Kloof Street House — Restaurant in Gardens

If Cape Town were a novel, Kloof Street House would be that mysterious, spellbinding chapter you keep going back to — rich with atmosphere, dripping with style, and full of surprises.

Nestled under the leafy canopies of Kloof Street, just beneath the shadow of Table Mountain, this iconic restaurant is not just a place to eat — it’s an experience. A whimsical love letter to old-world charm, colonial curiosity, and culinary storytelling, Kloof Street House is where magic meets the menu.

Ambiance – Like Dining in a Dandy Explorer’s Mansion

From the outside, it’s easy to miss — a Victorian-era house with an elegant garden twinkling under fairy lights. But step inside, and you’re instantly transported to a world that’s part Gatsby, part Moulin Rouge, and entirely unforgettable.

There are multiple rooms, each with its own personality — dark wood floors, opulent vintage armchairs, fireplaces, antique bookshelves, dim chandeliers, and velvet galore. The lighting is low, the music jazzy and intimate, and the vibe deeply romantic without ever feeling pretentious. Even the bathrooms feel like they belong in an eccentric European film.

Whether you’re sipping wine in the plush library room, dining by candlelight in the garden, or lounging under pressed tin ceilings and golden portraits, you’ll feel like you’ve wandered into a secret society for beautiful food and even better stories.

Service – Warm, Witty, and Wonderfully Attentive

The service at Kloof Street House strikes that perfect balance: polished but playful. The staff are knowledgeable without being robotic, friendly without being overly familiar. They offer great recommendations, know the wine list inside out, and seem to truly enjoy working there — and that energy translates to the guest experience.

There’s a sort of unspoken rhythm in the way the team flows through the rooms, lighting candles, topping up water, presenting dishes like little treasures. If you’re celebrating something special, they’ll treat you with the kind of quiet, delightful ceremony that makes you feel truly seen.

Cuisine – Global Flavors with Cape Town Soul

The food? Divine. The menu blends classic comfort with inventive flair, using fresh, seasonal ingredients and global inspiration. It’s a refined culinary journey without ever becoming fussy.

Recommended Dishes:

Truffle Parmesan Fries: Because life is too short for basic potatoes. Rich, crisp, and totally addictive. Beef Fillet with Béarnaise Sauce: Cooked to perfection, tender and bold, with creamy, herby magic on the side. Lamb Shoulder with Root Veg and Salsa Verde: Slow-cooked for hours and worth every second. A rustic, elegant dish that warms you from the inside out. Seared Tuna Niçoise: Light but full of flavor — ideal for summer evenings in the garden. Oysters: Fresh, briny, and best paired with a crisp bubbly at sunset.

Desserts: The dark chocolate fondant is a must — gooey, rich, and indulgent. The malva pudding is also a local classic done just right, with a generous pour of cream and nostalgia.

Cocktails & Wine: Their cocktail list is curated with charm — think classics with a twist, herbs, botanicals, and seasonal fruit. The wine list showcases some of the best of the Cape Winelands — don’t hesitate to ask your server for a pairing; they’ll nail it.

Crowd – Chic Locals, World Travelers, and In-the-Know Foodies

Expect a buzzing mix of local creatives, romantic couples, stylish travelers, and cool Capetonians meeting over good food and better wine. It’s relaxed but elevated — the kind of crowd that appreciates a good playlist, a thoughtful wine pour, and the beauty of a three-hour dinner that turns into a night out.

Events & Occasions: Kloof Street House also hosts Sunday Jazz brunches — a magical way to wind down the weekend with live music, mimosas, and soft sunshine filtering through the leaves. It's also a popular spot for birthdays, proposals, and anniversaries — they know how to make moments...

Visited in December 2024. South Africa. Capetown.

This restaurant boasts a beautiful terrace, lush with greenery, creating a welcoming outdoor ambiance. However, the interior is rather cramped, with tables positioned extremely close together. This proximity leads to a considerable amount of noise and a distinct lack of intimacy. The dim lighting in the evening further contributes to this somewhat claustrophobic feel.

The Food: Our dining experience began with a selection of appetizers and main courses. The menu leans heavily towards European cuisine with a distinct Italian influence. We started with a dish similar to arancini – fried rice balls. The rice, however, was overcooked, resembling porridge more than the intended texture, and the heavy breading added unnecessary richness to an already substantial dish. The overall flavor profile was unremarkable. Next, we tried the grilled mini calamari. While tender enough, the accompanying sauce possessed an unusual, almost unpleasant, taste, and the calamari themselves had a strong, almost overwhelmingly briny flavor that detracted from the experience. My vegetarian pasta with spinach and burrata was unfortunately let down by the burrata, which exhibited a distinctly bitter taste, suggesting it might not have been entirely fresh. The pasta itself was well-cooked, but the spinach sauce lacked a balanced flavor profile and suitable seasoning, resulting in a simplistic and one-dimensional dish. The addition of dried prosciutto felt incongruous with the delicate texture of the pasta. The burger was equally disappointing, primarily due to the patty, which was composed of disparate, unevenly cooked segments. Despite the attractive presentation, the subpar patty undermined the entire culinary experience. Ultimately, while we sampled each dish, none of them were palatable enough to finish.

Service:

Service, while friendly, was somewhat slow, perhaps attributable to the restaurant's high occupancy. The servers' attentiveness was limited to delivering and clearing dishes, with the latter proving particularly problematic; used plates remained on our table for an unacceptable length of time.

In conclusion:

This is a visually appealing restaurant with a lovely terrace atmosphere. However, the quality and taste of the food are seriously questionable. Based on our experience, a visit would be best limited to enjoying...

Writing review on Kloof St House is like commenting on how John Mc Enroe (or Novak Djokovic, whatever, choose your own Gen hero) performed over a must-seen match final.

In brief, top notch performers also encounter either bad days or bad manners, lack of perfection, strategy, even though one keeps talking over how they performed because they are on top, sought-after, appreciated, loved.

Kloof Street House is that kind of place you may love or hate depending on which side of the table you prefer sitting, still, you can’t miss it. A must-try for a new comer’s, a second-home for locals, wanting to breath in the decadent atmosphere of restaurants in early 19th century.

Menù lacks some variety, wine list may impress more for multiples figures than rare labels, tables / seats vary their comfort depending on where and when you sit, gents & ladies (toilets) may disappoint incumbent on the account of busy days, overall clients find themselves projected into a time-machine situation whereas food plays its part mostly for the good. Worth mentioning the bar, tiny and cozy corner perfectly nestled in, offering great cocktails.

Highly recommended off-season, lunchtime, tea-time, for informal business meetings, friendly chats over odd days, those ones keen to be spent off the grid, alternative, out-of-the-box. That’s when you feel in Kloof St. House entirely at ease (and at home). Romance dinners and formal not advisable, the atmosphere might outplay the intentions (and expectations).

Peak season highly not recommendable unless one’s flexibility, patience, and tolerance, limitless. Gave five marks on atmosphere would be well deserved with better care to some duly maintenance and attention to interiors, some of them too much into the decadent & shabby side ie. repainting and / or refreshing walls and dets around shall not be claimed by clients. It’s a restaurant after all, hygienic / cleanliness...