Ice Cream’
• Freshness’ – Lourensford Trout, Tumeric Escabeche, Ruby Grapefruit Snow, Summer Herbs
• ‘Modesty’ – Glazed Sweetbreads, Amadumbe Gnocchi, Diablo Cremé, Trail Mix, Oyster Mushroom
• ‘Indulgence’ – Scottish Scallop, Caramel Cauliflower Tortellini, Lemon Hollandaise, Parma Ham, Blue
  Cheese Butter, African Caviar
• ‘Wash Your Mouth Out With Soap’
• ‘Fermentation Library’
• ‘Culture’ – Spiced Yoghurt Marinated Seabass, Dania Relish, Turkish Apricot Emulsion, Thai Coconut
  & Peanut Curry, Slangetjies
• ‘Nitro Lucky Charms’
• Nostalgia’ – Banana Ice Cream, Semi-Fredo, Peanut Ganache, Cardamom Cake, Rum & Raisin
• Seasonal Bon Bon / Pâte de Fruit / NOCTURNE Barrel Aged Rum Canelé

FYN, Cape Town – R2,175 per person

FYN, which BusinessTech dined at in 2023, has been regularly deemed as one of the best restaurants in South Africa.

The Cape Town City Bowl-based restaurant’s most expensive menu is its Dinner Menu Experience, which costs R2,175 per person.

• Burnt mushroom cream, mosbolletjie
• Yellowfin tuna, aged local cheese, Cape rough skin lemon / Cape Malay pickled yellowtail, pomegranate, coconut / Lambert’s Bay abalone, miso wakame, dune spinach
• Heirloom tomato carpaccio, Karoo wagyu, kombu salsa, shiso
• West Coast rock lobster, chawanmushi, dashi leeks
• Seared chokka, sesame sauce, Madagascan Baerii caviar
• Laingsburg lamb, kuri squash, braised kabocha, African mint gremolata, pumpkin seed
• Atlantic Ridge kingklip, kapokbos tempura, coastal plants, daikon dashi
• Bok Box – Choice of African game, pine nut, roasted fig, new season porcini, prenia leaf, ghoenavy & khakibos sauce
• Amasi & rose pelargonium sorbet, strawberry & green tea jelly, mochi veil
• Wagashi

La Colombe, Cape Town – R2,195 per person

The crown of the La Colombe Group in Constantia’s menu was recently named the best restaurant in Africa by the World’s Best Restaurants.

Led by Executive Chef James Gaag, LA Colombe’s most expensive menus are its Dinner Menu and its vegetarian version, which work out to R2,195 per person. The main Dinner Menu contains the following:

• The dove’s nest
• Bread & charcuterie
• Tuna ‘la colombe’
• Namibian crab, gamefish, nahn jim
• Cape coastline
• Litchi
• Dry aged duck, celeriac
• Cheese & honey
• Rose, raspberry, pistachio
• Petit four chest

La Petite Colombe, Franschhoek – R2,195 per person

The smaller sister restaurants of La Colombe have been named as one of the best restaurants in South Africa.

Its most expensive is the Chef’s Full Experience and its vegetarian counterpart, which work out to R2,195 per person. The Chef’s Full Experience menu includes the following items:

• Picnic
• Langoustine salad
• Bread
• Crayfish, peri-peri, ponzu
• Yellowfin tuna, dhanya, coconut
• Line fish ‘viskop’ chowder
• Kalamansi, worm salt
• Coal-roasted lamb, celeriac, kapokbo
• Smoked stanford pear, mustard
• Stone fruit, almond, crème fraiche
• Sweets trolley

Pier, Cape Town – R2,195 per person

Another member of the La Colombe Group is Pier in the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. The restaurant serves a multi-course tasting menu inspired by the sea.

Like its sister restaurants, Pier’s most expensive menus are its Dinner Menu and its vegetarian counterpart at R2,195. The Dinner Menu features the following items:

• Yuzu, trout caesar, buffalo oyster, kimchi crab
• Snoek takoyaki
• Sourdough, curried hake butter, smoked mussels, chorizo, toasted yeast, cultured butter
• Tandoori yellowfin tuna, avocado, chevra
• Quail, langoustine, spiced coconut
• Agave, lime
• Lamb, stuffed morel, celeriac, chimichurri
• Cheese trolley
• Strawberry, elderflower, whey
• Treasure chest