Activities in City Bowl

Charly's bakery (pronounced as Charlies Bakery) is extremely popular among Cape Town's locals because of their excellent and delicious products as well as the funky presentation applied to everything they do. Brightly coloured cup cakes with gold glitter and cheeky messages, pink petit fours, almond tartlets, brownies, etc are all on offer and all of high quality.

Café Royale is a popular burger restaurant on Long Street. They are famous for having a large selection of burgers with some original options on the menu. There are chicken and vegetarian options, but in general these are large and tasty meat burgers. Expect to find options like:

Located in one of the oldest buildings in Cape Town (check out the interior walls downstairs) 95 Keerom is a stylish and modern restaurant. The food is excellent and the staff well trained and attentive. The owener, Giorgio comes around to every table to explain the menu and specials - although his accent can be hard to understand!

Beer Salon and Charcuterie. Live Jazz on Saturday early evenings, Outdoor open air seating

The Cape Philarharmonic Orchestra is an active and full-time professional orchestra operating in Cape Town (one of only two in South Africa). They put on regular Symphony Seasons which are a series of productions in the City Hall.

The Cape Town Planetarium is in a beautiful old building just off Long Street in central Cape Town. It makes for an informative and cheap outing.

The Book Lounge is an independent bookshop on Roeland Street that specializes in local books. The staff takes a personal stake in the books that are stocked which leads to a good selection and excellent advice from the staff.

The Fashion Bar is the Cape Town branch of the Fashion TV Bar chain and part of the internationally recognized FTV brand. The idea is that the club caters for models and "fashionistas" and this has made the Fashion Bar predictably popular. The theme is opulence and high fashion with an emphasis on brands.

Boo Radleys is a vibey bar and restaurant in Hout Street (close to Long Street). Boo Radleys includes a bar area which is fairly popular especially later in the evenings. There is also a restaurant area.

The Bang Bang Club is a popular nightclub on Long/Loop Street in Cape Town. Located in a large open space room with two floors the Bang Band Club has a strong focus on music and has enlisted several popular DJ's.

The Artscape Theatre (formerly known as the Nico Malan Opera House) is Cape Town's largest and most modern theatre complex. There is a large 1145 seat opera house, a 540 seat theatre and 2 smaller arenas seating between 100 and 200.

Addis in the Cape is an authentic Ethiopian restaurant on Long Street. The restaurant is spread over the top two floors of a typical Long Street building (wooden floors, bare bricks, etc). The seating is unusual with very low wooden chairs arranged around small round tables adding to the authentic feel.

On Broadway is an awesome little restaurant nested in Cape Town’s CBD side streets that provides on stage live entertainment. I went to a stand up show preformed by Nik Rabinowitz which was excellent.

The Dias Tavern is a Portuguese restaurant in Caledon Street (City Bowl) near the Castle. There is a large menu but the focus is on meat (steaks, prego rolls) and the large seafood selection. You can view a detailed menu here

Caveua is a restaurant, wine bar and deli location on Bree Street in the City Bowl. The restaurant is in an old building and is spread over several rooms and into the Heritage Square hotel courtyard. The menu is largely tapas with options chalked up each evening. There is also a very extensive wine list with many options by the glass.

Barnato's is the restaurant in the recently renovated Kimberly Hotel on Roeland Street. They serve foods incorporating Asian, French and South African influences with fairly large helpings and reasonable prices.

The SA National Gallery is one of South Africa's premier art museums. It is located in the historic and beautiful company gardens in central Cape Town. The exhibitions change fairly regularly, but visitors can expect to find paintings, works on paper, photography, sculpture, beadwork, textiles and architecture. Details about current and upcoming exhibitions are available on the website (see link above).

Col Cacchio is a popular Italian restaurant chain and the branch in Cape Town's foreshore is as good as any other. It is a large and open restaurant with wooden floors and an open feel.

The Castle of Good Hope is South Africa's oldest building dating from 1666. Taking 13 years to build the castle replaced a smaller fort which was built by Jan van Riebeeck. The castle contained a curch, bakery, workshops, living quarters, cells, etc and was built because the Netherlands feared a British attack on the Cape.

Many people don't realize that it is possible to visit the parliament of South Africa. Visitors can arrange a tour (about 1 hour) or even attend a debate in parliament. All of these services are completely free, but must be arranged ahead of time.

Africa Café is a restaurant targeted at tourists which serves traditional meals from around Africa. Meals are brought to the tables in bowls and a "communal feast" ensues where diners can east as much as they like of their favorite meals. If you need more of anything the staff will happily oblige.

Gourmet Burger is a great little burger restaurant near the bottom of Long Street. The restaurant is small (only around 10 tables) and has been well decorated - modern and funky decorations and finishes. There is a selection of about 35 burgers of quite some variety.

Five Flies is a trendy restaurant situated in the city centre on Keerom Street. The restaurant is in the landmark Rembrandt House building which is now a National Monument. It has been well renovated to form a large restaurant spread over several rooms and two floors. There is an enclosed cobbled courtyard and several smaller rooms (which can cater for private functions)

Carlucci's is a popular restaurant and deli chain with branches in Sea Point, Gardens and (this one) City Bowl. The Roeland Street Carlucci's recently opened opposite the Kimberly Hotel on Roeland Street. The normal Carlucci's formula applies: there is a deli counter selling fresh sandwiches and meals. You can also purchase breads, wines, pre-made meals and other items in the store.

Green Market Square in central Cape Town is one of the city's most popular tourist attractions. It is a large cobbled stone square filled with various stalls selling a wide variety of clothes, African curios, candles, etc all aimed at the foreign tourist market.

Riboville is closed to business - you can no longer dine there.

In 1965 the Apartheid government deemed the vibrant but non-white community in District Six to be unwanted and forcibly removed 60,000 people to create a 'whites only' area. The District Six museum is dedicated to educating visitors about this historic community and its tragic end.

Masala Dosa is a small South Indian restaurant on Long Street. They have a simple menu offering what seems like pretty authentic Indian foods.

Rococo is a place where the creatives meet to drink only the best organic coffee in Cape Town and eat delicious sandwhiches with all your favorite toppings for only R25! Our art cafe is situated in a heritage building which dates back as far as 200 years!

South Africa plastic surgeon Dr Paul J. Skoll offers breast augmentation, tummy tucks, liposuction, face lifts as well
as various other plastic surgery procedures.