Top Dim sum restaurants in Cape Town, South Africa

I’ve gone to South China Dim Sum several times over 5 years and it never disappoints. Their potstickers are always crispy and whether vegetarian or not - there will be something for you that is made with care and expertise.

Last year I booked for my birthday and was delighted to find that they reserved a private space at the back for myself and 12 friends. Despite it being a crowded table our orders and drinks were perfect. I recommend this gem of a restaurant over and over again!

The best dumplings in the city. I really enjoyed the food. Set up like a Chinese restaurant that you would see in the movies.

Got a small section in the front and a back area as well with lots of space. Essential to book for table to avoid not being able to be seated.

Staff was friendly and helpful.

The tuna tacos omg they were so good! Sushi is good too and I have yet to try the Chinese cuisine. But the tapas and atmosphere is great for date night or corporate functions. Very nice dark muted Japanese look and feel to the place. Definitely one of my favorites in Cape Town.

Visited this restaurant on a Saturday at 6.30pm. I did reserve a table but it was not busy at this time.
Drinks: Ordered 2 espresso martinis and 2 Awara Elixir cocktails which were both tasty!!
Food:
Steamed dim sum - Chicken Siu mai and beef Xiao long Bao. These were okay where the beef Xiao long Bao did not have that oozing sauce that comes out when you bite into it.
Fried Dim Sum - Prawn Avo Tempura with spicy mayonnaise. This was delicious! Be careful as it was piping hot!
Mains: Thai Penang Rib eye and Rendang Duck with 2 bowls of steamed rice.
Dessert: Cheese Cake and 2 scoops of ice cream (Mango and Vanilla with choc chips)

Total price: around 1850 Rand where we paid 2100 with tip.

Overall experience: staff were very attentive, great ambience where the lights did flicker at a certain time but staff came over to explain why it did that due to the generators and to save energy.
Wasn’t too keen on the steam dim sum as much (probably cos I’m being biased) but would definitely visit again cos of the fantastic experience we had!

The most amazing evening with the most delicious food. The service is next level and the attention to detail from the staff is excellent!

Ate here for the first time and was blown away. We ordered sushi and sashimi which was good but the highlight was the mains. The crisoy fried broccoli on salad and crisoy fried veg was nothing like we had ever eaten before. It was AMAZING. Then came the delicious stir fried rice and delicious crispy spicy lamb with veg. The combo was so delicious that we ate ourselves into a stupor. Wow. We have eaten all over the world and very seldom get sooo impressed. Haiku, you have outdone yourself. 🙌🏽👏🏽👍🏽🙏

I’m a bit disappointed in this restaurant as I was looking so forward to the short ribs. I wasn’t informed of the portion size so it was very disheartening for a small cup of 3 blocks of rib and rice for R110. Although the serve was very friendly, I wish the she had informed us about the portion size as it was our first time there. The pot stickers were also unfortunately sour and 3 for R60 doesn't seem worth it to me. Our bill came to almost R400 and it definitely wasn’t worth it for two people. I wouldn't suggest it if you're looking for a cost effective filling meal.

What a taste explosion. Beautifully presented food, unique taste. I loved every bit and the waitress was extremely knowledgeable.

This was my favourite restaurant many years ago So I decided to visit once again.. It wasn’t the right decision, unfortunately!
The food is overpriced, the service chaotic, and not a clue to organizing themselves. The male host I do t think worked in a restaurant before..
And on top of everything the clothes smell like you been working on the kitchen yourself after returning home!
There are some many better restaurants in CapeTown!

Delicious, delicious, delicious. If you visit be sure you have their signature dish, Peking Duck. It is worth every 5 star review. So much flavour in the sauces. This ia our second visit, we went back for the Cheesecake is the most fantastic one ever tried. Service was top notch.

This is a quaint restaurant on the top of king street that offers a range of dumplings on their permanent menu and a selection of Chinese street food, usually rice or noodle based that changes weekly. The food is incredibly fresh and cooked from scratch in the kitchen that you can see from most seats. The staff there is extremely friendly and warm. I have tried most things on their menu and the prawn and pork dumplings really stood out to me. I have visited them three times already and definitely will be back!

Has great potential but misses the mark on most dishes. Was lacking in the balanced flavours that Asian cuisine requires but since the flavour profiles of the core seasonings are already good it is a satisfactory dining experience.
Skip the dessert - not worth it.

"We have been STOLEN" are the words I will use to define our experience.

We pay astronomic fees for eating nothing. The portion does not even worth to be called snacking. 3 small dim sum for 60 ZAR, 110 ZAR for less than a handful of nooddles, a robbery!

The restaurant even charge extra 80 ZAR per pax for a place in the VIP lounge for a live band who played only 3 music and pack there stuff up just after. It's a real scam.

The worst restaurant we have been eating in Cape Town and will definitely NOT RECOMMEND it to anyone as you paying a huge price for nothing. We needed to order a pizza just after to fill our stomachs still starving.

Worst experience ever!
(1 start will be too much grading for this restaurant)

Went for a quick bite before going to Artscape, what an awesome experience!!
Beautifully balanced flavours

They have the best Tapas in the city and their Sushi is better than so many of the so called Sushi places in Cape Town . They also have a great selection for vegans.

Visited Yu for the first time and had a lovely meal. We also had a recommended special - cauliflower bao buns, which were packed with flavour.
The atmosphere was vibey, good lighting and interior decor. The service and attention to detail was excellent! Definrely recommend!

What an amazing meal
We shared the meals between two of us.
We ordered the chicken money bagd deep fried dim sum. This was the best.
We also had the chicken boa bun which was delicious.
And then we shared the Peking duck with pancakes which was incredible.

