Guide · Waterfront

V&A Waterfront restaurants: where to eat by the harbor

V&A Waterfront restaurants run from a food hall with quayside seats to starred dining rooms, with a farm market at weekends and boats that serve lunch after an hour at sea.

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Editorial team, foodtourcapetown.comUpdated October 26, 2026Reading time about 6 minutes21 sources

On this topic: the tour Cape Town: Coastal Cruise & 2-Course Lunch Combo 4.8 (257 reviews) 2.5 hours from$43per person Check availabilityFree cancellation up to 24 hrs before

Quick answer, by appetite

01Casual and quick: Time Out Market: 13 kitchens and four bars under one roof.¹
02Weekend market: The farm market at the Waterfront, Saturday and Sunday mornings.²
03Starred dinner: Pier holds three Eat Out stars; Coy and The Waterside two.³ ⁴ ⁵
04Lunch with a view: A 1-hour coastal cruise, then a 2-course lunch ashore.
05Rule of thumb: Bring a card, not cash, for the food hall, and book the starred rooms ahead.

Eating around a working harbor

The V&A Waterfront is the part of Cape Town where the city's two great views, Table Mountain and the sea, meet a working harbor. It is also one of the easiest places in the city to eat well without a plan, because the choice runs from a counter lunch to a tasting menu within a short walk of each other.

That ease has a reason. Time Out Market Cape Town says the Waterfront has more than 7,500 parking bays, and the food hall sits a few steps from the hop-on hop-off bus stop and the Two Oceans Aquarium.⁶ ⁷ You can arrive by car, bus or on foot from the city and still eat on the quayside within the hour. Out of season the quays are calmer, and a table by the water is easier to find without a booking.

This page sorts V&A Waterfront restaurants by what you are in the mood for: a casual meal from many kitchens, a weekend market, a starred dinner, or lunch that comes with a boat trip. Prices for restaurants are not listed here, because no official source states them; menus and prices are on each place's own site.

A Waterfront food day

From the market to dinner by the water

Saturday 08:00

Farm market

Breakfast and produce at the Oranjezicht City Farm Market.²
Next

Cruise and lunch

An hour at sea, then a 2-course lunch ashore.
Afternoon

Aquarium or Watershed

Both a few steps from the food hall.⁷
Sunset

A glass on the water

A 1.5-hour sparkling wine cruise.
Evening

Food hall or starred table

13 kitchens, or a reservation at a starred room.¹ ³

Time Out Market: many kitchens, one hall

Time Out Market Cape Town opened as the first Time Out Market in Africa, and it sits beside The Watershed design hub.⁸ ⁷ It holds 13 kitchens run by local chefs and restaurateurs and four bars, and it has 750 seats, including quayside tables with Table Mountain views.¹ ⁹

It is open daily, from 11am to 10pm Sunday to Wednesday and from 11am to 11pm Thursday to Saturday, and its bars and kitchens close 30 minutes before the market does.¹⁰ ¹¹ It is a cashless hall that takes most credit and debit cards, so leave the cash in your wallet.¹²

For families it is the easiest table at the Waterfront: the market says each of its vendors has a child-friendly option on the menu.¹³ Order at different counters, meet at one table and share; it is the closest the Waterfront comes to a food tour without a guide. Go at an off-peak hour, mid-afternoon or early evening, and you will have the pick of the quayside tables and a shorter wait at the busiest counters. On a busy day, find a seat first and send one person to queue for each counter.

Reviews

Waterfront boat trips with food or drink

reviews

Totals as each listing displays them; only the cruise with lunch includes a meal.

Where to eat

Eating at the Waterfront at a glance

Place	Kind	When	Note
Time Out Market	Food hall	Daily from 11am	Cashless
City farm market	Weekend market	Sat & Sun mornings	Wednesday nights too
Pier	Fine dining	Book ahead	3 Eat Out stars
Coy Restaurant	Fine dining	Book ahead	2 Eat Out stars
The Waterside Restaurant	Fine dining	Book ahead	2 Eat Out stars
Terrarium	Restaurant	Book ahead	1 star, Green Star

Hours as Time Out Market and the farm market publish them; stars from the Eat Out Woolworths Restaurant Awards 2026.¹⁰ ¹² ² ³ ⁴ ⁵ ¹⁴

Three ways to eat

Hall, market or boat

Daily

The food hall

13 kitchens, four bars

Seats: 750
Pay: Card only
Open: From 11am

See the dates

Weekends

The farm market

Granger Bay and Dock Road

Saturday: 08:00 to 14:30
Sunday: 08:30 to 14:30
Founded: 2012

See the dates

Most food

Cruise and lunch

An hour at sea, then lunch

Hours: 2.5
Reviews: 257
Price: from $43

See the dates

Decision helper

Which Waterfront meal suits you?

Choose the line that fits today.

We all want something different I love markets It is a special occasion I want to see the coast too I want the city's own cooking

The food hall

13 kitchens and a child-friendly dish at every vendor.¹ ¹³

The farm market

Saturday and Sunday mornings, with Wednesday night markets most of the year.²

A starred table

Pier holds three Eat Out stars in 2026.³

Cruise and lunch

An hour on the water, then a 2-course lunch.

A food walk

The Bo-Kaap and three more areas, 10+ tastings.

There are 750 seats in total, including quayside tables with jaw-dropping Table Mountain views.

Time Out Market Cape TownSource 9

The farm market at weekends

The food market at the V&A Waterfront is the Oranjezicht City Farm Market. The farm behind it began as a small community food garden in 2012, and on 6 December 2025 the market moved across the road to a new market space.¹⁵ ¹⁶

It stands at the corner of Granger Bay Boulevard and Dock Road and opens on Saturday from 08:00 to 14:30 and on Sunday from 08:30 to 14:30, with a Wednesday night market from 16:00 to 21:30 that closes in June and July.² Check the dates before you plan a winter evening around it.

