Belly of the beast — Restaurant in undefined

Belly of the Beast offers a unique and intimate dining experience with no menu—just a chef-led journey through seasonal, locally sourced dishes. It’s a bold concept that encourages trust, and while dietary requirements are catered for with advance notice, the overall approach is “just enjoy what you’re given.”

Though the menu states five courses, the experience begins with a welcome course of sweetbreads—an unexpected yet enjoyable start.

The first course was a standout: mielie bread with mushroom pâté and venison tartare, beautifully balanced and full of flavour. It was paired with Kumusha Sauvignon Blanc, which elevated the dish brilliantly.

The second course, a snoek pasta with spicy pork sausage, unfortunately missed the mark. The spicy sausage overpowered the delicate snoek. The wine pairing—Ghost in the Machine Malbec and Viognier—was interesting but didn’t bring harmony to the dish.

The third course, a lamb main with pap, was the most disappointing. The lamb lacked seasoning and depth, and the pap was average at best. The Lowerland Koedoe Cabernet Sauvignon was a great wine, but it couldn’t elevate the underwhelming dish.

Next was a cheese course: three tiny wedges of cheese, a pickled grape, and a reduction with crackers. The portion was minimal, but the wine pairing—Oupa se Wyn—was exceptional and one of the true highlights of the afternoon.

Dessert featured a tipsy tart (a small slice of brandy-soaked cake) with ice cream, compressed pear, a thinned-out caramel sauce, and a caramelised evaporated milk element that felt unnecessary and overly complicated. It was paired with Remhoogte Honeybunch Chenin Blanc, a lovely wine on its own, but the pairing didn’t quite work. The flavours clashed, making the dessert feel disjointed rather than indulgent.

A petit four followed—some form of white chocolate cookie with cream—which felt like an afterthought and didn’t add anything special to the meal.

The ambience was warm and relaxed, the staff attentive and friendly, and the space was full—testament to its reputation. However, at R750 per person for lunch and R350 for wine pairing, the overall experience felt inconsistent. Some dishes truly shone, especially early on, while others fell short of the mark.

It was an enjoyable afternoon, but for the price point, I expected more. I appreciated the concept and craftsmanship, but sadly, I...

My wife surprised me with a lunch to Belly of the Best for my Birthday, as she had known for quite some time that it was on my culinary bucket list in Cape Town. In summary, the service was exceptional and included some really attentive, observant and friendly staff and, for the most part, the food was good bar a few instances of lack of seasoning and that oomf factor.

The few few snack/starter dishes arrived but were served cold/room temperature which in my opinion would have been better served warm/fresh from being cooked. The dishes in question were the crumbed sweetbreads as well as their take on a "boerie" roll.

The fish dish was very flavorful, well balanced and cooked exceptionally well. It was Hake however and having been a Capetonian all my life it would have been nice to have had something a little less common. I I totally get it though, its was a local fish that they may have wanted to showcase in an elevated fashion and I can't fault them for that.

The main course unfortunately was the biggest disappointment of the tasting menu and consisted of venison steaks (Kudu) cooked Sous Vide. The dish lacked seasoning (salt) for me and for the most part was fairly one note, lacking that "flavor bomb" experience that you would expect from the crescendo of your dining experience. It just felt a bit safe and lacked a bit of creativity/innovation. The potatoe bake that came along with it had split underneath the cheesy surface, likely as a result of it having being baked at too high of a temperature, and resulted in more of a liquididy potatoe soup eating experience.

The dessert was labeled as a cheesecake, with their take on the nostalgic guavas and condensed milk. This was one in my top 3 dishes of the lunch experience. No surprise there given that I have a bit of a sweet tooth.

In summary, while I did overall have a good experience, I did leave having expected more. For a restaurant that had been awarded 2 stars from Eat Out's restaurant awards, I did feel like some of its counterpart restaurants, with that same accolade, impressed me more. The menu on the day felt a bit "safe" for R750 a head and potentially was catered more towards tourists (there were quite a few from what I could see) but it was a good experience nonetheless that I am happy I tried, but likely won't be running back to in the...

Lots of things to like but also lots of room for improvement:

First dish was oysters with citrus flavors and crispy onions: great in my opinion, oyster flavor still came true and matched with the other components. Second one mussels with Nduja… not good, too oily and rich. Then a Kudu Tataki which was really good: the onions tasted like Biltong and the meat was perfect. There was also a chicken liver paté and that‘s when my mood started to turn. That dish was too fatty and overly sweet to overcompensate for the bitter flavour of the liver.

Next up: Beef Tongue Burger: sounds cool! Served in a steamed bao bun as a slider sized burger and we were curious about the tongue, but boy were we disappointed - honey glazed with a salad dressing-like sauce with dill!? No cow tongue deserves to be served like this… it was way too sweet, too much sauce oozing out of the burger. It tasted bad.

Next course was yellow tail: overall an okay dish, fish slightly overcooked. Charred corn, baby spinach spinach. But again: too much sugar in the sauce.

Then came the lamb leg: cooked to perfection, very salty on the outside, with a cream sauce and mushrooms, pumpkin tart. Because it was served all in a bowl you always had too much of all the flavors on your fork, it all mixed. Why serve a meat dish with sides and sauce in a bowl? Why no steak knife?

Cheese course: Two types of goats cheese with pecan nuts and honey(!!).. more sugar.

Desert: really really good! Sorbet, flan, crumble, crunch. Well done!

Then: Strawberry Nesquik foam with peanut cookie… as if we needed more sugar. If it would have been used in something more elaborate, but literally Nesquik in a milk foam?

Service was friendly and they were open for critique (which I offered and gave directly after each course when prompted). Sommelier was competent and even gave us tips for new wine farms in the Stellenbosch region, much appreciated. Pairing was good, but the food was really not worth it.

There are so many good fine dining places in CPT where I‘ll gladly return, Belly of the Beast is not...