Cheesecake and ginger crumble for dessert.

The atmosphere was great and good selection of wine as well.

The staff were really friendly.

We tried Yu today and staff were friendly and attentive. The food was really good. I would definitely recommend the chicken wings, chicken and sriracha bao and the chicken fried dumplings! Those were our favorites. Everything was good aside from the seafood steamed dim-sum, it was a bit fishy for our taste!

Will definitely be back! There’s so much more in the menu to try

Absolutely amazing!!! I’d give a 5, however, they don’t have a written dessert menu, so the waiter tells you, and misunderstandings can happen, as it occurred to us (hard to understand his English accent).
He said they had a green tea fondant, when it came, it was a normal chocolate fondant, so we were a bit disappointed. Other than that: really good menu, interesting mix of flavors.

The milkshakes were basically ice with some powder and milk very badly mixed.
The sushi was ok. Do NOT order the garlic chicken.... The waiter ate the box of motchi that forgot, and returned back within 2 minutes of my realisation. Overall a pretty long ordeal instead of a pleasant dinner.

First of all, the food is so savory and good. The sauces matches perfectly and they also have a variety of wine, sake and spirits.
The place itself feels very authentic, it has a chill nice vibe and the decoration is very minimalistic yet captures the eye.
I enjoyed the food so very much, as a vegetarian I had only a few options yet they all were really good.
Don’t miss the Turnip Cakes or the salted caramel ice cream! Both are amazing!

Fantastic owner run, cozy little restaurant serving homemade dimsums, soups and noodles. The food here tastes like it has heart in it, which means a lot to me. The flavours are quite authentic, all well balanced. The cocktails and beers are outstanding too. The prices are not bad for this level of service. Dont underestimate this restaurant.

Evening dining . It's a no go . Loadshedding made it worse with dismal lighting no air movement . Sushi was prepared super fast or was already prepared as we were the only Diné ins for the evening. Dodgy area with scuffels between staff members of other establishmenta right at the door . Off site ablutions with no lighting made it even dodgier . Google maps didn't send us to the right place either . Food price ok . Waitress felt more on edge than wanting to talk casually . Chef not even wanting to talk . Manager hiding behind the counter and less than nothing to do with our arrival or eating or departure. First and last visit . Tempura prawns 4 little crunchy sticks . Dimsum ok . Sushi tasteless bland but relatively fresh . Wasabi nice and hot . Ginger ok . Wanton crispy and golden and chicken inside decent . Chocolate milkshake was more like milk with some chocolate ontop .

Minato On Long has fresh, quality sushi at a very affordable price. I particularly appreciate the buy one get one free special. The service is very good and our waitress was very helpful. I rated the atmosphere highly because it is always quite quiet there which I appreciate. Might be a bit too quiet if you went there alone though. My go to place for sushi takeaways.

Loved it. The quality of food was wonderful and fresh, every bite was tasty and well presented. Service was very good and attentive, we enjoyed the ambiance which is romantic and comfortable lighting. We ordered tapas style to try as much as we can and we’re were pleasantly surprised every time. Food kept coming and it was wonderful.

Have been wanting to come here for ages, as every time we pass by, they’re always closed. We thought this evening we were in luck to get a table…but…

Sadly disappointing. Overpriced for the portion sizes. Lacks flavour with all their items. And served on throw-away paper plates and plastic utensils? Why be so wasteful for a sit-down restaurant? I don’t get it.

We had nearly all the dumplings. Plus a beef bao, beef main and the special for the day. Dumplings were below average. Stuck to the paper plates. Boa was ok but very little filling. Coconut soup was overpriced and bland. The Beef “main” was served in a tiny paper bowl and was only filled a third full for R95, totally poor value for money. We fortunately (unfortunately for the owner) do know better - we’ve travelled the world extensively and have frequented China, Japan and many other Asian countries well over a two dozen times each per country. This little place sadly did not represent “South China” at all.

The service was pleasant and the venue is quaint, but sadly that’s where it ends. Would not go back. Poor value for what you get. We also know food costings because we also come from the industry and know exactly what Asian produce costs and all other catering items.

We also left here still feeling hungry. Went up the road to get a pizza for home.

A great dining experience. We enjoyed our seared, crusted tuna, though we would have liked to see all sides of the fish crusted as well as a better cut of fish. The bao buns were alright as well, definitely better than many other places, but still nothing too incredible. One of our party ordered the salmon and very much liked the sauce and the cut of fish. Biggest complaint is that there were way too many specials for an evening - keeping it to just 2-3 specials that the chef could do well would result in superior specials.

The sushi is very tasty and well priced. I like that they stick to the 'traditional' way of making sushi, not drenched in sauce or deep fried. Feels healthy and clean when you eat it. Have used their website to order and deliver and it works reliably. Overall good experience.

Amazing experience!
It's one of the best sushi I've ever had!
Discreet place, attentive staff, fresh and very well prepared food...
Certainly a place we will return to on our next visits to Cape Town!

Got Uber eats, good sushi. The eel nigiri said “buy 1 get 1 free” but they made it half the size. Felt ripped off. Might as well not say that and make them full size. False advertising.

A hidden gem for sure and one of the oldest sushi spots in CT. Don’t expect anything fancy, it’s simple, unpretentious and delicious. I shared a bunch of stuff here with a friend and received great service. So much so that I returned on another trip to CT. It’s well priced too. The lady running the place is really nice.

4.5 stars. Very friendly and unassuming place. Such an interesting and extensive menu. Amazing sushi and quaint decor. Great service.