There are bars with a sea view, and then there is the Brass Bell, where the Indian Ocean breaks close enough to mist your glass and the trains to Kalk Bay rumble in behind your back.
Published June 11, 2026 · By Daniel Okafor
The Brass Bell sits on Main Road in Kalk Bay, wedged between the railway line and the rocks of False Bay, and it has held that improbable spot since 1939. By the venue's own account it grew from a seaside favourite into one of Cape Town's most recognisable hospitality addresses, woven into the coastline for the better part of a century. Few bars anywhere are this close to the water.
This is not one room but several, each with its own register. There are dining areas hung over the waves, a tidal pool right beside the deck, and pub bars where the crowd gathers for a pint and a screen. The sound of the sea is the house soundtrack, and on a high tide the spray reaches the windows. Reach it the easy way by taking the train to Kalk Bay station and walking south along Main Road, with the restaurants on your left.
For sport, the pub bars are the draw. When the Springboks play, this stretch of the Cape fills with rugby supporters, and the Brass Bell pours through every Test with the ocean as a backdrop few stadiums could match. It earns its place in the Cape Town sports bar scene not on screen count but on atmosphere, and our guide to the best sports bars in Cape Town sets the wider field.
Eat what the location demands. The kitchen leans on fresh seafood pulled from the same waters you are watching, alongside coastal comfort plates and a deck made for a long lunch. Prices sit in honest mid-range territory for the setting, a $$ room where the view is the upgrade. For more of the city, our roundup of the best bars in Cape Town covers the rooms inland.
The crowd is a generous Cape mix. Day-trippers off the train, Kalk Bay locals, surfers from Muizenberg up the coast, and supporters in green and gold on Test days all share the rocks. By sunset the deck reads as one easy, salt-air crowd watching the light fall over False Bay.
Go at high tide for the full drama of the spray, or for a sundowner as the light drops behind the mountains across the bay. On Springbok Test days arrive early, because the pub bars claim the best screens fast. For a quieter visit, a weekday lunch on the deck is one of the great simple pleasures of the Cape coast.
The Brass Bell pairs naturally with the rest of Cape Town's drinking circuit. Back in the city, The Fireman's Arms is the historic pub for a Test, while Beerhouse on Long Street and Mr Pickwick's keep the central crowd watered well into the night.
What keeps the Brass Bell on every Cape itinerary is the thing no renovation can buy: the spot itself. A bar perched on the rocks of False Bay, pouring through 80-odd years of tides and Tests, is the kind of place a city builds its self-image around. Judged on its own terms, it is one of the most singular drinking addresses in South Africa.
Catch the train down the coast for the full effect, because the approach is half the pleasure. The line hugs the shore from Muizenberg, and stepping off at Kalk Bay straight into salt air and the smell of the kitchen is the right way to arrive. Few bars anywhere come with a commute this good.
Sources: Brass Bell official site (brassbell.co.za); Cape Town Magazine, The Brass Bell Restaurant in Kalk Bay; Tripadvisor Brass Bell, Kalk Bay (2026).