FYN: the flavours of South Africa and the best dessert of our lives
By Thiago Freitas · The Prime Traveler
World’s 50 Best Restaurants: best historical position in the world ranking, with the year of achievement.
In Cape Town, cooking that celebrates local ingredients, a waiter named Fin and a yoghurt ice cream that left a memory hard to surpass. Our visit in December 2025.
The best dessert we've ever had in our lives came on a stick. It was a yogurt-based ice cream, with a cone, honey and a crunchy finish. Relatively simple ingredients, put together in a way that made us stop and recognize, even at the table, how special it was.
It was at FYN, in Cape Town, in December 2025. The meal had already impressed us with the appreciation of local food and the level of cuisine. After fish, small culinary creations from the sea and meats that made the experience deeply linked to South Africa, that ice cream left the strongest memory of all.
A large table with South African identity
The FYN occupies the fifth floor of Speaker’s Corner in the center of Cape Town. Created by chef Peter Tempelhoff, with Ashley Moss as culinary director, the restaurant brings together the richness of African ingredients with a Japanese approach that values the season, precision and character of each product. Even the name refers to fynbos, the vegetation so associated with the Cape region. [1]
At the time of our visit, FYN was in 82nd position on the 2025 global list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, within the extended selection from 51 to 100. It is a recognition that helps place the restaurant among the great addresses of international gastronomy. At the table, however, what interested us most was the way the kitchen presented the place we were in. [2]
In the 2026 extended selection announced on October 21, FYN rose to 65th place. [6]
The appreciation of local food is spectacular. There is something very special about traveling and finding products that we would hardly experience in the same way in another destination, prepared at such a high level of gastronomy. At FYN, this relationship with South Africa accompanies the meal from beginning to end.
Fin, the waiter who made everything easier
A coincidence helped us remember the name of those who took care of us: our waiter was also called Fin. But it was the way he served us that made his name remain in our memory.
Fin was impeccable, attentive and helpful. The service was careful, explanatory and available, without making the presence of the team oppressive. We were able to follow the dishes, ask questions and talk to each other naturally. It's a delicacy that makes a lot of difference during a long meal.
For me, great service appears precisely in this measure. Feeling that someone is paying attention to what we need and, at the same time, having the freedom to live the moment in our own way. That's how we felt on the FYN.
The sea in small presentations
One of the culinary creations featured pink sheets of fish, a small portion of roe on top and a liquid punctuated by green and orange elements. The dark crockery, with its delicate design, made the colors even more evident. It was a small presentation, designed to be observed closely.
At another point, a collection of small bowls and shells arrived at the table, holding different seafood preparations. Steam drifted through the presentation while the team explained it. The video captures that arrival and something of the service’s unhurried rhythm.
The Japanese reference appears in the scale of the portions, the attention to assembly and the way the elements are brought together. At the same time, the restaurant's proposal keeps its focus on products from the South African territory. This combination gives personality to the experience.
Vegetables and fish on dark sheet
Vegetables also had a presence. In one of the bowls, green, purple and pink tones met a golden portion. The cuts, colors and surfaces created a composition in which each part remained visible.
The fish dish photographed next had another language: a light, golden portion rested on a dark sheet, with thin blades and small leaves on top. The almost black base and light dishes highlighted the main ingredient. It is one of the records that best shows the care taken with the presentation.
Meats that make the trip meaningful
The meats were one of the most interesting parts of the meal. It is an opportunity to discover a cuisine using products less present in our daily lives, with a treatment that places them at the center of the experience. This desire to value what is local was one of the things we most admired about FYN.
The restaurant’s approach to regional meat includes springbok dishes, and its Bok Box has featured springbok, eland and ostrich. In an interview published in June 2025, the team explained its wish to serve local meat that overseas visitors may not otherwise encounter. That choice helps explain the restaurant’s identity. [2] [3]
In our records, one presentation has a golden crust and a pink interior, served in thick slices. The difference between the surface and the cut gives the dish a very striking image. In another stage, the grilled meat arrives accompanied by sauce, green elements and small portions carefully arranged.
That's one of the pleasures of a well-chosen culinary trip: finding ingredients and ways of cooking that deepen the experience of the destination. The meal tells a part of the trip that we wouldn't get to know just by touring the city.
Cabo also in glasses
Beverages also gave way to South African production. Among the labels that accompanied our table were the Domaine des Dieux Rose of Sharon Brut Rosé 2011, a Cap Classique, and the Radford Dale The Renaissance of Chenin Blanc 2017, from Stellenbosch. The photograph holds the two bottles side by side. [4] [5]
It is a good continuity for the kitchen proposal. Getting to know a destination at its table can also involve its wines, its producing regions and its vintages. In this case, the South African labels added another dimension to the experience.
A yogurt ice cream that exceeded all expectations
The sweet part still had delicate presentations on the plate, with different colors, small details and volumes. The sequence maintained the same care that we had found in the previous stages.
But it was the ice cream on a stick that definitely won us over. Based on yogurt, with a crust, honey and a crunchy finish, it seemed like the best dessert we had ever eaten. The record of that moment stores the immediate reaction, before any attempt to organize the memory into words.
What impresses me most to this day is the relative simplicity of the ingredients. The result was extraordinary. You can make one of the best desserts in the world from a simple base — and, for us, that day, it was the best of all.
When a culinary creation causes this, it becomes part of the journey for a long time. We can review the dishes and remember the presentations, but that ice cream has already gained its own place in our conversations about gastronomy.
The luxury of knowing a place for what it serves
The FYN remained in our memory for all its aspects: the strength of the South African ingredients, the local meats, the care taken in the presentations and the service provided by Fin. And, of course, for a yogurt dessert that continues to be a reference for us.
There is a very concrete luxury in setting aside time for a table like this. Choosing the restaurant, considering the style of cuisine and allowing the meal to have its own rhythm are decisions that change the way you experience a destination.
The Gastrotrip from The Prime Traveler is born from this care. We create personalized gastronomic itineraries, connecting the tables to your tastes, dates, hotels and the pace of the trip, always depending on the availability of each restaurant.
Your next great memory can start at the table. Discover Gastrotrip from The Prime Traveler and order your personalized gastronomic itinerary.