Eat out dining options for lovebirds, first dates, post-fuccboi glow-ups, revolutionaries, work colleagues, book lovers, friends and introverts – a selection in Cape Town by Milisuthando Bongela.
Col’cacchio nationwide
For: Low-carb high-fat eaters or Banting dieters.
Average spend: R350 for two.
Address: colcacchio.co.za
There’s no way you will know whether your date is Banting unless you are serious about charming them – in which case you will ask whether they would like a Banting menu at the place you will be dining. If that’s the case, Col’cacchio is a good spot to try. Pizza, especially if eaten the right way – with your hands – can introduce a level of comfort and familiarity that can make awkward first-date banter a little easier.
They have a simple but delicious menu of five types of perfectly thin cauliflower-base pizzas and endless salads to choose from. The ambient noises of a big, open restaurant will mask awkward silences if there are any, and so might a bottle of Terra Del Capo Sangiovese, which, at R147 a pop, is well worth it. If things go well and coffees are being had, try their Nutella hot chocolate as a dessert-cum-coffee.
Option 2: Ricks Café Americain, Gardens, Cape Town 8001.
The Creamery Café Newlands
For: The Tinder date.
Average spend: R220 for two.
Address: Shop 4, Newlands Quarter, Dean Street, Newlands, Cape Town 7700.
Going on a Tinder date can be a mixture of exciting and terrifying, and sometimes the pressure for the meeting to go well can reduce one’s appetite. The Creamery is the perfect place to be in a social setting while eating sweet, handmade treats that will lighten the atmosphere. (see photo)
It’s a bright and friendly place for first meetings that can hopefully lead to a more formal second date. It’s a little pricey, but their Belgian waffles are probably better than those in Belgium, as is their entire handmade ice cream menu.
Beijing Opera
For: The “I’m out of the friend zone” date.
Average spend: R220 for two.
Address: 3 – 9 Rose Street, De Waterkant, Cape Town 8001.
So you and your date are not strangers, you’ve been friends for a while and one of you has liked the other, although the other wasn’t so keen. Through some miraculous way that you need to share with the world, you have made it out of the friend zone and are ready to go on a real date. Beijing Opera is a stylish, cool and no-fail Chinese eatery to take your relationship to the next level.
Order different things to share, such as the BBQ pork-pot stickers and a variety of dim sum, and wash it down with a craft beer. Everything about this place makes you want to stay longer: perfect for friends and lovers.
Downtown Ramen
For: The Introverts.
Average spend: R250 for two.
Address: 103 Harrington Street, Cape Town 8001.
This Wes Anderson-meets-Sofia Coppola setting upstairs from Lefty’s Dive Bar on Harrington Street is a perfect hideaway for a pair of food-loving thoroughbred introverts.
It’s a Japanese ramen restaurant with dim lighting and really simple and considered décor; thick wooden tables and high chairs that make for an intimate hideaway. A place of generous portions and colourful plates full of noodles, broths and all kinds of local and Japanese vegetables and delights. It’s the perfect place to go late at night after a drink downstairs. How hip do you have to be to come here? The place doesn’t have a sign. Happy searching.
For full selection of options around the country by Milisuthando Bongela see Mail & Guardian
