Guest Reviews

Great experience

visitor 22 , Cape Town

That history is doomed to repeat itself, is a reality we experience every time we order some kind of starter platter yet boldly and foolishly order main courses at the same time, as it always turns out that the platter has so much food that we can barely finish it and then either eat no more than half of the main course, or nothing at all. Don’t order a main course until you’ve seen the size of the platter, stupid.

That’s the intro, here’s the main feature.

On propitious nights you can see Humphrey Bogart prop up the bar of Rick’s Café Americain, side-eying Lauren Bacall and her cohort sharing Tik Tok clips in a corner and wondering how they were teleported through time from Casablanca to Cape Town.

Well, no, of course not.

The patrons propping up the bar are a mixture of locals and tourists but, as far as I know, none of them owns, or has owned, a hostelry in North Africa.

This restaurant, known in Cape Town in various locations for many years now, is but a mere speculative, imaginary recreation of the more famous joint. I’ve not seen the movie but my guess would be that the Cape Town hotspot is almost nothing like the Moroccan nightspot.

The building is one of the few 19th century buildings still left in the City and enough of the original look and feel are left for a warm, cosy atmosphere as close as dammit to that war time vibe.

The bar is downstairs, the main restaurant, with balcony overlooking the street scene is on the first floor and there’s also a roof top terrace for warm evenings.

Our table was at the window to Kloof Street, with banquette seating against the wall. The restaurant is decorated with Moroccan tiles, one walks on original Oregon pine floor boards, the ceilings are high and the decorative motifs reflect Casablanca the movie and, I suppose, a bit of Morocco too. The interior is very dimly lit, which creates an atmosphere of intrigue and mystery but also makes it very difficult to read the menu.

Moroccan flavours predominate from starters (and tapas) to main courses, but you can have a burgers or a steak if you’re not into North African style food. There are six vegan/vegetarian options and six tajine dishes (two vegetarian and four with meat, chicken or seafood).

One can choose between two platters, the “mezze” for R179 and the “tapas” for R195.

We ordered the “tapas” platter and for the life of me I don’t get how it’s labelled tapas instead of mezze, given that there are eight quarters of pita bread, taramasalata, tzatziki, hummus, lamb kofte (that seems more like an Adana kebap to me), Moroccan fish cakes, Moroccan cheese parcels (covered in honey and nuts), chicken brochettes, olives, roasted vegetables, squid and chickpeas.

Perhaps I’m splitting hairs but that mixture of Mediterranean elements signified mezze.

Anyhoo, however one wants to identify the platter, the contents were generous and extremely tasty. The cheese parcels were the best on show, though almost like a dessert, but one couldn’t fault any of the other items. The kofte and chicken skewers were particularly good: deeply flavourful and succulent.

The pitas had crisp crusts and good, soft crumb. I ate more of them than I should’ve, purely for the pleasure of bread and hummus.

We barely made it through the platter and the harsh reality sunk in that we’d once again over ordered on the starter phase of the dinner and that we couldn’t actually face the prospect of a main course anymore.

The wife, who’d ventured out tonight because she craved a burger, ordered the buttermilk chicken burger (R150) with a spicey Peppadew mayonnaise on the side and a side salad.

My choice was the vegan spiced lentil, sweet potatoes and butternut tajine (R150) with Ras al Hanout and Harissa, and cous cous. We love tajine / tagine style cooking and I wanted a light, dare I say, vegan, meal.

The chicken burger was an astonishing sight to behold, with two tender pieces of chicken breast already pushing up the top half of the bun into the stratosphere, only to have that dizzy height extended by plump onion rings. Put it up in Dubai and you’ll have the tallest structure in the world.

The wife was utterly despondent. There was no way she could eat this gargantuan burger, which she’d eagerly anticipated. She ate one yummy chicken breast and asked for the rest of the burger and the side salad to be boxed for taking home.

My tajine dish was very satisfyingly vegan. The vegetables were perfectly cooked and brim-full of flavour with the slightest hint of chilli heat, the al dente lentils added a welcome textural contrast and the cous cous cookery was spot on.

I cleaned my plate. I wasn’t about to take cooked vegetables home.

There was no appetite for dessert or coffee.

The bill, including one glass of red wine and one beer, came to R622,00 before tip.

