South Africa’s third alcohol ban might be utter misery for wine lovers but it hasn’t stopped restaurants from concocting interesting and unique drinks menus that are completely free of any alcohol. When the ban is lifted, some may even choose a non-alc drink over one with alcohol. The upside is that you can save money on a taxi and maybe even give your server a more generous tip!

Here are restaurants in the Western Cape that offer exciting and interesting non-alcoholic drinks menus:

Camphors at Vergelegen

To go with their Sunset Tapas-for-two menu on Friday and Saturday evenings, the Camphors team are offering a menu featuring drinks such as a “Nojito” with lime, mint and cranberry and a “P & T” consisting of passion fruit, pink tonic and elderflower.

 

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Salsify at The Roundhouse

Chef Ryan Cole has implemented a new “Wellness Drinks Pairing” to the Salsify offering. It consists of a selection of fresh, non-alcoholic infusions and alcohol-free cocktails. Think cold fennel-infused tea paired with steamed crayfish, a cucumber-flavoured CBD drink paired with pine-smoked trout, and a chocolate and mint infusion with dessert. Ryan says the wellness drinks menu not only complements the food in flavour and texture but also means you leave feeling far more nourished through the healthy ingredients that the drinks are made of.

 

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Oxalis Eatery

Like its food menu, the drinks list at Oxalis is seasonal and changes frequently. Currently, the team are making R40 mocktails in the following flavours: pineapple, ginger and mint iced tea, apple and oolong iced tea, apricot cordial with thyme and topped with soda, and fresh spanspek muddled with lime and green basil leaves, shaken with ice and served chilled or fermented.

 

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Le Coin Français

The drinks menu at Le coin Francais featured a selection of de-alc wines and mocktails. The team has also paired the menu with drinks such as rooibos and citrus kombucha (paired with cold-smoked local trout) and a fynbos blossom mocktail (with the eight-hour braised springbok shank).

 

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ëlgr.

Jesper Nilsson and his team at the newly opened Elgr have plans to create the best cocktail experience in Cape Town. Together with the mixology specialists from SIP Exclusive, the team have crafted a wide selection of mocktails that are twists on the classics. Think “Nogroni” or virgin bloody Mary and pina colada. There’s also kombucha on tap, homemade lemonade, and a selection of no-alc beers and wine.

 

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Mazza at Local by Liam Tomlin

At Liam Tomlin’s Mazza you’ll find non-alcoholic beer and a menu of exciting mocktails, including Turkish Delight spritzer, “Long Island” iced tea, lemon “mojito”, and a tropical elixir of mango and basil tonic, lime, ginger syrup and sparkling water.

 

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La Colombe

La Colombe has a non-alcoholic pairing to go with the current menu. Their mussel course is paired with an apple lapacho iced tea with orange citrus infusion and, with their aged duck, you’ll get to experience their take on a spiced mango lassi. They also offer a refreshing honeybush, kiwi and cucumber cocktail and a strawberry and cranberry “bellini”. Also enjoy blueberry, basil and chamomile tea, a non-alc cucumber and lime “gin and tonic” or local organic rooibos kombucha.

 

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Foxcroft

Foxcroft’s non-alcoholic pairing menu is based on teas, along with other infusions, ferments and juices. Some are trying to mimic the wine that would have been paired, while others are simply complementary to the dish. With the Malay tuna, you’ll receive honeybush tea, sweetened with dried apricot juice and seasoned with homemade verbena vinegar. To go with the blesbok tataki, there’s blackcurrant juice, sweetened with a warm spice syrup and seasoned with sherry vinegar. This has proved popular with guests. To go with the spicy Sichuan-style turnip dish is genmaicha (a green tea reminiscent of seaweed, with toasted rice grains) infused cold, with Pink Lady apple juice, rice vinegar and coriander oil. The cheese course brings with it a faux port made from hibiscus tea, dried prune juice and thyme.

 

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Fyn Restaurant

Fyn’s resident master mixologist, Jennifer Huge, has concocted a variety of eye-catching libations to go with the restaurant’s sophisticated and refined aesthetic. Think ‘plum sours’ – homemade plum syrup with lime juice, yuzu, maple syrup and egg white or ‘naartjie boom’ made of non-alcoholic gin, naartjie syrup, homemade rooibos ice tea and lime juice.

 

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