Sunday Dinner at Beleza Restaurant

Round out a restful weekend with a meal at Tamboerskloof’s charming Portuguese-Italian eatery

While opening on a Sunday in Cape Town is a feat few other City Bowl district restaurants have attempted to achieve, Beleza barely bats an eye at the idea of firing up the grills on the proverbial day of rest. 

Owing to its Portuguese-Italian background and philosophy, the retro Tamboerskloof eatery trades in the same early morning to late night manner as the Mediterranean nations from which it takes much of its inspiration.

And thus, the laid-back local makes for a perfect Sunday dinner option for those looking to salvage a final bit of weekend respite from the responsibilities – both domestic and work-related – that come with the Monday-to-Friday grind. 

Not to mention, with a menu that marries European influence with a respect for the whims and fancies of much of its young, trendy clientele, Beleza claims fare as fit for the skint student as it is for the Madeiran expat. 

South African-inspired staples include an assortment of inventive burgers – most notably, the chilli popper burger – and cinnamon and sugar pancakes (breakfast is served until 6pm), while traditional Portuguese and Italian cuisine options comprise everything from a hearty Rump Trinchado and Algarve Seafood Cataplana to a more casual and well-recognised prego roll and pasta selection. 

Weekly specials are also on offer, and, as Executive Chef and co-owner Ron Beleza is as adamant about “trying different things” as he is about his clientele sampling his homemade hot sauce, it’s fair to expect the unexpected. 

In fact, change is one of the overarching principles that’s helped Beleza to keep buoyant in a Cape Town neighbourhood – and hipster stronghold – that’s notoriously home to flippant residents who change their take on what’s fashionable as often as they change their underwear. 

“We’re both Geminis, so we get bored,” says Albina Francesca, the second piece of the founding pie, in a quintessentially Capetonian statement. “We’re always trying to think of ways to freshen up things, to keep things moving.”

In perfect illustration, just over two years ago, Albina started a vintage clothing boutique, Lembranças (meaning ‘memories’ in Portuguese), in a forgotten corner of the Kloof Nek restaurant. These days, the once slim selection of carefully-sourced second-hand clothing has mushroomed, and now, colourful racks of gentlemen’s tweed coats, woolly tops, chic pencil skirts and crocheted jerseys intermingle with Beleza’s many upcycled, throwback décor pieces.

Similarly, the formerly spartan deck area has been transformed into a comfortable, closed-in al-fresco dining feature as perfect for a chilly winter day (it has a fireplace and blankets) as it is for a more pleasant summer evening. 

Needless to say, Sunday dinner at Beleza is anything but dull, and in between shopping for a new vintage gem and enjoying the delicious food at affordable prices, diners can simply unwind and recharge for the busy week to come. 

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Find out more about how Beleza restaurant has survived in Cape Town’s hipster central. 

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