The J Way
This is honestly one of the best Italian restaurants i have had the pleasure of being able to dine at. The service is excellent and the atmosphere is warm and feels like a giant hug. Their Cousin's special pasta is what i fall asleep dreaming about. Simple dishes with the most amazing flavour and fresh high quality ingredients.We have never had a bad experience and I'm pretty sure they were a big reason why we moved to Cape Town, This has become our local celebration spot and we will keep coming back! its what dining at an Italian restaurant should be.
Malcolm Wright
Dinner club with friends. Our table of 18 was handled very well, even during the taxi strikes and violence around the city. It was awesome to see the managers and owners getting involved in front of house serving the tables because they were low on staff. Very good intro to the menu and specials. Very knowledgeable. Interesting menu with loads of fresh pasta options. I took the seafood option with the squid ink. I tried something I don't usually try and it was very tasty and fresh. Pasta is not my "go to" at a restaurant but it was very good. I had the veal meat balls for starters which were also very good and then the chocolate temptations for dessert. They were delicious and you could drink the chocolate sauce like hot chocolate. Very yummy. Staff were friendly and knew their stuff and the food was very nice. Well done and thank you for the awesome evening.
Lee-Anne Curtis-Cox
We were admittedly a little dubious about the location of the restaurant, as Barrack Street is where the Home Affairs Offices are and during the day absolute mayhem. We had a reservation at 7pm, and the street in that part of town was actually rather quiet at that hour, and we even managed to find a few parking bays in front of the restaurant.
The restaurant itself is nothing spectacularly beautiful, rather old, and well used, but we loved the homey feel! And the aromas wafting through the restaurant upon our arrival had our mouths watering before we even sat down. The restaurant was fully booked when we arrived at 7 pm, and the table before us was in the process of settling their bill, so I reckon the restaurant was fully booked from 5pm even. Making a reservation is a necessity.
Customer Service was incredibly efficient! We never sat for a moment wondering where our waiter was, and this restaurant has definitely the fastest time between placing an order to receive your meal. The meal portion size was extremely generous and so incredibly tasty! Cousins offers authentic Italian meals, which will put some of the other "Italian" restaurants in town to shame! And we thought their prices were rather reasonable!
Abdullah Rayes
One of best Pasta and tiramisu every taste 🫶❤️
Pasta dish was made specifically for us without alcohol, respect 🫡🫶
P.S. the dish is large but in picture is divided for two😋
Best of luck 💙
Ianette H
This has been our favorite authentic Italian restaurant in Cape Town for YEARS. We've been coming here for dinner since it was just a small little restaurant back in 2013, so seeing it expand over the years, yet still maintaining exceptional food and service - is fantastic. Just simply love the food, wine and atmosphere.
Muhammad Harneker
The experience was fantastic. The staff were extremely friendly and made us feel welcome. We ordered a range of pastas dishes and all were delicious
Rachel
First night in Cape Town and had the loveliest Italian dinner. Cousins pasta, affogato and tiramisu were to die for. Will return on our next trip!
Ismail S
Amazing food. Staff is extremely friendly. The owner came out and spoke with us and recommended a few of his favorite dishes with some back stories to them. Would recommend booking a reservation as the restaurant filled up quickly.
DuckyFN
Pasta the cousins (signature) (10/10)
The gnocchi is fabuleus aswell, they are soft and freshly made. I had the lamb ragu ( def recommend!)
Courtney Scoble
Originally a 5 star review, actually I could have given 10 stars it was so good.
On Saturday we had the best lamb ragu and steak outside of Italy, everything was sublime and I raved to everyone far and wide how great it was.
It was so good I decided to go back two days later as I just had to have more of the lamb ragu pasta…:
On Monday my euphoria was slashed as the pasta did not taste the same and I was very disappointed, the one on Saturday tasted premium and homemade and tonight’s tasted like an average pasta. If this had been Saturdays meal I would not have come back, but I do understand, it can’t be 100% every time. Just sad as something special was on my plate on Saturday.
I will be back hopefully next time it will be the Cousins that knocked my socks off.
Photo 1 Saturday and 2 Monday
Annie Chu
First impression - the restaurant is situated in a lonely, poor lighting area in the city but once you are inside, it's got that candlelight, Italian style, red booth, dark wooden chair feel. The restaurant was quite busy so it had that nice, cozy, busy atmosphere in the restaurant.
Their menu offerings are so good that everything looks so good especially their special menu on the wall but since we are at an Italian restaurant, we definitely have to try their pasta and risotto. We absolutely love their starters which we ordered mussels, arancini and carpaccio. For main, we ordered prawn risotto and mushroom pasta with added truffle oil. You know when food tastes so good when each dishes have its nature taste.
We had a wonderful service from our server. The food and drinks came on time without any delays. We ordered some pretty expensive ingredients so the prices are on the slightly high side. PS: I choose this restaurant because it got the highest Google rating and it's the only restaurant that does bolognese pasta that my son wants!!!
Linda Thompson
I’ve ordered take aways on multiple occasions and eaten in at Cousins. It is gorgeous and authentic with the portions being generous and feeling hearty. It is memorable with the Parmesan for their signature Parmesan dishes.
A wonderful Cape Town institution.
Tamsyn Human
Went for my best friends birthday dinner last night The Cousins Trattoria- there was 10 of us. Stefan our waiter was phenomenal and knowledgeable about the menu. He was friendly and professional. The Beyerskloof pinotage was flowing as was the conversation.
I did the Cousins pasta with a cream sauce, mushrooms, thyme and truffle oil that is created in the massive grana padana wheel. It was delcious but a little too rich for me personally but wanted the experience. I tried my friends lamb ragu with gnocchi which was amazing and definitely trying that next time. The scoglia seafood pasta with squid ink looked so good which one of our guests had.
There's a new dessert on menu which sold me at white chocolate and mascapone. Was way too full to try but coming back for sure. Sorry the insta story music was taken out when I shared on this platform.
Mel Walmsley
Phenomenal food. The mushroom pasta in a Parmesan wheel was the highlight. The citrus filled beignets, perfect combination with dark chocolate sauce
Jeandre Horn
Some of the best Italian food I've had in the western Cape
Kendra Szeles
A little gem in town and a special place to share the most delicious food with family and friends!
They have the most delicious home made pasta and everyone that works in the restaurant is passionate about the food. The gnocchi are perfect little potato puffs that melt in your mouth. Definitely a place to add to your food bucket list!
Nazz
Brought by friends who have been frequent diners for years. We absolutely loved it. They especially booked for when the owner Simonè would be there. He personally attended to us; a very humble yet strong personality.....and the food was amazing! We sat in the 3rd dining area at the back, underneath a stunning almost 3 dimensional art piece of an Italian village road. This only added to the ambience. When we visit again, I will definitely ask for that table again. The experience felt more immerseful because of that painting
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