With a charming setting in a 19th-century house near Company’s Gardens (founded by the Dutch East India Company to supply its passing ships with produce), this is one of the most reliable and refined restaurants in Cape Town. Try dishes such as teriyaki-style wildebeest with oyster mushrooms and apple-sesame seed compote, and duck breast with pumpkin seed couscous.
Overview
From Andrew Harper
Few people return from an African safari entirely unchanged: The experience is too intense and indelible. To witness the Serengeti’s epic wildebeest migration, or to watch a leopard stalking its prey at dusk in Botswana’s majestic Okavango Delta, is to be reconnected viscerally to the primal currents of life on earth.
For a first-time safari, we recommend the extraordinary game-viewing in Sabi Sand, a private reserve adjoining South Africa’s Kruger National Park. There, you will find many of the continent’s most stylish and sumptuous lodges, which magically combine 21st-century luxury with a timeless experience of the wild. On a second visit, there is an urge to venture farther afield. These days, surrounding countries have joined the luxury travel revolution. In particular, neighboring Namibia now offers a number of stylish and comfortable properties in surroundings of astounding natural splendor.
Hotels
All recommended hotels in Africa
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Abu Camp Completely rebuilt and refurbished camp, known as the preeminent place to ride African elephants, on a 500,000-acre private concession in the heart of the Okavango Delta. Overlooking a tranquil lagoon and shaded by hardwood trees, the six exceptionally elegant and relaxing, individually decorated accommodations are idiosyncratic canvas-and-beam structures that are part tent, part cabin. |
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Jao Camp Deluxe camp secluded on its own palmstudded island, accessible by boat, with spectacular lagoon views from open-air living and dining lounges. |
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Mombo & Little Mombo Camp Lavish enclave facing a picturesque savannah floodplain in an area teeming with wildlife near the northwest tip of Chief’s Island. The camp consists of two separate facilities connected by elevated walkways: Mombo, with nine stylish guest quarters, and Little Mombo, with three. |
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Sanctuary Chief's Camp Luxury camp amid a shady grove of trees overlooking an immense lagoon on Chief’s Island. |
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Great Plains Conservation - Zarafa Camp Classically styled new safari camp in the private 320,000-acre Selinda Reserve. |
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Jack's Camp Unique, extremely well-run camp on a low island at the edge of the Kalahari’s Makgadikgadi salt pans, an hour by air southeast of Maun. Enormous canvas main tent, filled with iconic objects, is lined by a voluptuous canopy of pale raspberry-pink cotton. For those of a romantic and adventurous spirit, Jack’s Camp cannot be recommended too highly. |
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Kings Pool Camp Comfortable camp overlooking an oxbow lagoon in the Linyanti Wildlife Reserve (on the western boundary of Chobe National Park), with excellent wildlife-viewing and a large elephant population, especially during winter. |
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Giraffe Manor Unique seven-room stone mansion on 12 private acres, 15 miles from Nairobi. |
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Elsa's Kopje Refined, stylishly appointed lodge in Meru National Park, named for the lioness featured in the movie “Born Free.” |
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Kichwa Tembo Bateleur Camp Charming camp surrounded by dense forest alive with monkeys (a 10-minute drive from Olonana) in the middle of the annual Great Migration path of wildebeest and zebra herds. |
Villas
All recommended villas in Africa
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Cliff Villa Overlooking the Indian Ocean, 30,000 square foot Cliff Villa’s elevated position ensures privacy and stunning views on Diani Beach, considered the best in Kenya. Diani Beach |
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Garden Villa Overlooking the Indian Ocean and Diani Beach, considered one of the best in Kenya, 40,000 square foot Garden Villa is a true oasis. Diani Beach |
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The Sanctuary at Ol Lentille Four lavish, fully staffed and individually styled houses built along the summit of a ridge offer commanding views across a landscape wooded with acacias and African olives, and crisscrossed by dry riverbeds. Laikipia Plateau |
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Grande Provence Heritage Wine Estate - The Owners Cottage Discreetly luxurious and superbly staffed Cape Dutch villa flanked by lovely gardens and vineyards on the 65-acre Grande Provence estate near Franschhoek. Franschhoek |
Dining
All recommended restaurants in Africa
Aubergine
39 Barnet Street
Cape Town
8001
South Africa
US$70
Bukhara
Come to this very popular restaurant downtown for outstanding Indian food, excellent service and a courtly welcome from owner Sabi Sabharwal. The tandoori seafood dishes are delicious.
33 Church Street
Cape Town
8001
South Africa
US$50
Caveau
This is a wonderful spot for lunch downtown, thanks to its seasonal contemporary Capetonian cuisine. The menu changes daily, but runs to dishes such as grilled sardines with potato croquettes and spicy tomato sauce, and a delicious raisin-flecked bread-and-butter pudding. It is accompanied by a superb selection of top-notch South African wines by the glass.
92 Bree Street
Cape Town
8000
South Africa
US$35
La Colombe
Of the three superb restaurants at the beautiful Constantia Uitsig winery 20 minutes outside of Cape Town, the one we like best is this pretty blue-and-yellow dining room overlooking a courtyard. The cuisine tends to Asian-inflected Mediterranean-style dishes by new chef Scot Kirton. His menus follow the season, but run to dishes such as scallops and pork belly in Black Forest ham velouté and springbok with spinach, foie gras, figs and potatoes in truffle jus.
Uitsig Farm, Spaanschemat River Road
Cape Town
South Africa
US$130
SALT
This mecca for seafood lovers has a spectacular setting above a boulder-lined shore. Begin with one of the signature starters, maybe snoek (a local fish) and potato samosas, or mussels steamed with fennel and saffron, and then try the delicious Cape Malay-style lobster curry, or the superb risotto with shrimp, chorizo sausage, peas and saffron.
Ambassador Hotel
34 Victoria Road
Bantry Bay
South Africa
US$60
The Test Kitchen
Luke Dale-Roberts spent four years as the much-heralded executive chef of La Colombe. In November 2010, he opened a 30-seat restaurant located in The Old Biscuit Mill, home to an eclectic range of markets, designer stores, studios and galleries. Diners can choose between a formal à la carte dining experience and an informal menu served at a bar facing the open kitchen. Representative dishes might include a starter such as foie gras, Jerusalem artichoke and lemon chicken tree with rosemary streusel and leaves, while a main course could be pan-seared lamb fillets with beetroot and jagermeister jus, braised fennel, sweetbreads and macadamia and cauliflower stuffing.
375 Albert Road
Woodstock
South Africa
US$60
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