Come early for breakfast and the best produce, then walk the market slowly. A farm market is a good place to try small things you have not met before, from local cheeses to baked goods, and to talk to the people who made them. It also makes a calmer start to the day than a busy restaurant. Bring a bag for whatever you buy to take back to your room, and leave space in the day for a proper lunch later.

Checklist

Before you head to the harbor

Bring

A bank card: the food hall is cashless
A hat and sunscreen in summer
Flat shoes if you plan a boat trip

Plan

Book starred restaurants early
Farm market hours: weekend mornings
No Wednesday night market in June and July
Bus stop a few steps from the food hall

Price check

What a harbor trip costs your group

Choose a trip and the number of guests.

Cruise and lunch2.5 hoursfrom $43 Sunset cruise1.5 hoursfrom $46 Gin cruise1 hourfrom $37 City food walk4 hoursfrom $141

People 2

Total from$86

from, per person $43

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Every line takes the cheapest fare per guest that Viator or GetYourGuide shows for that trip, times your number of guests, converted with the European Central Bank's reference rate. The seller's own checkout shows the exact total.

Video

Eating through the farm market at the Waterfront

Until you tap play, the video stays unloaded.

The best restaurants at the V&A Waterfront

If you judge by South Africa's own restaurant awards, the best restaurants at the V&A Waterfront form a small cluster. Pier holds three Eat Out stars in 2026, and Coy Restaurant and The Waterside Restaurant hold two each.³ ⁴ ⁵

Terrarium holds one star and took the Emerging Green Star, one of three Green Stars that Eat Out gave for the first time in 2026.¹⁴ ¹⁷ Eat Out's stars rest on visits by seven anonymous judges over eight months, and a three-star score is over 90 out of 100.¹⁸ ¹⁹

Starred tables book out, especially on summer weekends, so reserve when your dates are fixed. If you cannot get in, the food hall and the farm market give you a sense of the same local produce at a fraction of the effort, and our page on the best restaurants in the city lists the starred places further afield.

Lunch at sea, then ashore

Several boat trips leave from the Waterfront, and one of them is built around food. A coastal cruise of 1 hour is followed by a 2-course lunch ashore, 2.5 hours in all, from $43.

Its listing offers lunch at City Grill or North Indian food at the Raj, and it meets at Waterfront Charters, Shop 5, Quay 5. With 257 reviews and a rating of 4.76, it is a well-proven way to combine the coast and a meal in one booking.

Note the small print: it is not suitable for toddlers, and high heels are not allowed on board. You can cancel free of charge until 24 hours ahead. On a windy day the sea can be lively, so eat lightly beforehand if you are prone to seasickness.

Drinks on the water

If you want a glass rather than a meal, there are shorter trips. A 1.5-hour sunset cruise with sparkling wine is the most reviewed of them, with 1,138 reviews, from $46. South African sparkling wine made the traditional way is labelled Méthode Cap Classique, so look for those words on a wine list ashore.²⁰

A 1-hour gin and tonic cruise leaves on a catamaran from the North Wharf, with two gin and tonic servings, from $37. It is a light way to see the coast from the water before dinner at one of the restaurants ashore.

Neither is a meal, so plan dinner around them, and bring a warm layer: the wind on the water at sunset is cooler than it feels on the quay. A sunset sail followed by a table at the food hall makes an easy Waterfront evening, with the lights of the harbor coming on as you eat.

Planning a Waterfront food day

Start at the farm market on a weekend morning, walk the harbor, and take the cruise with its 2-course lunch.² Spend the afternoon at the Two Oceans Aquarium or The Watershed, and finish at the food hall or a starred table for dinner.⁷

In summer the Waterfront is busy and bright; February averages a high of 28.2 °C at the airport station.²¹ In winter, July averages 18.5 °C by day, and the indoor food hall becomes the obvious lunch.²¹ A late lunch indoors and a walk on the breakwater afterwards make a good plan for a windy day.

If the Waterfront is your only food stop, you will miss the Bo-Kaap and the city center, where Cape Town's own cooking is strongest. The walking food tour this site books covers both in an afternoon, with 10+ tastings, from $141.

Book your afternoon

Four neighborhoods, one long tasting lunch.

Up to 12 guests, 10+ tastings with drinks, and a full refund up to 24 hours ahead.

Check datesfrom $141 · free to cancel 4.9 · 510 verified ratings

You ask,we answer.

Where can I eat casually at the Waterfront?

Time Out Market. Its 13 kitchens and four bars share one hall with 750 seats; it is open daily.¹ ⁹ ¹⁰

Is the food hall open late?

Until 10pm or 11pm. 11am to 10pm Sunday to Wednesday and 11am to 11pm Thursday to Saturday; kitchens close 30 minutes earlier.¹⁰ ¹¹

Can I pay with cash?

Not at Time Out Market. It is a cashless space that takes most credit and debit cards; ATMs are in the shopping malls.¹²

When is the farm market open?

Saturday and Sunday mornings. Saturday 08:00 to 14:30, Sunday 08:30 to 14:30, and a Wednesday night market except in June and July.²

Which Waterfront restaurants hold Eat Out stars?

Pier, Coy, The Waterside and Terrarium. Pier holds three stars, Coy Restaurant and The Waterside Restaurant two, and Terrarium one in 2026.³ ⁴ ⁵ ¹⁴

Is there a cruise that includes lunch?

Yes, a coastal cruise with a 2-course lunch. An hour at sea, then lunch at City Grill or the Raj, 2.5 hours in all, from $43.

Is there parking?

Plenty. Time Out Market says the Waterfront has more than 7,500 parking bays on site.⁶

Sources