Headline-making restaurants, industrial-feel art galleries, striking murals and hipster boutiques – miss this Cape Town district and you’ll miss out
By Jessica Carter
You’d be forgiven for not immediately noticing Cape Town’s most exciting suburb. Especially during rush hour, when your full attention will be needed for dodging the infamous taxis and boisterous bus drivers weaving along its main thoroughfares to and from the city centre.
Butting right up against the City Bowl District and the popular tourist base Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, Woodstock doesn’t draw in half the amount of tourists that its neighbours do. Why? It’s not showy or modern, and parts of it are lined with rickety porticos and industrial businesses. But the closer you look, the more you tune into its charm.
It really doesn’t take much effort to unearth Woodstock’s pretty, leafy streets of traditional Victorian homes, characterful old buildings housing indie enterprises, refreshingly casual art galleries, cool furniture makers and kooky vintage shops. Bleeding into fellow artsy, student-heavy areas Salt River and Observatory to the west, this ’hood has managed to embrace its ongoing regeneration while nonchalantly hanging onto its old-school Capetonian character.
Do
Check out the galleries
This artsy area has no shortage of galleries in which to while away the afternoon. Whether you’re just looking to duck in for respite from the extreme Capetonian weather (whether sun or wind) or are intrigued by contemporary African and international art, you’re equally welcome in these laid-back and inclusive exhibition spaces. Try Stevenson, SMAC Gallery and Art It Is for starters.
Stay too long at Neighbourgoods Market
The redeveloped Old Biscuit Mill is one of the most prominent Woodstock destinations. Each Saturday and Sunday, people from all over the city pile into its car park and courtyards, which transform into the buzzing Neighbourgoods Market. Here you can get your fashion fix with stalls selling clothes and handmade jewellery, pick up some groceries for your rental pad from local artisan bakers, or tuck into some killer street food. Once you’ve filled your boots, get a pint in and lend an ear to the DJs who soundtrack the weekend.
Make your own gin
Woodstock is home to several boutique-booze producers, a handful of which are housed in the Distillers and Union brewery collective. Book yourself a gin-making session and you’ll get your very own tiny copper still for the occasion, heaps of botanicals to play with and guidance from the pros. Want a less involved experience? Go for the tasting instead and try all of 5 Pence’s gins – including a whisky-like, barrel-aged number.
Take a graffiti tour
The art in Woodstock isn’t all buried away inside its industrial-vibes galleries; there’s plenty outdoors too, plastered over buildings and walls across the area. Book a wander with JUMA Art Tours to get the full scoop on the local street artists, discover the more hidden pieces and delve into the suburb’s colourful and fascinating history (there legit used to be a beach here) from one of the local guides.
Eat
The Test Kitchen: Fledglings
Woodstock used to be home to one of the World’s 50 Best restaurants, The Test Kitchen. Getting a table was quite the challenge, though, as was budgeting for the bill. Post-pandemic, this gorgeous new space – with its bare stone walls and confidently open kitchen – has been transformed into a much more casual and inclusive gaff by chef-owner Luke Dale Roberts, serving up an eclectic menu at wallet-friendly prices. (If budgets are no concern, check out its more bougie sister site Pot Luck Club for global small plates.)
Scarpetta
Imagine you have an uncle who’s an Italian chef – albeit with a thick South African accent – and you go round to his for dinner. That’s the experience you get at this lovable homestyle restaurant. Said uncle is the multi-tasking Ricky Turilli, who makes the pasta and preps the dishes before stepping out for service. This hospitable cook greets each table, reeling off the extensive list of seasonal specials for the night and chatting to everyone like old pals. Bring your own booze (pop into the nearby Salisbury’s for a bottle), help yourself to soft drinks from the fridge and don’t make after-dinner plans – you’ll stay here too late and leave too full.
How Bao Now
Originally (and still) a street food stall at the nearby Oranjezicht City Farm Market, this pandemic-born food biz recently opened a permanent bao bar at The Old Biscuit Mill. Buns are super-sized – if you want to try a few then sharing is the way to go, because these guys are filling – and stuffed with the likes of umami-laced mushroom, fall-apart pork belly and barbecue jackfruit. Great for refuelling on the go.
Superette
The Woodstock Exchange is a regenerated industrial building now dedicated to indie shops, producers and studios – and just inside the entrance you’ll find Superette. The cool black-and-white-tiled cafe is a popular spot for breakfast and lunch, serving up handpicked, local ingredients in fresh, filling dishes.
Drink
Flat Mountain
Perhaps the best coffee you’ll have in Woodstock – nay, Cape Town – Flat Mountain roasts all its own beans. Clean white walls, buffed concrete floors scattered with rugs and paint-stripped wooden beams make this coffee shop a relaxing space – as does the super-chilled and friendly barista who you may find lolling over on one of the sofas during a quiet patch. If you agree about the superior coffee, you can pick up a bag of beans to take home.
Taproom
Unobstructed views of Devil’s Peak, great food deals and plenty of beer are your rewards for climbing a couple of flights of stairs to get to Taproom. If it’s too hot (or windy) to sit on the balcony, pull up a pew inside – the huge windows that wrap around the front of the building will still get you those vistas.
Shackletons
This working brewery is open to the public for drinks – the mezzanine level sits right above the huge steel tanks and is where the pints are pulled for thirsty visitors. Not a beer drinker? Good news: as well as the range of really decent craft brews, Shackleton’s vodka iced teas are also on the go here.
Fat Cactus
You might have spotted one of these casual Tex-Mex gaffs elsewhere in Cape Town – there are three in all. Visit for a range of tequilas, cocktails and beers, decent happy hour deals and unfussy, fresh Mexican-inspired snacks to enjoy in the sun-dappled courtyard out back.
Shop
The Hat Factory
A workshop and retail space rolled into one, The Hat Factory is hidden in an unmarked industrial-looking block. Ring the buzzer, head up to the first floor and be prepared to reconsider your status as “not a hat person”. Every piece of headgear you see here is made in this small factory space by hand and, as all the blocks (used for moulding the hats) are from the 1940s and 1950s, you can expect some classic and vintage styles to try on.
Paper Moon
One of the handsome old Victorian houses that line the picturesque Roodebloem Road is home to second-hand bookshop Paper Moon. Floor-to-ceiling shelves are stuffed with books of all genres and eras. As well as a huge collection of modern fiction, which includes plenty of recently published tomes with modest price tags, there are some classics to be found.
Ash Ceramics
Woodstock Foundry is a collection of shops and studios that are all worth a mooch around. With an upmarket feel, it may have you concerned for the health of your bank balance. But while, sure, some of the wares aren’t totally suited to impulse purchases, Ash Ceramics is pleasingly affordable and equally stylish. Pick up colourful coffee cups and tableware here, all made on-site by local ceramicist Catherine Ash.
Stay
Modern Woodstock home
After wandering tree-lined residential streets and admiring the rows of heritage houses with their pretty porches and pastel colours, go and rest your head inside one of your very own. This contemporary but cosy Victorian pad will soon have you feeling like a local (put the braai in the back garden to use if you really want to make like a Capetonian). It sleeps four and has discounts for longer-term stays.
Urban Artisan Aparthotel
There are some great views of the nearby mountains to be had from this new development of serviced apartments. Modern and industrial in style, expect exposed brick and plenty of light through huge factory-style windows. Apartments range from roomy two-bedroom affairs to smaller studios, depending on how extra you’re feeling.
Read the original article on Independent.
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