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Eating, drinking and nightlife
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Knysna has a livelier atmosphere than you might expect from a Garden Route town, buzzing at night to the strains of decent
music
at
Tin Roof Blues
. As far as food goes, oysters are an obvious choice, with the Knysna Oyster Company here being one of the world's largest oyster farms, but you'll also find a lot of good
restaurants
catering to other palates and one or two excellent
coffee shops
. With so many forests, waterways and beaches, you may be tempted to have a
picnic
, and there's no shortage of tempting deli food in town. Farmhouse Picnics (see below) provides ready-prepared gourmet picnic baskets delivered to your door.
34A° South Knysna Quays tel 044 382 7331. An outstanding fine food deli and eating place, with imported groceries, homemade food and fresh seafood; from here you can watch the drawbridge open to let yachts sail through. Daily 9am-6pm. The Anchorage Garden Route Shopping Centre, Main Street tel 044 382 2230. A city-centre seafood and steak restaurant, where you are guaranteed fresh fish every day. Lunch Mon-Fri & dinner daily. Changes Pledge Square, 48 Main St tel 044 382 0456. A reasonably priced gay-run restaurant that plugs itself as "your pink triangle on the square," with an imaginatively eclectic menu including seafood and vegetable tempura, duck and cherry pie as well as seafood, steak and vegetarian main courses. Tues-Sat from 7pm. Coffee Connection Main Road. Offers great coffee, with a wide choice of blends - including flavoured beans - as well as snacks. The Drydock Food Co Knysna Quays tel 044 382 7310. A good mid-priced seafood place where starters include coastal oysters and local salmon trout and main courses prawns and East Coast sole. Daily lunch and dinner. Farmhouse Picnics tel 044 356 2707 or 083 448 1616, fax 044 356 2710, farmhouse@dodeca.co.za . Offers picnic baskets for two delivered anywhere in Wilderness, Sedgefield or Knysna for R100. A choice of menus include oysters, smoked chicken and vegetable kebabs, basil and lime couscous with grilled vegetables, pecan pie and comes with local beer or wine. The baskets contain crockery, cutlery and table linen and you're even given suggestions for picnic sites. Twelve hours' notice is required. La Loerie 57 Main St tel 044 382 1616. Knysna's top restaurant, a consistently excellent and intimate place where you can eat fresh lagoon oysters and some of the best fish along the Garden Route. Mon-Sat eves. Ocean Basket Memorial Square. A successful family seafood restaurant chain with everything from freshly caught fish to hake and chips. The Oyster Tavern Thesen's Jetty, Thesen's Island tel 044 382 6941. A tasting tavern at the Knysna Oyster Company, where you can feast on mussels or cultivated oysters served with bread and a choice of sauces. Pickled hake, snoek and angel pate are on offer, as well as take-away oysters by the dozen. Mon-Thurs 8am-5pm, Fri 8am-4pm, Sat & Sun 9am-3pm. Paquitas Knysna Heads tel 044 384 0408. A restaurant situated in a fabulous location right on the rocks beneath The Heads where kids can run onto the beach. The standard mid-priced family fare such as burgers, ribs, pizzas is like a honeypot to local teenagers. Daily lunch and dinner. Persello Pizzeria Main Road tel 044 382 2665. An Italian family-run restaurant, offering excellent pizzas to eat in or take away. Phantom Forest Eco-Reserve Phantom Pass Road tel 044 386 0046. Eating is secondary to being in one of the most beautiful places in South Africa, in a forest with views of the whole estuary. The expensive Pan-African set menu offers multiple choices such as ostrich medallions marinated in orange and ginger, forest mushrooms with garlic rocket and Knysna cheese, and tempting desserts such as brandy snap baskets. Dinner daily.
Tin Roof Blues
On the corner of St George's and Main roads. Good live music performed by local and visiting bands from across the country. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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South Africa,
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