Food
This fine food is authentic and a touch playful (the beef fillet is served with tempura liver and the petit fours include caramel popcorn). Chef PJ Vadas sources excellent ingredients – the roasted eland fillet has the smoky characteristics of game meat yet it’s sublimely tender. Pastry chef Vanessa Quellec is an astonishing talent and The Roundhouse is one of the few restaurants in Cape Town that delights with its desserts, especially the soufflé.

Wine
Your sommelier, Guy Harcourt-Wood, has carefully paired each course with a wine (rare and exciting reserve wine pairings are also available). The wine list is extensive and the range of vintages attests to a lovingly stocked cellar.

Service
Warm and meticulous, from the heartfelt welcome to the post-dinner brush-down of your tablecloth with a damp napkin and ornate silver pan.

Ambience
This distinctive round building has, on and off, been a restaurant or tearoom since the early 1800s. The setting is spectacular – through the ancient pomegranate trees you have a view down the valley to the beach. Inside, the décor is crisp colonial, modernised with striking (and comfortable) Nguni dining chairs. AND… The Roundhouse’s lunchtime bistro – Rumbullion – offers Cape Town’s most decadent steak sandwich, moistened with truffle cream cheese. (MM)