I ate a R4,000 meal at the best restaurant in South Africa – this is what it’s really like
Eating at Fyn in Cape Town – recently named the best restaurant in South Africa and Africa, and the 75th-best restaurant in the world – is unlike any dining experience I have had before.
Even using the word “eating” to describe my actions there seems out of place, as hinted at by Fyn naming its set dinner list the “Experience Menu”.
The eight courses served are small, curated stories told through food – combining flavours and elements I would never have ordered if the menu was a la carte.
You are guided through the courses with a verbal and culinary tale: each plate of food a chapter of what the chef has lived and learned.
Before you close the page thinking a pseudo-foody is taking advantage of his five minutes of fame, know this: I ate air-fried frozen chicken nuggets and baked beans, paired with two large squirts of Wimpy tomato sauce for dipping the night before my world-class restaurant visit.
I will not forget my roots in this review.
The experience
From the moment the doorman at Fyn guided us into a narrow streetside parking outside the restaurant’s entrance to when we paid the bill before leaving, every staff member who interacted with us was attentive, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable.
The high level of service is complemented by an intimate and world-class setting in the restaurant itself, which is a stylish mix of seating for guests and an open kitchen that allows you to watch and hear the chefs and cooks in action.
My wife and I were seated in the “upstairs” half of the restaurant, giving us a great view of the main seating area and kitchen, and a striking sea of wooden discs on strings which hang from the ceiling.
We were then presented with two choices for dinner: the Experience Menu, or the slightly smaller Reduced Menu. You can add a wine pairing menu to either of these options, or order drinks as you like – but beyond that, you have no say in what you are eating and in what order it arrives.
We went for the full menu, and our first course was a plate of what can be described as sushi. It was fresh, light, and succulent – and eaten in under a minute as a result.
- Neoteric nigiri / kosho salsa / aged shoyu
- Mozambican crab / rice and seaweed salad / furikake
- Lambert’s Bay abalone / truffle kaeshi
The next course was both visually and gastronomically superb. Our waiter brought us a thick piece of laminated bark – which served as a plate – and a wooden spoon. Soon after, an upside-down ramekin with a small bread roll on top of it was placed in front of us.
We were instructed to pick up the roll, place it on the bark plate, and turn the ramekin over. Inside was a burnt sugar seal – like you would see on top of a crème brûlée – which hid a burnt mushroom custard.
This is the moment I said to myself: “Okay, this place is doing some cool stuff.”
Cracking the sweet seal and spooning the warm, savoury contents onto the fresh bread was delicious. I ate it in small bites to make it last as long as possible.
- Burnt mushroom custard / Hokkaido milkbun
Course three was seared gamefish accompanied by a tempura dune spinach.
The fish was fresh and delivered subtle flavours, while the tempura spinach had a superb texture and taste.
- Binchotan seared gamefish / tempura dune spinach / pomelo chirizu
Next up was the Cape wagyu, which I would have eaten several times over if allowed.
The wagyu was soft and packed with flavour, thanks to its marbling and a small amount of sauce dribbled over it.
It was plated on a leaf and covered in small amounts of thinly sliced and soaked vegetables, and eaten like a little parcel.
I devoured each serving in a single go, and spent a good minute dragging my index finger across my and my wife’s plates and licking it – getting as much of the sauce as I could.
- Cape wagyu / shiso / namasu / fried koji
Another fresh and subtle fish dish was served next, this time a poached kingklip paired with a langoustine sauce and topped with black caviar.
The caviar was added to our plate by our waiter at the table, spooned out of an ornamental skull for added impact.
- Poached kingklip / langoustine / black caviar
Course six continued where the caviar skull left off, served on a thick, shallow bowl which looked like an upturned mushroom.
The bowl was warm to the touch and contained a mixture of mushroom, couscous, artichoke, and vegetable sauce.
This was highly flavourful and hearty while not feeling heavy.
