2016 has been a wild ride. We’ve drunk dozens of milkshakes. We’ve drowned in doughnuts. And some of our top chefs have opened up new restaurants. What makes a restaurant popular on our site? The internet is a strange beast – and there are hundreds of variables – but we reckon this is a fairly good guide to the restaurants that have drawn the crowds this year.

1. Fourteen on Chartwell (Umhlanga)

Umhlanga has been cooking over the past few years, and Famous Brands’ flagship restaurants, Fourteen on Chartwell, was big news when it opened in November 2015. Since then, its popularity has skyrocketed with the young and well-heeled.

The Eton mess and a glass of bubbly at Fourteen on Chartwell. Photo supplied.

2. EB Social Kitchen & Bar (Hyde Park)

It may be the first bookstore restaurant to boast a Michelin-starred chef. Russel Armstrong’s relaxed Hyde Park restaurant boasts a popular tapas menu with careful presentation and preparation.

The steak fillet with roast potatoes at EB Social Kitchen & Bar. Photo supplied.

3. PRON (Linden)

The name may have been tongue-in-cheek, but it turns out that a restaurant name that’s an anagram for porn is also dynamite for SEO (that’s search engine optimisation for the uniniated). Whether that was Emma Chen’s intention or not, the People’s Republic of Noodles also makes wildly popular noodles and tapas.

The interior of PRON. Photograph courtesy of the restaurant.

4. The Test Kitchen by Luke Dale-Roberts (Woodstock)

Luke Dale-Roberts’s signature restaurant held onto its title as number one restaurant in the country at this year’s Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Restaurant Awards. It remains devilishly difficult to get your hands on a booking, but online bookings, limited to the coming month, have made things a little simpler! From 1 March, they’ll also take bookings three months in advance.

From 1 March, @TestKitchenCT will accept bookings 3 months in advance, making it easier to clinch a table at Africa’s #1 restaurant. pic.twitter.com/HwMaQYhchS

— The Test Kitchen (@TestKitchenCT) November 30, 2016

5. La Colombe (Constantia)

Scot Kirton’s magnificent Silvermist restaurant came in at number two at November’s Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Restaurant Awards. Simply stellar food and spectacular views make this the ultimate special occasions restaurant in Cape Town.

6. Craft (Parkhurst)

It might well have been their crazy milkshakes that gave Craft such a huge volume of traffic in 2016 – but their other menu items deserve your attention too. For instance, we can recommend this absurdly rich pulled pork mac and cheese.

7. Ash Restaurant (City Bowl, Cape Town)

A joint venture between chef Ash Heeger, (who’s done time at La Colombe, The Test Kitchen and The Ledbury and Dinner by Heston in London), Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants and Publik Wine Bar, this hip, subterranean restaurant has been an instant hit with Capetonians.

8. Jaipur Palace (Durban)

This classic Indian spot has had some mixed reviews of late, but one things for sure: it pulls in the crowds. We’ve heard that the mutton bunnies are good.

9. The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français (Franschhoek)

News that chef Margot Janse was to leave this stellar Franschhoek restaurant broke in October. You’ve got a few months still to see Margot in action – she’s there until late April 2017.

Ashed goat’s milk cheese, globe artichoke and olive oil at The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français. Photo by Jan Ras.

10. The Shortmarket Club (City Bowl, Cape Town)

Luke Dale-Roberts and former Pot Luck Club chef Wesley Randles opened up this beautiful restaurant in a magnificently transformed attic in June – and understandably, people got quite excited. We can highly recommend their breakfast menu!