The Best Sushi in Cape Town

There is no doubt that Cape Town is home to some of the best restaurants in South Africa. Of 2011’s Top 10 South African restaurants, the Western Cape hosts 9 of the Top 10, with 5 of these being in Cape Town itself. Nobu makes the list and, as a speciality sushi and Japanese restaurant, must rate as one of the top places in Cape Town to eat sushi.

Not everybody can afford fine dining and Michelin-starred restaurants though, which is why my personal favourite for the freshest sushi in Cape Town has to be Beluga.  Each year we make a pilgrimage to Cape Town for the Argus cycle tour and each year, we make a point of stopping past Beluga for a leisurely afternoon of sushi, dim sum and cocktails.

The perfect summer location for lunch in Cape Town

Beluga has hit on what has to be a winning combination – fine dining, excellent service and a daily half-price special. Judging by the popularity of Beluga, we’re not the only ones who appreciate the afternoon specials.  An extensive selection of home-made dim sum and sushi platters are available for half-price every day from 12:00 noon till 6pm.

Beware of knocking over the peppar cellar, as I did.

The outside courtyard is the perfect place in summer to enjoy Cape Town’s warm afternoons, but in winter, the large indoor seating area will ensure that you are kept warm and dry.  We started our lunch by ordering a selection of dim sum dishes. With combinations like prawns & coridander, beef ragout & mozzarella and duck & barbeque sauce, it’s tempting to order the entire menu.

Steamed beef fillet and ginger buns

We settled on beef fillet, ginger and barbeque sauce cha siu baau (steamed buns) and prawn & coriander deep-fried wontons. The steamed buns were light, fluffy and literally melted in our mouths. The home-made prawn wontons were jammed full of delicious prawn filling and were crisp and perfectly fried.  If you’ve never tried dim sum before, these are a great introduction.

Prawn and coriander wontons, fried to perfection

One of the specials that have made Beluga famous is their half-price sushi platters and the “Blonde” platter in particular has been a perennial favourite. We ordered a platter to share and our mouths watered as 24 pieces of sushi and sashimi were placed in front of us for a measly R119 ($15). The tuna and salmon sashimi was melt-in-your mouth fresh and the caviar-topped sushi roses exploded with flavour at each bite.

The "Blonde" sushi platter, a steal at R119.

Sushi roses, exploding with flavour

Fresh from the sea tuna and salmon sashimi

As if that weren't enough, rainbow rolls and nigiri clamour for attention

Personally, I don’t drink, but my partner assured me that the Toblerone Martini (R22 or $7.50, at half-price) was delectable and the Blood Orange Coconut Mojito, Caramello Pear and Bellini Passion Fruit cocktails sound delicious enough to tempt even myself.  My sweet tooth had to settle for the trade-mark jelly beans that accompanied our bill, a small part of the 4000kg’s of jelly beans that Beluga uses annually!

A sweet end to a delicious meal

The 2013 Argus tour seems a long way away and we might have to schedule another trip to Cape Town before that, to satisfy our Beluga sushi and dim sum fetish!

Beluga is located at The Foundry, Prestwick Street, Green Point, in Cape Town.