Cape Town’s restaurant scene has many things going for it, but if a new survey is to be believed, an abundance of late-night dining options isn’t one of them.
A recent study by Australian restaurant industry platform Chef’s Pencil analysed over 4400 restaurants in 89 cities to find out where you have the best chance of bagging a table in the late-night hours. And, the results might surprise you…
To work out which countries offered an abundance of late-night dining, Chef’s Pencil used reservation apps and independent websites to research the booking calendars for over 4000 restaurants worldwide to identify the last seating – or last food order – at weekends for each restaurant. Those cities were then ranked on the median value of that time.
Having crunched the numbers it emerged that Middle Eastern and South Asian cities dominate when it comes to late-night meals, with Cairo coming out tops with an average last seating time at midnight. Close behind were the likes of Jeddah, New Delhi and Mumbai, with an average last seating time of 11.30 pm while Madrid, a city synonymous with late-night dining, ranked fifth worldwide with 11 pm, tying with Athens for Europe’s latest table seatings.
Now compare that with Cape Town, where the average last seating was at a decidedly early 9 pm. It’s on a par with Helsinki, Sydney or Seoul, and happily a little ahead of the lowest-ranked city: Auckland. New Zealand’s largest city – along with Luxembourg – clocked in with an average last-seating as early as 8.30 pm… a time when some people are just heading out on the town.
Night owl? Time out Market Cape Town is open until 11 pm on weekends!