2 Best Restaurants in Graaff-Reinet, The Eastern Cape

Apart from the fabulous breakfast spread that's laid out for guests staying at The Drostdy, the hotel's restaurant is also the best lunch and dinner venue in town, catering to a range of tastes and dietary preferences, not to mention offering cool dishes (like gazpacho) when it's hot under the Karoo sun, and offer lots of nourishment and warming comfort food when winter bares its teeth. From pizzas and burgers made with ground venison, to Karoo lamb curry and tasty venison loin, you can expect plenty of rewarding flavors. Seating is either outside under umbrellas on the terrace at the edge of a lawn garden, or inside, where there's an old-school clubby atmosphere and the walls are decorated with a prized collection of original bird illustrations. Servers are generally part of the town's hospitality training program which the hotel has a huge stake in, so while always extremely friendly and well-meaning, it's not necessarily always the sharpest.

While locals love to stop in for coffee, breakfast, and brunch, this house-converted-into-a-restaurant is also an excellent place to tuck into a selection of popular South African dishes such as slaphakskeentjies (boiled onions served in an egg sauce) or mosbolletjies (a kind of sweet dessert bread). There's also pizza, burgers, and BBQ chicken on the menu, but look out for anything featuring Karoo lamb. They also use the local rum to make cocktails, so be to try it. A selection of deli items (artisanal jams, teas, toffee, and more) is available to buy. It's not necessarily fine-dining, but fine eating in a relaxed environment.