Restaurant Week brings together restaurants across South Africa for a limited time, with participating venues putting together special menus and dining experiences exclusively for the event. This year, menus start from R295, with reservations opening on 18 September 2026.

There are plenty of restaurants taking part across the country, so rather than trying to cover the entire lineup, we've picked 14 restaurants in Johannesburg and Pretoria that caught our attention.

Our selection ranges from nine-course chef's table experiences and intimate tasting menus to Italian, Thai, Vietnamese and Asian-inspired dining. Some are places we've been wanting to try, while others stood out because their Restaurant Week menus offer something a little different from the usual three-course deal.

These are our picks, but they're by no means the only options available. Once you've gone through our list, head over to the Restaurant Week website and explore the full lineup to see what else is available, including restaurants in other cities and regions.

Here are the 14 we'd start with.

Artistry Sandton

If you’re looking for a proper three-course dinner without getting into fine-dining prices, Artistry Sandton is a solid place to start.

Its Restaurant Week offering gives you two options: a Classic 3-Course Menu for R395 or a more substantial Deluxe 3-Course Experience for R480.

The menu brings together a mix of Portuguese-inspired and contemporary dishes, with starters such as Gambas con Alho, featuring prawns with garlic, chilli and cream served with ciabatta, alongside lamb and hummus or prawn toast.

For mains, you can choose between Portuguese steak, Karoo lamb chops or peri-peri baby chicken, followed by baked cheesecake or madeleines for dessert.

Available for both lunch and dinner, it’s an easy option for a casual Restaurant Week booking that still feels like an occasion.

Restaurant Week special: Classic 3-course from R395 / Deluxe 3-course R480.

The Chef’s Table at 54 on Bath

This one is for the people who want Restaurant Week to feel like an experience.

The Chef’s Table at 54 on Bath is offering a nine-course dining journey for R1,595 per person, served at a communal table situated inside the kitchen. You can book two seats or the full table of four, with dinner served at 6:30pm.

The experience gives you a front-row view of the kitchen while the chef and sommelier guide you through the menu. The nine courses move from wild mushroom and lobster tartare to Atlantic scallops, confit duck and mushroom raviolo, blackened lamb loin, mature cheese and a blackberry semifreddo, finishing with a mango macaron and nougat bon bon.

If you want to take it even further, an optional wine pairing is available for R950.

At R1,595, this is one of the more expensive Restaurant Week experiences on our list, but it’s also one of the most involved.

Restaurant Week special: 9-course Chef’s Table experience
Price: R1,595 per person
Wine pairing: R950

KORA

KORA is going all in with a three-course menu created exclusively for Restaurant Week, meaning these dishes aren't simply pulled from the regular à la carte menu.

At R895 per person, the experience begins with hand-pulled bread and balsamic butter, followed by a choice between seared scallops or slow-braised short rib skewers.

For mains, you can choose between line fish with burnt lemon butter and spiced black rice or a 300g flame-grilled lamb rack served with Café de Paris butter, charred broccolini and smoked rosemary.

Dessert is a piña colada panna cotta with tropical pearls and mandarin gel.

Located at The MARC in Sandton, KORA is one to consider if you’re after a more polished dinner with a menu that feels distinctly different from the everyday restaurant experience.

Restaurant Week special: Exclusive 3-course experience
Price: R895 per person

The Pot Luck Club at The Peech

The Pot Luck Club is bringing its signature sharing-style approach to Restaurant Week with a seven-course experience for R925 per person.

The menu is built around the restaurant’s five signature tastes: Umami, Salty, Sweet, Sour and Fusion, making this less about choosing one main course and more about trying a little bit of everything.

There’s also a five-course sharing lunch for R595, available on Thursdays and Fridays.

The lunch menu includes dishes such as braaibroodjie, linefish ceviche, sashimi and Szechuan fried chicken, with dessert rounding things off.

The seven-course experience requires a minimum of two guests and is particularly suited to a group of friends or a date where sharing a number of different dishes is part of the fun.

