Galjoen: A Sustainable Seafood Restaurant in the Innercity

The team behind foodie favourite Belly of the Beast is quietly transforming this patch of Cape Town’s East City with a clutch of intimate and thoughtful dining experiences. Across the road at Galjoen, with a firm focus on sustainable seafood, owners Neil Swart and Anouchka Horn continue the winning formula that wowed Cape Town foodies at Belly of the Beast: a set tasting menu, a limited number of seats and reservations only, plus of course fabulous local ingredients.

“Our approach is to serve only what is responsibly caught locally. If it’s not from South Africa, it’s not going on the menu,” says Neil. They work with the SASSI list and use local suppliers to support sustainable small-scale fishing communities. “We are also very conscious of waste. Because we serve a set tasting menu – and work on reservations only – we all but eliminate wastage.”

With chef Isca Stoltz at the helm of the open kitchen, the menu changes often, according to what is freshest. It’s never published so each visit is a delightful surprise, with a short chalkboard menu on the day  that gives just a hint of what’s to come. You might find seared tuna carpaccio with roast green olives; cold smoked Saldanha Bay oysters with home-fermented hot sauce, honey BBQ swordfish steaks cooked on the braai and much more. 

What’s in a name?

Galjoen is the name of South Africa’s national fish – tough, adaptable and able to swim in rough seas, hardy characteristics that especially resonate with Neil and Anouchka, who successfully weathered the pandemic at Belly of the Beast and have since opened two further restaurants.

The space

The semi-industrial space up two flights of stairs and with views over the city conveys a sense of the harbour, “with just a hint of that 80s seafood restaurant décor that we grew up with,” adds Neil. 

Bookings open on the first day of each month at 10am for the following month.

Good to know Bookings only. The building is not wheelchair accessible.
Opening times Thursday – Saturday, 12.30pm
Monday – Saturday, 6.45pm
Contact 079 093 0559, eat@galjoencpt.co.za
Where to find it 99 Harrington Street, Cape Town
Book through DinePlan

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