- Wild mushroom / pearl couscous / globe artichoke / Japanese artichoke / vegetable jibuni sauce
Course seven was another favourite: hazelnut-crusted Outeniqua springbok paired with celeriac and Elgin apples.
The sight and smell of this dish caused me to start eating with no consideration for my photography duties – hence the photo below.
The meat was soft and juicy, and the sauce and accompanying elements complemented it excellently.
Before the plates were served, our waiter placed a small rack of rustic steak knives on our table and asked us, in a good-humoured way, to each select one “which spoke to us”. It was the first time I have ever looked at a steak knife and determined if it matched my personality.
- Hazelnut-crusted Outeniqua springbok / celeriac / Elgin apples / Cape mountain sage
Concluding the experience were three small desserts that covered a range of colours, textures, and flavours.
A fried pocket, almost resembling a tea bag, exploded with liquid dark chocolate when I stuck my spoon in, running down the plate and surrounding a sweet pear. Outstanding.
Next was a jasmine tea “boeber”, a unique taste and texture which I mulled around in my mouth while trying to figure out what was inside.
Both these were trumped, however, by a matcha ice cream with lime juice. The creaminess of the ice cream was unlike anything I have had before and did not diminish as I ate it. The flavour was further enhanced by the lime juice, with its slightly sour and acidic tones bringing out the richness of the ice cream.
I would have taken a litre of this home if they sold it at the front desk.
- Fried chocolate / pear and sakura
- Matcha ice cream / lime
- Jasmine tea ‘boeber’
Our waiter then produced a bonus tray of petit fours. No prizes for guessing the outcome here: they were delicious.
Practical matters
Our experience at Fyn was excellent. However, it would be amiss of me to not detail the practical considerations you must take into account when dining at the country’s best restaurant.
The first is time: from when we were seated to when we paid the bill, a little over 3 hours had passed.
At no point did we feel bored or that the courses were drawn out. The timing of the food arriving and how long it took us to eat (or “experience”) each round was well balanced and you will feel engaged throughout the evening.
But if you have a rugby game to watch, make sure you schedule accordingly.
The second is the frame of mind you take into Fyn. You cannot go in with a “normal restaurant” mindset, where you order one large meal and a drink, eat it, smack your lips while loudly stating “that was delicious” and leave.
You won’t be hungry when you leave Fyn, but you will wish certain courses were triple the size so you could enjoy them more.
For us, the milkbun with mushroom custard and Cape wagyu would have been ordered on repeat until we could not walk. Our desert stomachs would then have been activated and filled with matcha ice cream and lime juice.
I suspect Fyn is conscious of this, and the deliberate nature of the menu’s order and the portion sizes only made us appreciate our favourites that much more.
Parking, too, must get a quick mention. For the Joburg crew: you are in Cape Town city centre. The roads are narrow, and parking is either not available or quite tight if you are in an SUV.
We were fortunate to get a spot right at the door, and there is a parking garage across the road from the entrance if needed. I had booked parking as part of my online reservation, but ostensibly, we did not use this.
The last point is price. Eating at Fyn is “expensive” by normal standards.
My wife and I both had the Experience Menu, and a bottle of sparkling water. My wife had a glass of wine, too. The total bill, including a discretionary service charge of 12.5%, was just under R4,400.
As part of the online booking process to reserve a table at Fyn, I had paid a R1,000 deposit a few weeks earlier – which was subtracted from the bill accordingly.
Verdict
I highly recommend Fyn if you want a unique and world-class dining experience. Their focus on excellence, from the way staff greet you at the door to the time and effort that goes into serving one-of-a-kind food, is refreshing and highly enjoyable.
The curated menu was also a welcome deviation from what I am used to when eating out. They made the choices for me and I experienced combinations of food I had not heard of or thought about before.
By now you should understand this restaurant is not aiming to be ordinary. By keeping this in mind, you will have an excellent evening at South Africa’s best restaurant.
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