There is of course no shortage of traditional South African restaurants in Cape Town, but one of the city’s lesser-known surprises is Azure, that also combines perfectly with a lazy drive along the Atlantic Seaboard. Come in a celebratory mood, and feast on Roberto de Carvalho’s clever reinventions on traditional dishes, such as Durban-style lamb curry, chicken pot-pie, and an interesting fynbos vegetable curry, all served in miniature three-leg black pots (known colloquially as potjies). The fynbos theme is Roberto’s signature, having worked for years to come up with a menu that’s truly SA-unique, making use of the highly specialized and fragrant plants that are endemic to the Cape. The grass-fed Natal Midlands beef goes incredibly well with fynbos flavours, and don’t miss the delicately-flavoured rooibos crème brûlee. There’s also a separate vegetarian menu, and a few superb renditions of classic seafood dishes, including a great salmon and tuna carpaccio, served with a wild dagga (a relative of marijuana) pesto, and Parmesan shavings. Despite the opulent beauty of the interior, you’ll probably want to
book a table on the outside terrace, where the real azure of the Atlantic opens up before you, and you can watch seals basking on the
rocks.