Date Night at Little Fox in Constantia
The latest addition to La Colombe Group
By Shawn Godfrey (The Roasted Dad)
My wife Lianne (The Roasted Mom) and I try to go out for dinner together at least once a month. Date night is a rare time where we have no kids around and it is our chance to re-connect and catch up over a meal.
Restaurant week is on at the moment (from 27 March to 3 May) and this is a great time to explore Cape Town’s culinary scenes. Restaurants that are usually booked out months in advance or priced for a special occasion become more accessible to locals through fixed-price menus.
Little Fox in Constantia offers a Restaurant Week menu for just R700. The value is hard to argue with. The service was a bit of a mixed bag, but we thoroughly enjoyed the menu.
We showed up an hour early, but rather than heading straight to the table, we started off with some drinks outside. I had a carafe of Silvermist Cabernet Sauvignon (R260) and Lianne had the Klein Constantia Sauvignon Blanc (R190 for a 250 ml carafe). The option to have any of their wines per glass, carafe, or bottle is a nice touch. When we thought Lianne’s carafe had disappeared, we realised the staff was just keeping it chilled and they returned to top her up exactly when she needed it. So far, so good.
Having our pre-dinner drinks outside enabled us to really enjoy the setting of Little Fox. The beautiful old building where both Little Fox and Foxcroft now sit was previously the home of La Parada Constantia Nek. Fine dining restaurants are a better match for the elegant setting, and I always found it odd that the historic building was used for a rowdy tapas bar. The building still has old-school thick walls, but has been adapted with large glass windows and open spaces to allow the natural light and forest views to take center stage. The thatch roof fits the Cape Dutch heritage of the area, but looking up, I couldn't help but notice some messy wiring attached to the sound system. The sound quality was struggling outside, and the speakers looked out of place. A restaurant in an old, restored barn, should have a fitting infrastructure. Having said that, I do pay more attention than most to technical installations, as I supply both sound and lighting commercially. Perhaps I can help the owners with a look that better blends in.
Once we’d finished our drinks, we moved to our table inside. The genuine oak furniture is beautifully crafted. We were greeted by a woman who offered us “unlimited water” for R49 per person. Her accent was thick and her manner was pretty abrupt, which left us both a bit confused. We asked Mike, the only one who introduced himself at our table, and he explained it was the flat rate for unlimited top-ups. Since we weren't there to drown ourselves in water, we just stuck to a bottle of sparkling. We didn’t know at the time what that would be charged at, but when the bill came we saw 750 mls of sparkling was charged at R50 - a very reasonable price for a high-end establishment in Constantia. This also meant that R49 per person for unlimited water was only a ‘deal’ if we’d both be drinking more than a bottle each which is unlikely for most people. Regardless, this type of ‘deal’ on water felt a bit out of place in fine dining. Lianne tried to crack a joke to Mike about the possibility of ordering unlimited wine instead, but it took a few seconds for the penny to drop (tough crowd).
That said, I ordered a bottle of New Dawn Rudger van Wyk (R430 a bottle), which is a red blend made up of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Grenache Noire. Mike brought a bottle of white by mistake, and our menus were taken away before we’d finished reading the dish descriptions. This unfortunately set the tone for the service being a step behind the kitchen.
The Restaurant Week menu at Little Fox
And the kitchen was definitely ahead. The Edamame with chili crisp, ginger and soy, as well as the Wagyu Biltong and N’duja Stuffed Olives were great starters. The Zabb-Zabb Chicken Wings arrived with Thai pickles, shallots, and a delicious coconut espuma. Seeing wings in a fine dining spot immediately took us back to our trip to Ad Hoc in the Napa Valley, California last year. It’s a more casual, family-style restaurant by Thomas Keller, the same chef who heads up the legendary French Laundry. Originally conceived as a temporary six-month project, it became so popular that it was decided that it should become permanent.
We had a memorable lunch with the highlight of our lunch buttermilk fried chicken. We told Mike about it, but he hadn’t heard of The French Laundry before. He expressed that he hoped we would enjoy Little Fox’s chicken wings just as much. They were very different; but good - a zingy, refined wing that made for a good combination with the other three dishes.
The disconnect between the food and the floor became most obvious when the next dishes arrived: Tuna Divorciados, served with a salsa macha, macha verde, avocado and masa crisp and Coal-Fired Peri-Peri Prawns, cashew crumb, charred salsa verde and smoked garlic. The Wagyu Flat Iron was served with king oyster, chimichurri. Although on the menu it was stated the steak would be served with sauce Diane which is a rich, creamy sauce made with shallots, cream, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and flambéed cognac, the server poured what he seemed to call “cafe olé.” We asked what it was, and the runner told us it was “basically a gravy.” We then asked Mike, who said it was made in a 24-hour process. This lack of information on a key component made us feel like the front-of-house staff did the kitchen a disservice. We ended up Googling it ourselves to find out it was likely a Cafe au Lait sauce. This is a rich, creamy savoury sauce that was popularised by The Pot Luck Club. It infuses cream with coffee beans, then combines it with sautéed mushrooms, beef stock, and butter to create an earthy, umami-rich flavor. It was a delicious addition to the Wagyu Flat Iron steak. Having prepared complex sauces myself, I know from experience how much care and effort goes into a 24-hour reduction. Seeing that effort minimised by calling it “basically a gravy” by a runner is an insult to the chef who made it.
