The Brass Bell sits on the edge of Kalk Bay harbour, where fishing boats come and go past the windows. You eat seafood beside a tidal pool that fills and drains with the tide, with False Bay stretching beyond. The restaurant has been here since 1939, starting as a tea room before becoming the multi-space seafood spot it is now.

Different areas serve different moods: the Cabin Bar for drinks with locals, Seaweed & Salt for meals by the water, and the Theatre Restaurant for live music with dinner. The kitchen works with the harbour's catch — line fish, calamari, sushi — and serves it in portions made for sharing. Wood-fired pizzas round out the menu for those who want something other than seafood.

Live music runs through the week, from Cape jazz to tribute acts, in the spaces that look out over the bay. The tidal pool is the constant, the reason the place is here at all, and the water you hear from every table.