Ten, nine, eight, seven… It’s arguably the biggest party of the year – when all your old woes and foes are forgotten and you get to wipe the slate clean and start again. To make sure your New Year kicks off with a bang, we count down some great options for partying on the last night of 2011.

Johannesburg

Browns of Rivonia
Enjoy: Dinner and dance evening. Music by Starry Night Discotheques. À la carte menu and specials available.
Price: R100 per person (for entertainment only; excludes meals).

Lucky Bean
Enjoy: Three-course set menu*, bubbly at midnight and DJ.
Price: R250 per person.

Moyo (Melrose Arch)
Enjoy: À la carte menu, a glass of bubbly at midnight and entertainment.
Price: R550 (excludes service charge).

Tradewinds
Enjoy: Buffet dinner, welcome drink, party box and live music by Hullaballo.
Price: R500 per person.

Pretoria

Geet Indian Restaurant
Enjoy: À la carte menu.

Durban

Czar
Enjoy: Decadent Mansion-themed event with different dance floors and tickets.
Price: R100 (bronze ticket); R200 (silver ticket, which includes canapés, champagne toast and access to VIP area); R400 (gold ticket, which includes canapés, champagne toast, VIP seating area and a complimentary bottle of champagne).

The Grill Room
Enjoy: Seven-course culinary journey.
Price: R1 250 per person.

Havana Grill
Enjoy: Four-course menu* with dishes like twice-baked cheese soufflé, Moroccan lamb shank, and dark chocolate and orange tartlet with vanilla parfait.
Price: R420 per person (excludes 10% gratuity)

Ile Maurice
Enjoy: Three-course dinner.

Cape Town

Act Restaurant and Bar
Enjoy: Dinner and show at the Baxter Theatre. Act Restaurant will be open, serving a menu with highlights like blissful butternut and sage risotto or a scrumptious medley of seafood. Treat yourself to a selection of sweets from the pudding bar.

Bertha’s
Enjoy: Three-course meal, welcome glass of champagne and jazz band for entertainment. Moët will be available at R395 a bottle throughout the evening.
Price: R350 per person.

The Black Marlin
Enjoy: Dinner and dance, which includes a four-course crayfish platter menu. There will be a pianist on the upstairs floor and a DJ downstairs.
Price: R500 per person.

Café Chic
Enjoy: Five-course dinner*.
Price: R450.

The Conservatory (The Cellars-Hohenort)
Enjoy: Chinese-style three-course menu. Expect dim sum, spring rolls, pork belly, chop suey and mango panna cotta on the menu*.
Price: R1 200 per person.

Fork
Enjoy: the normal tapas menu, with delicious options like roast pork belly with a mustard parsley crust, mini kudu ifllets with chilli and deep-fried goat’s cheese with sundried tomato biscuits.

The Five Flies
Enjoy: Three-course menu*. Expect smoked salmon with horseradish crème fraîche, avocado purée, pickled cucumber and rye crisps; Karan beef fillet with asparagus, butternut puree, potato rösti, oxtail croquettes and white truffle jus; and crème brûlée.
Price: R795 per person.

Hildebrand
Enjoy: Five-course meal, champagne on arrival, and a five-piece band. Moët will be available at R395 a bottle throughout the evening.
Price: R1300 per person.

La Mouette
Enjoy: Four-course menu, which includes a welcome drink and champagne at midnight. Expect beef sirloin, pea and mint risotto, and ‘strawberries and cream’ on the menu*.
Price: R495 per person.

Moyo (Blouberg)
Enjoy: An African feast* and entertainment by CODA.
Price: R595 per person.

Oasis Restaurant
Enjoy: A buffet selection.
Price: R650 per adult and R350 for children under 12.

The Pepper Club
Enjoy: Three-course set menu and music by Gabriel Shai.
Price: R850 per person.

Rick’s Café
Enjoy: The à la carte menu. On the New Year’s Eve appetizer menu expect tuna tartar, prawn ceviche, chilli crab parcels, Moroccan chicken skewers and lamb köfte with a shot of chilled Vodka as a welcome drink and glass of Pongracz at midnight.
Price: R125 per person.

Societi Bistro
Enjoy: The summer à la carte menu, as well as a special New Year’s Eve blackboard menu.

Taste Restaurant
Enjoy: A New Year’s Eve dinner. Expect vegetable roulade and smoked salmon on the menu*.
Price: R385 per person.

Overberg

Pascal’s Country Kitchen
Enjoy: Dinner and dancing, as well as entertainment by Vernon Barnard with a run down of hits from the 60s, 70s and 80s.
Price: R185 per person.

Winelands

Asara
Enjoy: New Years Eve Buffet with Dancing. Join Asara for a New Years dance in the Ballroom, with a delicious buffet dinner, good music and a glass of bubbly at midnight.
Price: R295 per person and R125 for children under 10 years of age.
Call 021-8888 000 to book.

Or

Enjoy: a five course meal at Raphael’s Restaurant at Asara, with a little dancing and a celebratory glass of bubbly to toast the New Year.
Price: R950 per person.

Ben’s on the Beach
Enjoy: Three-course menu*, with dishes like fusion spring rolls, fillet béarnaise, grilled linefish and caramel parfait.
Price: R245 per person (R225 for cash payments).

Bodega Restaurant
Enjoy: Amuse-bouche on arrival, two-course meal* and a glass of Sterhuis Blanc de Blanc 2008 at midnight.
Price: R380 per person; R465 with paired wines.

Makaron
Enjoy: Four-course meal* with prawn cocktail, oven-roasted lamb loin and raspberry soufflé.
Price: R625 (inclusive of pre-dinner drink, entertainment, Christmas cracker, glass of champagne at midnight and ski lantern.)

Moyo (Stellenbosch)
Enjoy: A cocktail on arrival, light snack, face paint and an African feast*. Entertainment also included.
Price: R495 per person.

Restaurant @ Clos Maverne
Enjoy: Eight-course meal and wine. Expect smoked springbok salad, butternut and ricotta ravioli and strawberry and white chocolate terrine.
Price: R395 per person.

Restaurant Mangiare at Capelands
Enjoy: A New Year’s Eve menu* with smoked trout, monk fish, duck breast and parfait of lavender and poppy seed.
Price: R190 for two courses; R240 for three; R290 for four (excludes 10% service charge).

Proviant Kaapse Tafel en Spens
Enjoy: Three-course spitbraai, live music and bubby at midnight.
Price: R195 per person.

Is your restaurant throwing a New Year’s party that we don’t know about? Please let us know.

*See menu tab on the restaurant listing for full menu.

By Kelly Pluke and Linda Scarborough

Photographs: supplied by restaurants. Featured image: Derek Keats