Cafe Caprice

The Atlantic Backdrop and What It Does to a Bar's Identity

Victoria Road in Camps Bay is one of the more theatrically situated drinking strips in the southern hemisphere. The Twelve Apostles mountain range runs hard behind it, the Atlantic sits directly in front, and afternoon light arrives at an angle that turns everything gold. Bars on this strip do not compete with each other on subtlety — they compete on position, visibility, and the ability to hold a crowd across several hours and several different moods. Cafe Caprice, at number 37, sits squarely in that format: an open-fronted room that spills across the pavement and faces the beach with the kind of confidence that comes from doing one thing consistently for a long time.

The physical approach tells you most of what you need to know. There is no concealment here, no low-lit anteroom or heavy door. What you encounter is noise, movement, and an unobstructed view of the sea — conditions that flatten the distinction between inside and outside and encourage the kind of lingering that turns a single drink into an afternoon. That permeability is a deliberate format choice, and it places Cafe Caprice in a different category from Cape Town's more interior-focused bar programs, such as Planet Bar at the Mount Nelson or the tighter, spirit-led formats at Cause Effect Cocktail Kitchen.

What a 2010 World's 50 Best Bars Ranking Actually Signals

The bar industry's awards infrastructure has expanded considerably since 2010, when the World's 50 Best Bars list was still establishing its methodology. A ranking of No. 27 in that year represents a different competitive context from a modern top-50 placement, but it is not a lesser credential , in many respects it is a more selective one, awarded when fewer African bars were appearing in any international ranking at all. For Cafe Caprice, the recognition placed it in conversation with European and North American addresses that dominated the list, which carried meaningful weight for a beachfront bar operating outside the usual cocktail-program capitals.

Within South Africa, that kind of international citation has historically been rare. Bars in Johannesburg such as Sin + Tax have since built their own critical profiles, and the country's bar scene has grown more differentiated, with addresses like Vee & Forti in Pretoria and San Deck in Sandton adding to a wider national conversation. But in 2010, international recognition of this kind was a genuine marker, and Cafe Caprice's placement put Cape Town on a map that most awards bodies had not yet drawn to include South Africa. That matters for understanding the venue's continuing reputation: it was not built on recent programming or a wave of new investment, but on sustained visibility over more than a decade.

The 4.4 Google rating across more than 3,100 reviews adds a different data layer. A rating held at that level across a volume of responses that large indicates consistency over time rather than a single strong season. Camps Bay attracts tourists and Cape Town regulars in roughly equal measure, and the breadth of that reviewer base suggests the bar functions across different types of visit , not just the demographic most likely to award five stars reflexively.

Where Caprice Sits in Cape Town's Bar Conversation

Cape Town's bar scene has matured into distinct tiers since Cafe Caprice's international moment. The cocktail-forward, technically driven end of the market is represented by addresses like Cassette and Cause Effect Cocktail Kitchen, where the emphasis falls on program depth and ingredient specificity. At the other end, the city's lounge-bar format , broader menus, higher throughput, location-driven draw , operates on different metrics entirely. Cafe Caprice occupies the latter space without apology. Its value proposition has always been the intersection of setting, crowd energy, and accessibility rather than a narrow technical claim.

That positioning does not diminish the bar's standing; it clarifies it. Comparing Cafe Caprice to a seated cocktail bar with a 40-cover capacity is a category error. The more instructive comparison is with other beach-strip venues globally that have managed to sustain critical recognition beyond their initial moment , a short list, because the format tends to favour novelty over longevity. On that measure, Caprice's ability to maintain a 4.4 across thousands of reviews while operating in a high-traffic, high-turnover environment is an editorial fact worth noting.

For a fuller map of where Cape Town's drinking addresses sit relative to each other, the EP Club Cape Town guide covers the relevant categories across neighbourhoods. It is worth reading alongside any Camps Bay visit, because the strip and the city centre operate on genuinely different registers, and planning across both requires knowing which register you are in.

What to Drink and When to Go

The question of what to drink at Cafe Caprice is partly a question of what kind of visit you are planning. Sundown sessions on the Atlantic-facing terrace run from late afternoon into early evening, when the crowd thickens and the light on the water justifies almost any drink order made while facing west. The format here is not one that rewards elaborate decision-making , you are not at a cocktail counter where the bartender is guiding a tasting experience. You are at a beachfront bar where the logic of the setting outweighs the logic of the menu, and the right call is whatever gets you to a table with a view before the golden hour closes.

That said, bars that earned recognition in the World's 50 Best Bars format in 2010 were not doing so on the strength of their location alone. The program was assessed, and the recognition reflects that there was something worth assessing. The category of drink that fits this environment most logically is something long, cold, and lower-effort than a specification-heavy cocktail , but the bar's historical credential suggests the kitchen has the range to satisfy more considered orders when the crowd is smaller and the pace allows it. Weekday afternoons, before the Camps Bay foot traffic peaks, offer that window.

Internationally, bars awarded at a comparable level during the same era , addresses like Bar Leather Apron in Honolulu and Jewel of the South in New Orleans , sit in EP Club's tracked set of recognition-backed addresses outside the major European capitals. The contexts differ sharply, but the shared thread is critical validation that preceded the current wave of bar-world attention, giving each address a depth of standing that newer openings have not yet accumulated.

Planning a Visit

Cafe Caprice is at 37 Victoria Road, Camps Bay, Cape Town , the main beachfront road running through the suburb. Camps Bay is accessible from the city bowl by road across De Waal Drive and through Kloof Nek, a route that takes roughly 15 to 20 minutes depending on traffic. The suburb has its own character distinct from the city centre's bar cluster around Long Street and De Waterkant, where addresses like Asoka occupy a different kind of evening geography. If you are combining venues across a single night, factor in that the Camps Bay strip and the city bowl are separate destinations rather than a walkable circuit.

Peak season in Cape Town runs from November through February, when the southern hemisphere summer brings both the leading beach weather and the highest competition for space on the Victoria Road strip. Shoulder season visits in March or October give you the Atlantic light without the summer crowd density. The venue does not list booking details in its current public record, so direct contact or walk-in planning is advisable, particularly for weekend afternoons in peak season.

For broader context on South Africa's wine and bar scene beyond the city, the Dornier Wine Estate in Stellenbosch and the Van Buuren Rd & Hawley Rd venue in Hillbrow represent different ends of the country's hospitality conversation. Cape Town, and Camps Bay specifically, operates in its own register , but the national picture gives useful scale to what a venue like Cafe Caprice represents in the context of South African bar culture over time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Cafe Caprice known for?

Cafe Caprice is primarily known as one of Cape Town's most-cited beachfront bars, with a location on the Camps Bay strip facing the Atlantic and a World's 50 Best Bars ranking of No. 27 in 2010 , an early moment of international recognition for a South African bar address. It holds a 4.4 Google rating across more than 3,100 reviews, which places it among the more consistently reviewed bar venues in the city. The combination of setting, crowd, and historical credential distinguishes it from both the city centre's cocktail-focused addresses and the more recently opened Camps Bay competitors.

What should I drink at Cafe Caprice?

The setting favours long, accessible drinks suited to an open-air Atlantic terrace across an extended session , the environment shapes the logic of the order as much as any menu does. The bar's historical recognition in the World's 50 Best Bars format suggests a program with more range than the beachfront format strictly requires, and the gap between peak-hour crowds and quieter weekday afternoons is the relevant variable for anyone wanting a more considered drink rather than a sundown round. Arrive before the Camps Bay foot traffic peaks if the program itself is the priority.