We could’ve had a much more budget friendly date night dinner, yet still be replete, if we’d ordered only the platter and drinks, and maybe dessert.

I liked the dimly lit, intimate feel of the restaurant, the service was good and very jovial and the food was excellent and my wife looked beautiful. I’d be happy for a return visit to try some other tajine dishes.

Tasty Food with a lively atmosphere

gibbinspm Southwell, United Kingdom

We were here last week for dinner, nice Moroccan decor, we were here a few years ago, nice chilled out place for dinner. Really tasty food, cooked to perfection. I had the stuffed aubergine, it was really good, my fellow diners had a selection from the vegetarian menu, it was all very nice. We had an outside table, very pleasant evening, good service, attentive hosts.

Fantastic!

JackieT1832 Cape Town

My Fiance and I love this restaurant.
Combine great service with an extensive menu = Ricks Cafe
They cater for meat eaters and vegetarians alike.
The dishes are tasty and fresly prepared.
On top of it all the serve the best cocktails in town.
For the beer lovers, the variety of craft beers will knock your socks off.
We will be back for more!
Well done guys!

Great place!

Kathryn S Fort Collins, Colorado

We were staying in a Guest House not far from Rick's Café American, so we ended up eating there twice. Both my husband and I were impressed with the many menu selections; so many items we wanted to try! We had to limit ourselves to a few dishes, but they were all delicious. The ambiance is from the movie Casa Blanca which my husband really enjoyed. The service is impeccable. We highly recommend this restaurant.

Amazing ambience and excellent food

John RGosford, Australia

Booked a quiet table near the open fireplace. Surrounded by scenes from Casablanca and offered a menu with Moroccan influenced choices from around the world. Was very busy but staff were attentive and food was excellent and promptly served.

wonderful Moroccan restaurant

Fay W Boulder, Colorado

great Moroccan food. i would have liked to try everything on the menu. The servings were also huge. we started with a beet and goat cheese salad. which had four large balls of very nice goat cheese. i had the venison tuareg tagine, and my friends the chicken and seafood tagine. all three were delicious. the venison one was dark, the sauce made in part from dates cooked until they dissolved, and was studded with walnuts. the chicken tagine tasted of saffron and cardamom, while the sea food tagine was more soup like, with a mound of mussels, squid (i think),shrimp and fish in a white wine sauce. we finished with a luscious soft bread pudding with a pineapple passion fruit compote and a 70% dark chocolate hot chocolate with cream and frangelico. it came disassembled, so i dissolved the lindt chocolate bar in the hot milk, added sugar to taste (just a bit) and then the cream and frangelico. it was delightfully decadent. i wished i was staying in cape town longer, just to eat there again. all their other menu items sounded as good as what we had.

My Favorite spot in capetown

Tesfaye H Dubai

Good music, friendly attendants, excellent burger, and a very safe neighborhood. Never been disappointed in the past four years experience. Place has a character, Moroccan feel with a fire place if you are lucky to get that spot by the bar for its always occupied. I always make sure my hotel is close to Ricks. Just check it out.

Super Essen in orientalischem Ambiente

MundoReisen Braunschweig, Germany

Ein orientalisch eingerichtetes Restaurant mit tollem Ambiente. Sehr angenehme Atmosphäre und nette Bedienung.
Wir hatten arabische Vorspeise Teller und erstklassige Burger. Zudem guten Wein. Alles hat prima geschmeckt. Sehr empfehlenswert.

Mega lecker

neddel1 Herne

waren zu viert hier und haben alle Burger gegessen sowohl klassische als auch vegetarisch. Das Essen und das Preis-Leistungsverhältnis ist der Hammer. So gute Burger haben wir bisher selten gegessen. Darüber hinaus war auch der Service super. Absolute Empfehlung.

Essen, das unglaublich glücklich macht!

Mamepa Winterthur, Switzerland

Ich war eine Woche in Kapstadt und gleich zweimal in diesem Restaurant. Die Vorspeisen sind der Hammer, die marokkanischen Speisen, aber auch die Burger sehr lecker. Drinnen und draussen auf der Terrasse tolles Ambiente und nette Bedienung!

