In Cape Town to participate in the 2008 Niall Mellon Township Trust Builders' Blitz, on the nights that we didn't collapse with room service in front of the TV after a day's hard labour, we took the opportunity to check out some of the city's restaurants.

For Irish people used to mediocre food and extortionate prices, eating out in Cape Town is a revelation and a joy, particularly for seafood fans. Restaurant bills are so damn reasonable that, by my reckoning, you could travel to South Africa, stay in a decent hotel and eat out very well every night for the same money that you'd spend having dinner in Dublin for the week. Well, maybe not quite but you get my drift.

Our favourite discovery on this trip was The Codfather in laid-back Camps Bay, an informal space with super-charming staff and the best display of fish and seafood just there for the choosing that we had ever seen. We started with exceptional sushi picked off the conveyor belt and griddled calamari marinated in a secret spice mix heavy on the paprika. Delicious. To follow: superb yellow fin tuna and local butterfish with an array of dipping sauces and enormous Madagascan prawns the size of your head. With a bottle of sauvignon blanc and a shared sorbet, we broke the bank at €80 for two. This was by far the most expensive meal we ate in Cape Town, and worth every rand. When our waiter heard we were Irish he said, "You must be here with Niall. He's an amazing man. And a regular."

We were guests of Diarmuid Gavin at Tank, in the chic Cape Quarter, where we ate outdoors. The sushi here was pretty epic too, as was a Lychee and Lemongrass Martini. The fishphobes ate terrific steak and chips, and we all rhapsodised about how Niall Mellon was the nearest thing any of us had ever come to a living saint. I'm guessing that the bill came to maybe €25 a head, including drinks.

At Le Pommier in picturesque Stellenbosch, we ate Banhoek country cuisine on a veranda looking out over vineyards at the foot of the Simonsberg. There are rooms in which you could stay, Avoca-type pretty things to buy and the winery's own vintages to drink. The food was less innovative than we ate elsewhere in Cape Town but still good ? we liked the venison carpaccio and the grilled local kingklip fish ? and less than €20 a head.

Beluga is in Greenpoint, Cape Town's trendy advertising, film and modelling area, and lives up to the demands of a sophisticated clientele. It was booked out for dinner but we managed to get a table for lunch outside on a scorching Saturday. More fabulous sushi followed by Ponzu-Glazed Prawns and Beluga's trademark Malay Duck Bobotie. The emergence of a dazed-looking moth from inside my salad was handled with exceptional charm. Another €20 a head bargain, including wine.

We had only one dud meal in Cape Town. The Long Street Café, which is recommended in many guidebooks, is a lazy operation – nothing that we ordered was up to scratch and we left most of our pizza and Greek lamb wrap unfinished. The off-hand staff didn't ask why. Even with lunch for two at €17, bad service still galls.

The Codfather

37 The Drive, Camps Bay

Tel: + 27 21 438 0782

Tank

Cape Quarter,

De Waterkant Street,

Green Point

Tel: + 27 21 419 0007

Le Pommier

Stellenbosch

Tel: + 27 21 885 1269

www.lepommier.co.za

Beluga

The Foundry, Prestwich Street,

Green Point

Tel: + 27 21 418 2948

Long Street Café

259 Long Street, Cape Town

Tel: + 27 21 424 2464