Peli Peli

If you are visiting Houston, and you get to try one restaurant, Peli Peli is definitely the one to try. The staff will guide you in what to order, based on your preferences - steak, seafood, vegetarian, kosher, gluten free, etc. You name it; they are highly trained, and they can guide you to it.

Peli Peli has always been one of the best restaurants in Houston since it opened. Now, Peli Peli is back to being THE best restaurant in Houston. I love this place! I love that when I am in Calgary, Alberta that my co-workers all want to get to the Houston office, so they can enjoy dinner at Peli Peli. In recent months, Peli Peli has revamped their menu, adding new delights, and they have brought back old favorites. Additionally, they have further perfected their classic menu items, which seems crazy because they were already so good, and now they are even better! I am in love with all of the new veggies on the menu. I now want a side of steak with my veggies; instead of a side of veggies with my steak. The waiter today told me that they are focusing on sourcing fresh, local ingredients, and this was quite evident in the high quality of my Greek salad and gumbo. Great job Peli Peli!

AWESOME things first! Peli over the years has definitely made a strong good impression on me over the years. Their signature wings are excellent, fresh fish dishes, salads, drinks, everything! I generally frequent the Galleria which is an excellent location but this time Vintage Park it was.

Food: Note these were all to-go orders due to Covid-19

Cod Fish: Great flaky fish portion moderately seasoned, excellent soft potatoes with red peppers & onions & sautéed sting beans. All delicious & fresh

BBQ Chicken Breast: Juice medium sized breast, smothered in semisweet sauce with crispy well buttered & seasoned Brussel sprouts & potatoes with red peppers seasoned delicious.

Curry Chicken: Fabulous dish, full of curry flavor, flaky, tender, very well spiced yellow rice (does not come with sides. This dish for some reason the portion was a child size. There was about half a cup of rice, no more & 1 spoon of chicken, it was hardly a normal portion. Very disappointed as the dish is exquisite! I wondered if maybe they were running low on this dish due to Covid-19 & reduced the portions because this was not normal.

All in all wonderful place to dine as always even during this time. Please enjoy!

This is the original location where it all started. I've been here a few times now, so it's time to write a proper review.

Parking is fairly easy here since there is always parking in the rear that many people forget about.

As you enter, you're immediately greeted by the small bar area on the left. It's sort of outdated and doesn't really match with this level of service and price point. Although the cocktail prices are up with current times!

The remainder of the interior is the main dining area. There is also seating in side rooms and outdoor patio seating. The main dining room is dramatic with its towering ceiling and decor.

The menu is simple and has a lot of great options. Like many restaurants these days, it's divided into apps, smaller plates and full size plates. The apps give you an idea of the types of dishes served in S Africa. The larger plates seem to contain mostly American proteins using S African spices. Their fish is probably one item you won't see on American menus though.

I've tried much of their menu and I enjoy the app sampler, especially the lamb samosas. Believe it or not, Peli Peli has some of the best chicken in Houston. It's that good!

Like many fancy restaurants, if you're dining due to a special occasion, they'll comp you a sticky toffee pudding at the end, their top selling dessert. Oh yeah, and it's pretty delicious too!

Been coming here on and off since this establishment has been open. I have to admit that this place is not my first pick whenever someone chooses to eat in the Vintage Park. Food is fairly pricey, and for dinner, I am just not a fan of the menu selections. That is until I came here for brunch of a Sunday afternoon.

Brunch here has always been a goal of mind since my husband loves brunch. We were in the area celebrating our anniversary and decided to check it out since it was not a long extraordinary line outside. Not unless you were in that huge group playing Pokemon Go.

Besides the point, the service and brunch selections were very good. Unique choices that we both chose. Chicken and waffle schnitzel was something I was not expecting my husband to get. He's more of a French toast kinda guy, however this was excellent. Perfect amount of savory and sweetness to everything. I was a huge fan of the Curry chicken hash! Delicious all around and chicken was great! Egg was perfectly poached and I really loved it all. Definitely recommend brunch here! Be sure to check in Yelp for $5 off your $25 order! Thank me later! Byeeeee!

I'll be honest, I am geographically challenged and had minimal understanding of a lot of the worlds food offerings. This is where it all started for me with South African food. Lucky for us, our first visit was with friends who originally are from South Africa. It was a pretty great experience to hear them pronounce each item and describe certain spices that is used in all of their staples.

Now that this has become one of our favorite restaurants to bring people from out of town, I have a long list of items we have tried and loved.

Here are the items I highly recommend:
- bobotie [like a chicken pot pie but with ground beef, funny pronouncaion too]
- South African samosa
- biltong
- espetada [first time diners should def try]
- Cape Town skillet
- Chilean sea bass
- sticky toffee pudding or cheesecake

Have to also mention that every single one of their locations has the most beautiful decor, especially the vaulted tree looking thing?

This was the first time here for both the hubbs & I, but there's no way it will be our last visit. I don't recall the last time I gave a restaurant 5 stars or when I had an amazing waiter (Jamal), but that it was Peli Peli earned.


