Where to find the best meal in Cape Town

The smart quarters of Cape Town have numerous fine restaurants offering delights from Provence to Australia, but eventually you might decide you want something that's actually South African. For this head to Langa, South Africa's oldest township, and visit Lelapa, a restaurant whose name means 'home' in Sotho.

The name is appropriate - the tables are in an extension to the home where owner and chef Sheila Mahloane, above, has lived since 1960. She opened her kitchen to visitors in 1999, after seeing busloads of tourists pass through the township on their way to the nearby vineyards. 'They would look through the windows of the air-conditioned buses, but could never get out or even breathe the air here,' she said. 'So we decided we needed to save them.'

Now Sheila, daughter Monica and their team offer tour groups an all-you-can-eat buffet featuring township food: samp (boiled white maize meal), chakalaka (spicy vegetable stew), vetkoek (deep-fried bread balls), marogo (wild spinach), squash, fried chicken and ostrich stew. All are delicious and the food is accompanied by fabulous live music from local groups.

· Lelapa, 49 Harlem Avenue, Langa; 00 27 21 694 2681. Most visitors go as part of a tour, like those run by Ecco tours: 0870 334 0288; www.eccotours.biz

How to find the cheapest duty-free

The cult of the duty-free purchase is more exciting than it should be, possibly because it's a bit of a lottery. There is little way of knowing if a bottle of Chanel No 5 is cheaper at the airport you depart from, the one you return from or the airline that takes you there. Try www.thedutyfreepriceguide.com which searches across airports and airlines to find the best bargains.

A quick search reveals that they practically give stuff away in the Turks & Caicos duty-free shop (although you'd have to be a millionaire to stay at the new Amanyara hotel there). According to the site, a bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin costs £7.41 in Turks & Caicos, compared with £11 at Auckland airport. If it's perfume, 50ml of Chanel No 5 Eau de Perfume costs £22 with Bangladesh Airways, but £38 with Air Canada. Even Toblerone, that staple of airport confectionery, has its price fluctuations. A 400g bar costs £2.65 in Iceland and £5.29 in Seoul.