South Africa’s top restaurant for 2018 named

(Title image by Seth Shezi. Original images by Katy Rose)

ALSO READ: The 30 nominated restaurants in the running for the 2018 EatOut awards

Cape Town – At a glittering red carpet event, celebrity chefs, restaurateurs and media gathered for the 20th annual Mercedes Benz Eat Out Awards, the highlight of the South African restaurant industry.

The Awards ceremony represents a whole year of top-secret visits to restaurants, where anonymous judges evaluate the very best restaurants in South Africa on the quality of their food, the selection of wine on offer and the professionalism of their servers.

Guests and nominees enjoyed a one-of-a-kind 6-course meal prepared by chef teams from some of South Africa’s most respected restaurants. 

Instagram celebrity baker and chef, Captain Bread Jason Lilley provided the heavenly bread course, while pastry chef-extraordinaire and restaurant owner, Glen Williams, plated together a spectacular dessert featuring this year’s hot new trending ingredient – Callebaut’s ruby chocolate. 

A selection of 30 restaurants was announced in late October, and from this list 20 have been named and awarded as winners this evening. Here are the winners, listed in order from position 20 to position 1 – The Eat Out Top 20 Restaurants 2018

20. The Pot Luck Club
19. The Shortmarket Club
18. Overture
17. La Tête
16. Chefs Warehouse at Maison
15. The Chefs’ Table (Umhlanga)
14. Le Coin Français
13. Foliage
12. Jordan Restaurant
11. Fermier Restaurant

ALSO READ: 6 Reasons wine is so expensive in restaurants

10. Chefs Warehouse at Beau Constantia
9. Jardine Restaurant
8. Camphors at Vergelegen
7. Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient
6. Greenhouse at The Cellars-Hohenort
5. La Petite Colombe
4. Wolfgat
3. La Colombe
2. The Test Kitchen 

1. The Restaurant at Waterkloof

The much anticipated Eat Out S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna Chef of the Year Award went to Kobus van der Merwe of Wolfgat in quaint Paternoster (also number 4 restaurant this year).

Congratulations to all the winners at the 2018 Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Restaurant Awards. You can read the full list of winners on the EatOut website. 

Follow Food24 on Twitter and Facebook as we bring you all the results and analysis of the biggest awards ceremony in South African food. 

ALSO READ: Restaurant Hacks: these are the rules for splitting the bill