Sunset Bistro

It really felt like I was on a ship ambience having gourmet meal with a view . The service was amazing as the waiters dressed in sailors outfits , definitely deck seating my favorite 😍 staff welcoming and friendly. Pricing cost effective. Freshest fish ever and menu tasteful.

You don't come here for the food, you come here for the atmosphere. My childhood was some days spent buying and baiting crayfish traps from the harbour here and head to sea at daybreak to fish. To say the least the breakfast was humbly delicious, ample, fragrant.. we highly recommend an orange juice demi sec champers mix with oysters.. followed by choice breakfast fish, egg, toast selection. Please note, there is no bacon.. you can live without it for a while.. after all you're next the sea side! The history is much to take in and regard, so take your time and enjoy the marvellous cosy atmosphere. Outside you're greeted by a very personable sea lion who's a sucker for attention. Don't feed him mind. To conclude, a lovely Hout Bay bucket list foodie spot with rich historic décor.

I have always loved visiting this amazing place. We got disabled parking, had a fantastic meal upstairs and enjoyed the music very much! Don't think twice! It's especially nice that it's located outside of the main town area and there is a lovely beach area if you want to frolick in the water.

Going to Mariners Wharf is one of our regular Sunday drives and we just love it. The food is always fresh and amazing. The staff are friendly even though they are most of the time rushed off their feet. Mariners Wharf is a vibe on its own, from the seagulls , (always on the lookout for bits of food ) to the seals doing tricks on the jetty. I love the hustle and bustle of this place. People strolling along, eating ice cream cones, just enjoying the ambience of this stunning environment. You can see Chapmans Peak in the distance and the harbour beneath and it makes an awesome sight. It can get quite busy especially on a Sunday, making going onto the jetty a bit tricky but it’s all part of the vibe. I do find it a bit concerning that the seals which are wild mammals, are so comfortable with humans and that they get used to being fed by the man who’s does tricks with him. But I guess this is just part of what people comes to see. 👌

Reading through reviews see lots redundant ‘scenic’ ‘picturesque’ words all speaking of seagulls eating chips from your hands, seals showing off, turquoise waters, fish market et cetera. Not so many pure comments on how fish really cooked and tastes, on service, most importantly reviews around about fish menu since ‘Mariner’s Wharf’ should speak all about being 100% a mariner’s place. Well not anymore. It certainly was, that’s their heritage and background. Nowadays it’s more a local guides’ best reviews place, paper-perfect storytelling restaurant for international tourists mixing up with locals (from anywhere in the country ie. local tourism) altogether sipping at the holy graal of a typical fish restaurant. Well, till some point. Let’s start saying the ‘wharf’ turns to be more an Harbour (docks) delivering fish (mostly frozen) to restaurants in town. Big names, companies, numbers. Besides, there’s a local fish market sourcing locally yet variety scarce. Angel, hake, cape salmon, lobsters that’s it. The rest mostly frozen and dispatched from abroad. When it comes to menu, at the restaurant, lack of choices prevails and food prep mostly redundant (grilled or fried) to accompany slow service, touristy price. For those who seeking more genuine atmosphere downstairs at the historical mariner’s corner, expectations won’t get that much. In particular across festive / summer better skipping it. There was a time when the sushi restaurant (shut for years now) around the fish market was one of the best in town, same time when the fish market itself was rich in variety and fair in price. At the Mariner’s Wharf what you get now, after queuing 30-40 minutes avg, gummy calamars, grilles hake and oily chips. Besides, such big / crowded place does not recycle properly (officially they do) on the real the amount of garbage spread around the wharf and in waters massive, mixed up humid with cans, glass, et cetera overall make the experience waaay less genuine than they sell. Four marks, seriously? Too generous in the aim of good will and good hope…