We are blessed in Cape Town to have such an amazing food scene, with our diversity creating a flavour bomb which we can be very proud of (although maybe not when it comes to its effect on the old waistline).
That pride in our food has just shot up a few notches thanks to Cape Town being ranked in fourth place globally when it comes to our culinary scene.
Time Out Travel on Tuesday morning released their annual 'World's 20 Best Cities for Food Right Now' list.
Topping the list is New Orleans in the USA thanks to its rich cultural history's influence on their food (not unlike us in Cape Town), with Thailand's Bangkok and Colombia's Medellín securing second and third, respectively.
Madrid rounds out the top five. We can agree wholeheartedly with the Spanish capital's inclusion after experiencing the wonders of Los33 at Vuur for the Rare Tour.
According to Time Out Travel, 'In order to figure out the great culinary metropolises of today, we surveyed thousands of people around the world about food in their city. We asked locals to rate their city’s food scene across 18 different criteria, including quality, affordability and attributes from ‘family-friendly’ to ‘experimental’.'
'Each city was ranked according to quality and affordability ratings, alongside a score from a panel of Time Out food experts – editors, food critics and Time Out Market chefs – who were asked to share their insights into the most exciting cities for food right now.'
While there is always much debate amongst locals around what makes Cape Town's food scene what it is - given all the influences - one particular winner is the not-so-humble gatsby, which our very own Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis just happens to be a big fan of.
Whatever your favourite is in Cape Town, one thing is for sure - we know how to do food well.
Cape Town accolades in 2025
This recognition comes after the Labia Theatre was named as a contender for the most beautiful cinemas in the world and a Cape Town pizza cracked the top 20 globally.
The Mother City was also named Time Out's Best City in the World for 2025 back in January, while it was revealed that Cape Town is a top 10 destination for finding love.
In addition, a local coffee shop ranked highly globally and a Cape Town eatery was shown some love in a top 50 list.
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