Food Trends 2026: What South Africans Are Really Craving

In South Africa, where economic pressure is real and eating out is more considered than carefree, 2026’s trends are less about spectacle and more about substance. Here are the 10 shifts defining how — and why — we’re eating now.

1. Supper Clubs and Hosting as a Hobby

The dinner party is no longer casual. It’s curated.

Across the country, hosting has become a creative outlet: themed menus, handwritten place cards, carefully chosen playlists, tablescapes worthy of a magazine spread. Some home cooks are even opening once a month as makeshift cafés, baking fresh pastries and letting friends “order” from the kitchen counter.

The renewed admiration for lifestyle figures like Ina Garten and Martha Stewart signals something deeper — a desire for order, beauty and generosity within small, controllable spaces. Restaurants are echoing this with intimate, one-off supper clubs that feel part dinner party, part performance.

If the world feels chaotic, at least the table can feel intentional.

2. The “Little Treat” Ritual

Big luxuries feel distant. Small ones feel essential.

A daily flat white. A flaky pastry before work. A solo market lunch. A perfectly made cocktail at week’s end. These modest indulgences punctuate routine without blowing the budget.

It’s not about extravagance. It’s about preserving joy in manageable doses.

3. Texture Takes Centre Stage

Texture is no longer garnish — it’s the point.

Foams, crisps, chews and gels are showing up as deliberate statements. Drinks arrive topped with airy foam or unexpected crunch. Korean and Japanese texture-led foods — from chewy rice cakes to pillowy mochi — have become mainstream fixtures on menus and in retail aisles.

In 2026, flavour still matters. But how something feels in the mouth matters just as much.

4. Cabbage’s Comeback

Cauliflower had a long, ambitious run. Now cabbage is stepping in.

Affordable, adaptable and deeply nostalgic, cabbage roasts beautifully and absorbs flavour with ease. Chefs are charring it, grilling it, glazing it sweet-and-salty and pairing it with bold accompaniments.

It’s a reminder that humble ingredients, handled well, can feel quietly luxurious.

5. Returning to Trusted Favourites

With fewer nights out feeling affordable, certainty has become valuable.

Diners are revisiting restaurants they know will deliver instead of chasing every new opening. Loyalty is no longer sentimental; it’s strategic. When money is tight, a night out needs to feel assured.

That means ordering the dish you love, in a room you trust, served by people who’ve earned repeat visits.

6. À la Carte Over Tasting Menus

The marathon tasting menu is starting to feel like a commitment.

In its place, flexibility. Ordering what you want, when you want it, is regaining appeal. At The Red Room by Chefs Warehouse at the Mount Nelson, diners can now choose à la carte alongside the established tasting format — allowing for drop-ins and repeat visits without the multi-course marathon.

Choice feels lighter. And lighter feels right.

7. Playful Seriousness in Cocktails

The canned cocktail market continues to grow, with bar-strength local options designed for portability and convenience.

At the same time, there’s a loosening of formality. Internationally, Jell-O-style cocktail bites are appearing in fine-dining spaces. Locally, non-alcoholic cocktail gummies are blurring the line between drink and sweet.

The tone? Technically sound, but not self-serious.

8. Fish-Forward Dining

A noticeable shift away from red meat is underway.

Restaurants like COY, Galjoen and Seebamboes are placing sustainably sourced, local seafood at the centre of their menus. With coastlines as generous as ours, it feels less like trend-chasing and more like realignment.

Seafood, simply prepared and connected to place, is having a deserved moment.

9. Nostalgic Dining

Familiarity is powerful.

Chefs are mining memory — revisiting childhood favourites and heritage recipes — not as gimmick, but as grounding. At Gigi, Chef Moses Moloi reinterprets personal history through refined technique. Elsewhere, soft-serve cones, banana splits and old-school bakes are returning with pride.

These dishes don’t look backward in retreat. They look inward, finding comfort in what endures.

10. Spontaneous Creator Advertising

Food culture and creator culture are now inseparable.

Brands are increasingly shaped by organic, sometimes rogue, content that goes viral before marketing teams can react. The recent Romeo x Dr Pepper TikTok moment reignited global interest in the soft drink through sheer spontaneity.

The lesson is simple: authenticity resonates. And in 2026, audiences can tell the difference.

Credits

Supper clubs: Photos by Le Roi van de Vyver (@vino_roi) via Instagram

Texture: Photo by Lindsey Droomer (@lindsey_droomer) for Kloof Konbini (@kloofkonbini) via Instagram, Photo by Mochi Mochi Japanese Café (@mochimochi_za) via Instagram, Photo by Upper Union (@upperunion_restaurant) via Instagram

Playful Seriousness: Photo by Think Flavour (@think.flavour) via Instagram, Photo by OLIO - Cocktails (@drinkolio) via Instagram, Photo by Pienaar & Son Distillery (@pienaarandson) via Instagram

Fish-forward: Photo by Amura (@amuracapetown) via Instagram, Photo by Claire Gunn (@clairegunnphoto) for Galjoen (@galjon_cpt) via Instagram, Photo by COY (@coy_capetown) via Instagram, Photo by Georgia East (@eastafternoon) for Saldanha Wine & Spirit Co (@saldanha_wine_and_spirit_co) via Instagram

Nostolgic: Photo by Gigi Restaurant (@gigi_jhb) via Instagram, Photo by Katy Rose (@katys_table) for De Vrije Burger (@devrijeburger) via Instagram

Courtesy of Dineplan