The OK Guide to Cape Town: Coffee and Booze

Coffee

·      Deluxe Coffeeworks (25 Church St) - tall ceilings, solid and well priced coffee. This is pure coffee bar. No tea, no snacks, but they really turn out a great espresso and the crowd is hip and pretty to look at.

·      Heaven (Greenmarket Square) - cute little space in the Central Methodist Mission church.

·      Truth Coffee Cult (36 Buitenkant St) - steam-punk coffee palace with huge, atmospheric seating area; decent nibbles; and servers wearing excellent hats. Great place to work or people-watch.

·      Bean There (58 Wale St) - 'fair trade' coffee roasters with a nice cafe too. If you take your coffee seriously, so do they. Free cup of joe when you buy a package of coffee to brew at home.

·      Bread Milk and Honey (10 Spin St) - great, well-priced coffee and very tasty snacks, especially for breakfast. They can make an proper iced coffee – a rarity in Cape Town. Well-rated but expensive lunch buffet.

Booze - [ note: cocktails will NOT compare in quality to cocktails in major U.S. cities. Visiting Americans might want to stick with the wine, which is much better value and high quality ]

·      Roxy’s (14 Wandel St) - pleasant dive/diner.

·      Kitima (Hout Bay) - lovely, old house with a great cocktail menu. You can order their food from the bar (see Restaurants).

·      Clarke’s (133 Bree St) - several inventive cocktails make this a good early-evening stop in town.

·      Julep (Long Street, alley near Long Street Cafe) - cool, intimate, dark space with solid cocktail list. Best when they are not playing loud dance music.

·      Planet Bar (76 Orange St) - spacy (and spacious) lounge in the Mount Nelson Hotel that offers solid, boozy cocktails with worldly ingredients. Expensive.

·      Black Ram (Tamboerskloof, Corner of Kloof Nek Rd & Burnside Rd) - cool space with a nice but pricy selection of microbrews, wines, and booze. Very crowded and smoky on weekends. A see-and-be-seen kind of place, especially for hipster types.

·      Orphanage Cocktail Emporium (227 Bree St) - Victorian orphan-themed menu delivers tasty cocktails with stunning presentation and decent small plates. Pleasantly dark inside. More tea, Vicar?

·      Tjing Tjing Rooftop Bar (165 Longmarket St) - cool vibe with mixed indoor/outdoor space. Good music, wine, and cocktails.