UNE SURPRISE !

b0ris3333 Artigues-pres-Bordeaux,

Situé juste en face de notre Guest house ce restaurant nous a vraiment surpris. Servie dans une salle magnifiquement décorée style cinéma Casablanca, par une équipe charmante et très empressée, la cuisine est la meilleure que nous ayons mangé en Afrique du Sud ! la surprise est qu'il s'agit d'une cuisine qui associe le Maroc, la Grèce et l'Afrique. Le gérant est au petit soin quand il voit que l'on revient ( 4 fois !). Excellente adresse.

Très bon et très joliment présenté

Fa1811 Paris, France

Nous avons mangé un carpaccio de crocodile des calamars une sole tout était très bon et super bien présenté. Dîner dehors est agréable si vous avez froid on vous propose un plaid ce qui est très agréable le vin et bon du coup pour deux avec entrée plat et vin + eau plate 63 euros très correct.

Une valeur sure

DoudouLR La Rochelle, France

Nous avions adoré ce restau situé juste devant notre guest house
Nous y sommes allés trois fois pendant notre séjour
Dès Burgers délicieux, un personnel adorable, une ambiance animée
Intérieur, roof top, terrasse tout est bien et pas cher !
Pensez à réserver

Ottimo

MagicPancakes Arona italy

Ottimo locale trovato grazie a TripAdvisor.
Hamburger veramente ottimi anche quello vegetariano, ottima la presentazione da non sottovalutare.
Personale gentile.
Prezzo decisamente competitivo.
Consigliato decisamente!

Locale vivace con buon cibo

bidi250 Milano

Il Rick's Cafe Americain è uno dei locali piu’ noti di Città del Capo per l’atmosfera vivace, l’ambiente molto curato e l’ottimo cibo sempre ben presentato.
E’ il posto ideale per una serata tra amici per cenare ma anche perfetto per bere qualcosa al bancone o sulla terrazza all’aperto.
Il personale è sempre molto cordiale e il servizio davvero eccellente.
E’ aperto anche a pranzo.

Fantastisk mat

Tord T Enanger, Sweden

Underbart ställe , mysig inredning ,varmt och härligt mydigt med brasa i öppna spisarna.Tog vars din drink före maten , drack Caprihinia , frun drack Pina Colada båda var goda sedan pt vi Jättegod mat åt Tapas tallrik var så mycket mat så blev supermätt, frun åt Falafel som också vat jättegott, drack öl från Stellenbosch som var fantastiskt god, frun drack ett glad vitt som var gott. Hade en trevlig tjej som skötte om oss och var jättetrevlig, snabb service och maten kom snabbt.När vi bad om notan kom den på en gång, gick snabbt och enkelt betala med kort kom med apparaten till bordet så man fick knappa in koden i lugn och to.
Kan verkligen rekommenderas, kommer förmodligen gå hit en gång till under vår vistelse om vi får in det i planeringen.

Spela igen Sam...

famLundquist Ystad, Sweden

En härlig restaurang med mkt bra mat och goda viner. Miljön är tagen från den klassiska filmen Casablanka. Men beställ bord. Vi hade tur men det kan vara svårt. Finns en ovanvåning med lounge och en ute-terass som man lätt missar. Ligger runt hörnet från Villa Cape Adventures

Que restaurante!

eduardok334 Belo Horizonte, MG

O ambiente do restaurante é muito bacana! Casablanca por todo lado, inclusive na TV. Talvez a melhor comida da viagem.
A comida marroquina servida é excepcional, e o serviço também. No jantar, comemos uma entrada e um tahine que estava delicioso, e pedi desculpas ao garçon porque devolvemos com um pouco ainda no prato. Eu havia comido muito durante o dia e não dava mais conta. O prato valeu MUITO a pena!
Recomendo fazer reserva. O local fica movimentado durante o final de semana.
A única ressalva é que achei muito barulhento, mas isso se deve mais aos frequentadores do que ao local.

Gezellig restaurant om een Kaapstad mee af te sluiten.

Grootelaar Amsterdam

Zeer uitgebreide menukaart met allerlei wereldgerechten. Als Nederlander moet je de bitterballen proberen. Ze komen aardig in de buurt van de Nederlandse bitterballen. Zeer betaalbaar we waren voor 5 personen circa 650 rand kwijt, wat drinken en een goed hoofdgerecht. Veel eet plezier bij dit restaurant..

Rick's Café Américain

Restaurant - Bar - Roof Terrace, Restaurant in CapeTown

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