Some Big Names Missing On This List Of SA’s Best Restaurants

[imagesource: Dudu Luthuli / Cape Town Magazine]

Restaurant reservation platform Dineplan has done its first-ever Reviewers’ Choice Awards in South Africa.

As you can imagine, the Western Cape’s eateries dominate the top 20 rated restaurants in the country.

The list of the best restaurants in the country is compiled via more than 200 000 reviews for over 1 000 local restaurants submitted between October 1, 2021, and September 30, 2022.

Only restaurants that had been on the Dineplan platform for that review period were eligible for inclusion.

During this 12-month period, there were over 3,6 million reservations made using Dineplan, equating to 16 million guests seated at Dineplan venues around the country.

Jirre, home-cooked meals for who?

This year’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants list saw Wolfgat come in at 90th, La Colombe in 56th, and FYN in 37th.

That system works through a panel of well-trained judges, whereas Dineplan’s Reviewers’ Choice Awards are 100% diner-generated, notes Bizcommunity:

Following a reservation, diners are asked to provide a review based on their experience – rating the food, value, service and ambience each out of five, with the option to comment.

Diners must have booked and honoured their reservation in order to leave a review – eliminating fake reviews.

Review systems can be tricky, so that is good to know.

A few things to note:

• FYN made the top 100 list (#55)
• Wolfgat and La Colombe are Dineplan clients but have chosen to not accept reviews via Dineplan, which is why they weren’t eligible

Alright, so now that you know the nitty-gritty of how the rating system works, here is the full Dineplan list.

Via The Citizen, here are the top 20.

1. Reverie Social Table

 

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2. Good to Gather

 

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3. The Table at De Meye

 

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4. Belly of the Beast

 

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5. Homespun by Matt

 

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6. The Melting Pot

 

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7. FABER

 

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8. GOLD Restaurant

 

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9. Cape Grace Signal Restaurant

 

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10. Newstead Lund Family Vineyards

 

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11. De Grendel Restaurant

12. Homespun Claremont

13. Epice

14. The Fat Butcher

15. 1777 @ The Old Rectory

16. 16th by KOI

17. SIBA – The Restaurant

18. Noop Restaurant

19. Jewell’s

20. Zest

While Dineplan has more longstanding Western Cape-based restaurants on its portfolio, 45% of its newcomers are outside the Cape, which received honourable mentions:

• In the Eastern Cape, The Hussar Grill in Walmer, Gqeberha is highly rated across ambience, service and value.
• In Gauteng, the Morning and Afternoon Tea at Saxon Hotel is in the top three for ambience and service, while the 16th by KOI in Pretoria placed in the regional top three for ambience and service.
• Although not in the top 100, a special mention goes to La Casa Nostra, in Durban, for placing in the regional top three for food and service.

Nice to know that as the holiday approaches there is so much to explore and eat.

[sources:citizen&bizcommunity]