Seebamboes: Surf and turf, reimagined in Cape Town's CBD
A review of Chef Adél Hughes' 16-seater above Galjoen on Harrington Street
By Shawn Godfrey (The Roasted Dad)
Surf and turf usually means a steakhouse plate with a few prawns parked next to the fillet. Seebamboes takes that idea apart and rebuilds it with kelp, foraged dune plants and a great deal of thought. My wife Lianne and I were invited to have dinner at Seebamboes, and it is subsequently my favourite restaurant in Cape Town at the moment.
About Seebamboes
The name comes from the seebamboes (sea bamboo, Ecklonia maxima), the biggest kelp native to the Great African Seaforest. I had no idea but learned on the night that it grows up to 12 metres tall (roughly four storeys!) at up to 14 cm a day! The Seebamboes team forages it themselves in Scarborough, Betty's Bay and Paternoster.
The restaurant is a creative exploration of sea and land, and it deconstructs the traditional surf and turf in a unique way. On the sea side you'll find ingredients like klipkombers and seeslaai (sea lettuce). From the land come dune spinach (duinespinasie), dune celery (duineselderei), sea pumpkin (seepampoen), ice plant (soutslaai), suring (sourgrass), konfettibos (confetti bush) and lemoenboegoe (orange buchu). The team is committed to sustainability, and you can taste and see it in what ends up on the plate.
Seebamboes is a new restaurant by Anouchka Horn and Neil Swart, the duo behind Belly of the Beast and Galjoen. It is located on the mezzanine above Galjoen at 99 Harrington Street.
Seebamboes is a unique collaboration between chef-restauranteurs Anouchka Horn and Neil Swart, the duo behind Belly of the Beast and Galjoen, and Chef Adél Hughes and artist Liebet Jooste. Chef Adél runs the kitchen and Liebet looks after the front of house. There is no fixed menu. It is a surprise tasting menu that follows the seasons, so your evening will look different from ours.
The Seebamboes menu
We were looked after by Mbongeni, who introduced himself as Bongi. He was warm and knowledgeable, and he was the one who made the wine side of the evening work (more on that below).
We started with yellowtail, samphire and blood orange. It was a light and delicious. The kitchen is open, and I enjoyed watching Chef Adél and her team work. Every station was thoroughly cleaned after each course, which is the kind of discipline I appreciate.
Next came sourdough bread with mussel and picanha. The mussel was unlike anything I have ever tasted. Chef Adél came over to explain that it is warm smoked in rooibos and only brought up to temperature. My wife’s words, and I quote: "I don't like mussels and this is great." Coming from her, that is high praise. She is a selective seafood eater, and it took a pickled fish at Journey at Urchin to convert her, and now Seebamboes has converted her to liking mussels too. I was impressed.
Up next, we had the dive-in bowl. This was Cape salmon with winter greens and broth. Lianne did not enjoy it ("too fishy"), but I did, so much so that I devoured both bowls.
The lamb tagine with seebamboes and curry was one we both loved. The meat comes from Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants, which Chef Adél introduced as their favourite butchery. It happens to be mine too.
The wine at Seebamboes
Every course came with a different wine, from a collection you don't easily find anywhere else. It is offered as a pairing, and Mbongi guided us through every glass. Our favourite was a Sauvignon Blanc that tastes like a Chardonnay, aptly named "Just Kidding".
We were really impressed by the way in which Mbongi introduced each wine. His enthusiasm was palpable, and by the end of the evening he was finishing my sentences, and we loved his recommendations, like: “Forget what you know and listen to it.” and “See it, recognise it, appreciate it.” His one liners deserve to be printed on a wine label! Or perhaps we had been poured the right amount to enjoy it as much as we did.
Amazing wine experience aside, the level of detail runs through the whole experience, right down to the cutlery. The knife handle contains seebamboes. It is rested on a fallow deer antler. Seebamboes grows around 14 cm a day, while antler grows around 2.5 cm a day. It is sustainability taken further than I have seen anywhere else.
Dessert was an ice cream sandwich with beef tallow salted caramel, sea lettuce and vanilla. Chef Adél told us that sea lettuce is her favourite ingredient to put in a dessert.
Even the end of the meal was unconventional. Instead of the usual tea or coffee, we had a pinotage rooibos or an Origin medium blend. A great way to end a wonderful evening. We ended up chatting with Chef Adél until long after all other guests had left (granted, there are only 14 other guests), and I ended up inviting her and Liebet to our potluck club that we are hosting together with Astrid from thesweetrebellion.
My verdict on Seebamboes
Seebamboes is one of the most unique restaurants I have eaten at in Cape Town, and the food is delicious. It is inventive without being hard work, and everything on the plate has a reason to be there. The menu is R1,200 per person, but they’re currently still running their winter special at R650 - book now, as this ends on 30 September 2026. I would highly recommend it, especially if you enjoyed the local-ingredient focus at Terrarium. And if a foraged, coastal meal makes you want to cook at home, my braaied snoek with plum jam is a good place to start.
Location and Opening Hours
Seebamboes is on the mezzanine above Galjoen at 99 Harrington Street in the CBD of Cape Town. Dinner is served from Tuesday to Saturday at 18:45 (increased trading hours from October - see below). Bookings are essential and seating is limited to 16 guests. The restaurant is on the third floor and is not wheelchair accessible.
Book a table: Seebamboes reservations
October trading hours:
Monday - Saturday dinner
Friday - Saturday lunch
November trading hours
Monday - Saturday dinner
Thursday - Saturday lunch
Website: seebamboescpt.co.za
Follow them on Instagram
Disclaimer: 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.
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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