Restaurant Week special: 7-course Pot Luck Club experience R925 / 5-course sharing lunch R595.

NOOK

Hidden within SOLO in Sandton, NOOK takes a very different approach to Restaurant Week.

The restaurant is offering a five-course South African tasting experience for R495, centred around familiar flavours, food memories and local ingredients interpreted through a contemporary lens.

Chef Mmabatho Molefe leads the experience, with the menu opening with an amuse of Izoso, including Oxford liver with monkey gland sauce and roasted onion vierge, chicken gizzards with masala mayo and lumpfish roe, and beef lung with pepper and onion mignonette.

The experience is designed around reimagining South African food rather than simply presenting traditional dishes as they are.

If you enjoy tasting menus and want to try something that feels more rooted in local food culture, NOOK is one of the more interesting options on this list.

Restaurant Week special: 5-course South African tasting experience
Price: R495 per person

Nine Lives

Tucked between the fourth and fifth floors of Hyde Johannesburg in Rosebank, Nine Lives is an intimate after-dark speakeasy with low lighting, cocktails and globally inspired food.

For Restaurant Week, it’s offering a three-course Speakeasy Experience for R595 per person.

The menu starts with small plates such as burrata, prawn toast, smoked mushroom parfait and sweet-and-sour pork dumplings, before moving into the main course and dessert.

This is one for a date night or a night out where you want the setting to be just as much a part of the experience as the food.

Restaurant Week special: 3-course Speakeasy Experience
Price: R595 per person

Obscura

Located at Oxford Parks in Rosebank, Obscura is combining dinner and drinks with its Restaurant Week offering.

For R425 per person, you get a three-course sharing experience with a cocktail.

The experience starts with a welcome cocktail before you choose two dishes to share. Options include charred broccoli with Cape Malay velouté, honey, almonds, chilli oil and crispy sage, as well as sirloin with smoked beef fat, amasi cauliflower purée, confit coffee butter onion and umami jus.

It finishes with dessert, making this a good option if you’re looking for something a little more relaxed and social rather than a traditional plated three-course meal.

Restaurant Week special: 3-course sharing experience + cocktail
Price: R425 per person

SINN

If Italian food is your thing, SINN is offering one of the more accessible options on our list.

Its three-course Modern Italian Experience costs R395, while a two-course option is available for R295.

The menu includes starters such as beef carpaccio, salmon cannoli and roasted butternut and feta arancini.

Mains move between pasta, meat and pizza, with options including artichoke ravioli, wood-fired short rib, seafood pizza and creamy grilled chicken.

You can finish with a frozen Eton Mess or classic tiramisu.

Located in Sandhurst, SINN is a good option if you want a Restaurant Week meal that feels substantial without spending close to R500 or more per person.

Restaurant Week special: 3-course experience R395 / 2-course experience R295.

Jinsei

Jinsei is bringing an Asian-inspired menu to Restaurant Week, with influences from Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese cuisine and cooking centred around its open kitchen and robata grill.

There are two Restaurant Week options: a four-course dinner for R345 and a three-course lunch for R195.

Dinner starts with crispy nori bites, followed by pork wontons and chicken shu mai, before moving into mains such as twice-fried Korean chicken or robata-grilled sirloin.

The lunch menu gives you a shorter version of the experience, making the R195 option particularly appealing if you want to try the restaurant during the day.

For the price, Jinsei is one of the more accessible ways to get a multi-course Restaurant Week experience.

Restaurant Week special: 4-course dinner R345 / 3-course lunch R195.

197 Tasting Room at Le Manoir

At the foot of Northcliff Hill, 197 Tasting Room at Le Manoir is offering a French-inspired three-course experience for R595 per person.

The restaurant combines French culinary techniques with consciously sourced South African ingredients under Executive Chef Kagiso “Ken” Phuduhudu.

The Restaurant Week menu starts with a choice between Atlantic salmon gravlax and crispy pork belly.

Mains include beef fillet, pan-roasted line fish or wild mushroom and truffle gnocchi, followed by either dark chocolate délice or vanilla panna cotta.