Jamal, our waiter/tour guide was outstanding. He welcomed us with genuine sincerity and was delighted to find out it was our first visit. Jamal took his time to explain the concept of the restaurant and each dish. We asked lots of questions, which he patiently and expertly answered. Jamal even gave us info on the chef and owners, and details on the flavors we'd be experiencing.

We started with the South African Sampler. Jamal let us know that it was a very large sampler, but it sounded amazing. When it arrived, yes, it was very large and included a variety of appetizers. Each of the 5 appetizers was explained to us. We dug in and OMGoodness - we were so happy we had selected the sampler. Each item was superb! We couldn't pick a favorite item, b/c each dish was rich with flavor and expertly prepared.

The sampler was very filling, but so delicious that we just had to try a few other dishes. So, we also had the Peli Peli wings and the bacon wrapped scallops. Again, two wins for us! The detail to seasoning and preparation was top notch.


For cocktails, I delighted in a few Cape Town Cucumber Martinis - perfectly balanced sweet/sour/spicy/refreshing.


We ended our spectacular meal with the spectacular Dessert Trio. Of course, this also did not disappoint. Once again, we found ourselves unable to pick a favorite since each dessert was amazing.

Jamal and all other staff that we interacted with were warm and welcoming. The restaurant is beautiful. It's the perfect environment for any occasion. There is plenty of parking.


I shall return!! I have to try more dishes and pair them with some of the South African wines that Jamal told us about.

There is simply is nothing bad to report here......except that they don't have a location (yet) in Fort Worth {that's a hint to the owners if they read this. LOL!}

We love that Peli Peli participates in Houston Restaurant Week. Their HRW Menu is generous and delicious. For $45 per person, each diner gets an appetizer, main entree and dessert.

After we ordered, it didn't take long for appetizers to come out. The stuffed mushrooms were bursting with flavor and Chicken Sosatie was tasty. The beef was tender and I couldn't get enough of the garlic butter!

It seems like every table was occupied and it was quite noisy. They have lots of staff members walking around, refilling drinks, delivery food and making sure diners are doing alright. We had a great time and would recommend to anyone that hasn't tried their beef espetada.

Back in Houston again, and my first restaurant stop is Peli Peli in Vintage Park. They had changed up the menu and didn't offer the Mixed Grill anymore, but great waiter Bobby talked to management and the chef made it for me. It was so wonderful last time. I also chose the brussel sprouts in guava sauce side again because, well, it's the most delicious brussel sprouts dish you'll ever taste, hands down.

We asked for sauce, sauce, sauce and they delivered to each of us their 5 house sauces which was a huge treat. We couldn't decide which we preferred. The Hugeonot was very different!!! With crunchy bacon and sweet fruit compote--I promise you have never had anything like it, and I found that interesting sweet flavor went well with the lamb. We also loved the Diane sauce with lots of mushrooms, the Madagascar green peppercorn sauce, the house Peli Peli. What can I say? Really, really delicious!!!

To finish off the meal we both had our own serving - it's too good to share with anyone - of sticky toffee pudding in a lovely sauce served warm and with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top - oh my word, wonderful!

You don't go here for an average food experience, you go for a different kind of taste bomb meal. Wish this place was in Los Angeles.

First off let me start off by giving our waiter Joey 5 stars! He was really nice and went out of his way to make our doing experience great!

My cousin had the gumbo and wings. I had the wings and sausage which were just amazing! Some of the best wings I have eaten, ever! I tried some of my cousin gumbo and it was really good. Full of flavor!

How could I forget about the stuffed mushrooms. I don't even like mushrooms but the stuffed mushrooms from here are just amazing!

I will def go back and try more things on their menu.

The cheese cake we had was just as good.

One thing about peli peli is that everything you eat has so many flavors. My god. I think this is my favorite spot. I will go back and try their steak and a few other items that caught my eye. Jesus their prawns look huge! Huge.

I will definitely be coming back


Thank you peli peli.

Peli Peli was one of those recommendations that Yelpers, Texas locals, and other travel sites cloaked in a gold robe and strutted around on the internet. What does that mean for you? The Omnomnivore Times (my made up publication) calls it, "a no brainer", "an absolute must try", and a "local area powerhouse" restaurant!

Ok sure, if you're from out of town, you might've had better elsewhere but for the area, this really does deserve a 5 star review from me. The ambiance is settled in a modern, Biblical feel - complete with 12 pillars in glowing red around the inside of the restaurant, and a 'tree of life' symbolic of the South African feel the creator wanted to embody.

In regards to wine, our group chose a Peli Peli partner, sourced from a local South African wine distributor and shipped here to the good ol' U S of A. It was earthy, easy to drink, and had a unique quality/taste to it that you don't get from other (Californian, European, etc) venues.

Food-wise, oh geez where do I start.. the food was superbly seasoned, grilled, and plated. Each dish came with its own personality, style, and 'voice'.. I think it's been a while since I've eaten at a great place with great company, so pardon the biases. I'll be back!