The star of the show
Wagyu with a delicious 'Cafe au Lait' sauce (not just any 24-hour gravy).
This is the frustrating part for me as a chef. I know the hours of prep, the sourcing, and the technique that goes into a sauce like that. When you have five different people rotating through your table, you lose any chance of a connection. If the front-of-house doesn’t know the story of the ingredients, the diner loses half the experience. Lianne has just finished reading Unreasonable Hospitality lately, which is about “the remarkable power of giving people more than they expect” by Will Guidara, who was the General Manager of Eleven Madison Park in New York City. Under his leadership and together with Chef Daniel Humm, he transformed the brasserie and Guidara took EMP to the very top -number one in the world- not just because the food was perfect, but because the hospitality was ‘unreasonable’. Sadly, at Little Fox we received less than what we expected from the front-of-house staff, even though the narrative they could have shared, would have enriched our experience.
Lianne and I spent the gaps between courses using Meg Carrie’s ‘Cards for Conversation’ (Couples Edition). It’s a great way to dive a bit deeper. One of the questions asked is when we feel most connected, and for me, it’s these nights. Just us, a table of food, and real conversation.
Dessert: Bergamot Posset and an Ice Cream Sandwich
For dessert, we had the ice cream sandwich and the Bergamot posset. We were surprised not to receive a suggestion on which to eat first to save the palate, guidance you usually get at fine dining restaurants at this level. The chocolate chip cookie looked a bit messy, but the flavours were spot on. To finish off the night, they also brought out a mini soft serve that wasn't on the menu, which was a nice touch.
As we were waiting for our Uber to take us back home, Mike came running out with our Cards for Conversation card deck. We were genuinely grateful. That last-second save was possibly the most “hospitable” moment of the night.
The bottom line? The food at Little Fox is excellent and the price point during Restaurant Week is fantastic. If they can fix some technical glitches and make sure the front-of-house staff is more aware of the dishes prepared by the chefs, it’ll be a faultless experience. Until then, keep your phone handy to Google the menu.
The Little Fox in the tiling at the entrance is a nice touch.
The Little Fox Restaurant Week Menu
Edamame (Chilli crisp, ginger, soy)
Wagyu Biltong, N’duja stuffed olives
Zabb-Zabb Chicken Wings (Coconut espuma,Thai pickles, shallots)
_____
Tuna Divorciados (Salsa macha, macha verde, avocado, masa crisp)
Coal-Fired Prawns (Peri-peri, cashew crumb, charred salsa verde, smoked garlic)
Wagyu Flat Iron (king oyster, chimichurri, café au lait)
_____
Ice Cream Sandwich (Nyangbo 68% cookie, sesame parfait, blood orange marmalade)
Bergamot Posset (Poached rhubarb, strawberry, elderflower)
The beautiful old building where both Little Fox and Foxcroft now sit was previously the home of La Parada Constantia Nek. Fine dining restaurants are a better match for the elegant setting, and I always found it odd that the historic building was used for a rowdy tapas bar.
Location and Opening Hours
You can find Little Fox on 1 Hout Bay Main Rd, Constantia Nek, Cape Town, 7806
Contact info: 021 202 3308 | reservations@littlefox.restaurant
Book your table for Restaurant Week at Little Fox (until 3 May 2026)
Seating Hours:
Lunch 12h00 to 14h30
Mid Afternoon Drinks & Snacks- Walk-ins Welcome
Dinner 18h00 to 21h00
Disclaimer: We visited Little Fox Restaurant in April 2026. All opinions expressed are solely our own and based on our experience. At times we may be compensated for reviews placed on this blog, however we always maintain the rights to share our true opinion on the full experience, to maintain our integrity and the authenticity of the review posted.
Also read my review on when La Colombe was announced Best Restaurant in Africa.
About Shawn Godfrey
Photo credit: Niki M Photography
Shawn Godfrey is an entrepreneur based in Cape Town, South Africa. After the Covid-19 lockdown saw his business in financial distress, cooking was the creative outlet that helped to keep him sane. To keep track of his recipes, and encourage friends and families to join him, he starts his instagram account The Roasted Dad.
Fast-forward to late 2021 - on a whim Shawn (encouraged by his wife Lianne) enters MasterChef South Africa. It is a crazy time of life: running a 200 people business and struggling to keep it profitable, two small children with a third on the way, and about to move into a new house. But when Shawn gets selected to be one of the 20 contestants participating in the fourth season of MasterChef South Africa, he decides to go all in. Leaving his 7-month-pregnant wife to look after their then three and one-year-old children, he battles it out and comes back home five weeks later with the trophy and a million rand prize money in his pocket.
It all started with an Instagram account, but The Roasted Dad is so much more now. Shawn has stayed his entrepreneurial self and whilst he hosts Private Dinner Parties and Cook-with-Me Demos, does Restaurant Take-Overs, he still runs the lighting company and several other businesses.
On his blog, Shawn shares Restaurant Reviews and Accommodation Reviews, and gives an insight into the wild and wonderful life he leads together with his wife Lianne, and their three children Aiden (8), Olivia (6) and Harvey (4).
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