This is a good middle ground if you’re looking for something that feels more refined than a casual dinner, but don’t necessarily want to commit to a full tasting menu.

Restaurant Week special: French-inspired 3-course dining experience
Price: R595 per person

The Thai Table 789

For Thai food, The Thai Table 789 is offering an Authentic Thai 3-Course Experience for R495 per person at Oxford Parks.

The menu covers a good spread of Thai flavours, starting with options such as Thai money bags, chicken wings or Thai spring rolls.

Mains include chicken Pad Thai, Massaman curry with slow-braised beef short rib or steamed fish, before dessert options such as Thai silk or mango and chilli gelato.

The menu leans into the balance of sweet, sour, salty and spicy flavours that make Thai food so distinctive, making this one worth considering if you want to use Restaurant Week as an excuse to explore a cuisine outside your usual rotation.

Restaurant Week special: Authentic Thai 3-course experience
Price: R495 per person

Nonna’s Riviera Fourways

If Italian comfort food is more your speed, Nonna’s Riviera is offering both lunch and dinner options for Restaurant Week.

The Italian Riviera 3-course dinner costs R395, while the 2-course lunch is R245.

The menu includes Italian favourites such as risotto supplì and melanzane alla Parmigiana to start, followed by dishes including lasagne and a 300g rump steak.

And, naturally, there’s tiramisu for dessert.

It’s one of the more straightforward choices on our list: familiar Italian dishes, a proper multi-course meal and a price point that makes it easy to bring someone along without turning dinner into a major expense.

Restaurant Week special: 3-course dinner R395 / 2-course lunch R245.

Pretoria Picks

Restaurant Week isn’t limited to Johannesburg, and two of our picks this year are in Pretoria. So if you’re willing to make the drive, these are worth adding to the list too.

Annam Viet Cuisine

Located at Forest Walk in Pretoria, Annam Viet Cuisine is bringing an authentic Vietnamese menu to Restaurant Week.

The restaurant is offering a three-course experience for R395, as well as a two-course lunch for R295.

Starters include Vietnamese crystal rolls, available with prawn, pork or vegetarian fillings, alongside spring rolls and mussels with prawn crackers.

For mains, you can choose from phở with beef or chicken, fried rice noodles with different protein options, Hanoi grilled pork or crispy whole fried fish.

Dessert options include coconut ice cream, choux au craquelin and lemongrass mousse.

The menu gives you a chance to work through several of the flavours and dishes that make Vietnamese food so popular, without having to order à la carte and figure out the menu yourself.

If you’re based in Pretoria or happen to be heading that way during the Restaurant Week period, this is one to have on your radar.

Restaurant Week special: Authentic Vietnamese 3-course experience
Price: R395 per person
Lunch option: 2 courses for R295

Amazon Menlyn

The final pick on our list takes you into the rainforest.

Amazon Menlyn combines a jungle-inspired setting with a Latin American-influenced menu, making the restaurant itself part of the experience.

For Restaurant Week, the restaurant is offering a three-course experience with a cocktail for R495 per person, with a wine-pairing option also available.

The menu includes starters such as beetroot-cured salmon, heirloom citrus beetroot salad and prawn and avocado gazpacho. Mains include flame-grilled picanha steak, bringing a more substantial, fire-driven element to the meal, before dessert.

The combination of the setting, cocktails and food makes Amazon a good choice if you’re looking for somewhere that feels like a night out rather than simply a restaurant booking.

Restaurant Week special: 3-course experience + cocktail
Price: R495 per person
Wine pairing: Available

Where are you booking?

These are just 14 of our picks, but there are plenty more restaurants taking part in Restaurant Week this year.

We've picked the ones that stood out to us, whether it's because of the menu, the experience, the price or simply because we've been meaning to try them. But there are restaurants across Johannesburg, Pretoria and other parts of South Africa taking part, so there's a lot more to explore.

Restaurant Week runs from 25 September to 1 November, with bookings opening on 18 September.

If none of these are quite your vibe, head over to the Restaurant Week website and have a look through the full list. You might just find your next dinner spot.