Muisbosskerm Open Air Restaurant — Restaurant in Cederberg Local Municipality

We visited Muisbosskerm on 4 January 2025 with high hopes based on glowing reviews and social media hype. The location is stunning, with breathtaking sea views, ample seating, and great potential for a lively atmosphere.

Unfortunately, the experience fell short. Once the venue filled up, it became overcrowded, and the lack of organisation was glaring. Food trays were inconsistently placed across multiple serving areas, with no clear communication about what was being served or when. Greedy and inconsiderate guests overloaded their plates, leaving little for others. I know it’s a buffet, but damn! Uitgevriet much?! The absence of staff managing portions led to chaos, long queues, and frustration. Assigning staff to do this could significantly improve the experience without compromising on the buffet-style format.

The food we sampled was mostly delicious, with the smoked mackerel, snoek, yellowtail, sweet potato, and vegetable stir fry standing out. However, the seafood paella was lackluster, looking more like a rice paella with traces of seafood, and the baked bread was underwhelming. The calamari, though nice, was nothing special. While the wine & beverage selection was decent, including beer on tap, we did not drive over 200km for an impressive booze offering. Sadly, this was as far as we ate and we chose not to stay for the meat stews and whatever else followed. So underwhelming was our experience that we were willing to forgo the rest of it and just get out of there.

The atmosphere was another letdown. Despite the crowd, there was no real “vibe”—no jovial music, no high energy from the staff, and no sense of control. Just lots of people scurrying for food.

Thanks to social media, many people have been quite vocal about how Muisbosskerm offers a significantly better experience than the Strandloper in Langebaan. This may be true in certain aspects, but my sentiments are that the Strandloper offers significantly better organisation, communication and control, sufficient staff that are vibrant and visible, a proper Weskus fishing village vibe complete with props, music and dancing, as well as being the true champions of baked bread, farm butter and tasty preserves.

In fairness, I believe Muisbosskerm has the potential to deliver an exceptional experience, as many other reviews suggest. I’m sure they have delivered on this countless times before and will continue to do so. After all, I have seen the photos and videos. That’s why we came! Unfortunately, during our visit, they seemed unprepared for the festive rush and I suspect that they were overrun by more people than should have been allowed at any one time, given the skeleton-staff-complement to patron ratio on the day. However, given how long they have been around, they should have been prepared for festive rush. Nevertheless, we have decided to return in the off-season and give it another...

Authentic West Coast Experience – A Must Visit

We finally made it to Muisbosskerm for lunch earlier this year after I wanted to visit since the 90s when they first opened and when I was at University.

Reservations are essential, not only to ensure enough guests for them to serve lunch on your preferred day but also because it does get busy. I highly recommend arriving early to get the best seat because many tables don't have direct sea views, but a few are set right on the beach, offering unbeatable views and atmosphere. You can easily pass the time until they start to serve the meal by grabbing a drink and soak up the coastal charm.

The food selection is amazing, especially the variety of seafood, freshly baked bread, and a few other dishes. Personally, I would’ve preferred the focus to be purely on seafood (which is what they do best), but others may enjoy the variety.

One suggestion: it would be great if there were a bit more information about the dishes being served. With several fish options on offer, it’s not always clear what’s what or how they differ. Having someone walk around to explain the dishes and how the different fish compare in taste or grilling style would really enhance the experience.

That said, it’s a wonderfully informal, feet-in-the-sand, uniquely West Coast dining experience. We had great conversations with new friends at neighbouring tables and truly enjoyed the relaxed, communal atmosphere.

Highly recommended for anyone wanting an authentic taste of the West...

If you want tons of food, this is your place!!! Just remember: you have to book beforehand. Lots of seafood (fish, mussels, calamari, etc), homebaked bread with homemade jams, real Kaapse patats (shiny and sweet), chips - all self-service and eat-as-much-as-you-like. Later they had all kinds of potjies, eisbein and other meat dishes. Dessert was koeksisters - not sure if there was anything else for dessert. Really far too much for me to even try and taste everything. We paid corkage and took our own wine. We would have loved to pay the extra for crayfish, but they had none.

Very, very rustic. You just get enemal plates and mussel shells to eat with. No other cutlery. They do have wineglasses and lots of ice. And they have a drinks menu with wine, beer and soft drinks. Remember to pack your wetwipes! And if you want to "fine-dine" take a tablecloth. We didn't miss that.

A very pleasant experience. But be sure to go in a group, as this is absolutely great for sharing and having fun. And remember that you will sit outside, although under shadow netting. Take your puffer jackets, sunhats and sunglasses with, as it started off real cold and became warmer...