Best Restaurants in Franschhoek
Five essential tables, ranked by occasion.
$$ R200–500$$$ R500–1000$$$$ Over R1000
Franschhoek’s Top 5
La Petite Colombe
La Petite Colombe offers an exceptional fine dining experience marked by creativity, elegance, and a touch of theatre — consistently ranked among South Africa’s finest restaurants and the Franschhoek dining r...
JAN Franschhoek
JAN Franschhoek features Chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen — the South African chef whose restaurant JAN in Nice, France holds a Michelin star — inviting diners to dine in an 1800s cottage amid the lavender...
Chefs Warehouse at Maison
Chefs Warehouse at Maison is regarded as one of the top restaurants in both Cape Town and Franschhoek — a kitchen that has earned genuine top-ranking in both South Africa’s most competitive dining contexts. T...
Arkeste by Richard Carstens
Arkeste by Richard Carstens is located on the outskirts of Franschhoek within Chamonix Wine Estate, offering an ever-changing à la carte menu and modern contemporary ambiance. Richard Carstens has been one of Sout...
Epice
Epice is one of South Africa’s most beautifully curated fine dining experiences — a restaurant where spices play a starring role and where the influences drawn from India, Spain, and the Middle East combine w...
Bread & Wine at Môreson
Bread & Wine on Môreson Wine Estate is a small deli with a dining terrace where you can sample charcuterie cured on the premises and unusual pizzas from Chef Neil Jewell — the most honest and unpretentious ex...
Dining in Franschhoek — The Essential Guide
The French Corner of the Cape
Franschhoek means ‘French Corner’ in Dutch — the valley settled by French Huguenot refugees in 1688 who brought their winemaking knowledge to the Cape and whose descendants have been producing some of South Africa’s finest wine for three centuries. The village of 1,500 permanent residents contains more serious fine dining restaurants per square kilometre than any other town in Africa, including a Michelin-starred chef (Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen at JAN Franschhoek) and multiple kitchens that consistently rank among South Africa’s best.
The wine estates that frame the valley — La Motte, Leeu, Chamonix, Môreson, Maison — all have serious restaurants that compete with each other on quality rather than simply relying on the setting’s beauty to do the work. The result is a dining landscape of concentrated excellence that makes Franschhoek one of the world’s great wine and food destinations.
The Franschhoek Wine Valley
The Franschhoek Valley produces South Africa’s finest Chenin Blanc, its most elegant Méthode Cap Classique, and Cabernet Franc and Semillon of genuine distinction. The restaurants that have grown up around the wine estates understand the ingredient landscape that surrounds them: the Riebeek Valley lamb, the Elgin apples, the Overstand seafood, and the Cape’s extraordinary stone fruits all appear in the menus of the valley’s best kitchens.