A GREAT restaurant by all accounts: awards aplenty, word of mouth and Cape chefs’ favourite – see here. Special food and amazing view from up on high. Although there aren’t many of South Africa’s top restaurants that require a deposit of R250 per person when making a reservation…

So, the meal at Chefs Warehouse Beau Constantia will set you back R900 per couple – a set menu of eight tapas dishes served over three courses. Not bad for a restaurant of this calibre; less than what some of the other top restaurants in Cape Town are charging. Although it would be useful if they posted their menus and prices online, to get an idea of what you’re letting yourself in for.

What they also don’t tell you up front unless you ask for it, is something about the winelist. Apparently there isn’t a sommelier but the waiters are able to recommend certain wines that pair well with the dishes. And the list is limited: ten reds (three from Beau Constantia), eight whites (three from Beau Constantia), one pink and one bubbly (both from Beau Constantia), two dessert wines, two ports, a grappa – all South African, very little of the country’s very best, quite a few second labels, R180 to R1600 per bottle.

The menu changes often, at the chef’s discretion or according to what is in season. The reds and whites on offer at the time of writing were as follows:

RED WINE

Flotsam & Jetsam Stalwart Cinsault 2017 (Alheit) – R315
Rijk’s Touch of Oak Pinotage 2014 – R325
Beau Constantia Lucca 2015 (Bordeaux-Style Blend) – R380
Beau Constantia Aidan 2015 (Blend) – R380
Winery of Good Hope Pinot Noir 2017 (Radford Dale) – R390
Beau Constantia Stella 2016 (Syrah) – R550
Crystallum Peter Max Pinot Noir 2017 – R620
Radford Dale Black Rock Red Blend 2015 – R650
De Toren Z (Bordeaux-Style Blend) – R850
Hartenberg Gravel Hill Shiraz 2007 – R1600

WHITE WINE

Pas De Nom Green 2017 (Blend, Beau Constantia) – R180
Pas De Nom White 2018 (Blend, Beau Constantia) – R180
Fram Unwooded Chardonnay 2017 – R255
Flotsam & Jetsamm Heirloom Chenin Blanc 2017 (Alheit) – R350
Naude White Blend 2009 – R400
Momento Chenin Blanc Verdelho 2016 – R450
Fram Chenin Blanc 2016 – R480
Crystallum The Agnes Chardonnay 2016 – R560