For our second and final night dining out in Capetown (the third night was at GOLD with the whole cruise group and is not really worthy of a review as it is an entertainment show/dinner venue) was at POT LUCK CLUB. We asked our new friends from the cruise, Regiane & Kevin, to join us and the four of us had a ball.
We had visited TEST KITCHEN on our previous visit and wanted to try this new venue from the same team that was located in the same building but on the top floor with glass windows overlooking Table Mountain. We couldn't see much as our dinner was late after sunset, but the vibe was really amazing in this simple setting with a huge open kitchen at one end with wooden tables and chairs that did get a tad loud at times, but never obtrusive.
The menu was varied and exciting and set up like tapas to be shared, so we chose a bunch and settled back with a bottle of Delaire Graff 2023 Cabernet Franc Rose, the winery we would be staying at the following week. It's a great rose and very inexpensive ($10 at the winery!) and great with spicy foods as well. CEVICHE LECHE de TIGRE was first with Yellowtail being the fish and coming with Pickled Nashi Pear, Quinoa Tabbouleh, toasted Almond Milk and crushed almonds. Our server Sipho was very helpful and made some great suggestions such as the FISH SLIDERS on Steamed Buns made with Hake, a spicy Mojo Dressing (that mad us think of the mojo we had earlier in the tirp in the Canary Islands), Miso Mayo and Pickled red Onions.
THAI LOBSTER SALAD was one of the specials and one of our favorite deishes that we almost ordered a second, but chose to do something different. It had a Papaya Puree and a kicky spicy Red Curry Dressing with fresh coconut shavings.
CHICKEN & SWEETBREADS was a huge portion with actually two separate dishes and came with confit chicken and chicken jus on one side(all photos on FB) and sweetbreads wrapped in pancetta on a hibachi-like grill that we cooked at the table. The sauce was Orange XO with a turnip espuma, butternut squash and pinenuts. OMG!
We had switched to a fabulous red recommended by Sipho Rijks Private Cellar Pinotage 2021 that was so good we had second bottle rather than try a new wine. It paired brilliantly with another special on the menu, SMOKED WAGYU in Truffle Sauce with Black pepper that also came with a Salsa Verde on the side that was more like chimichurri with mint and I was not a fan, but it was not needed as the truffle sauce rocked!
To even out the meat dish we ordered BROCCOLI PENANG which was made with peanuts and lemongrass for spice in a coconut curry sauce that was also fabulous.
We decided to share three different desserts:
PLC(Pot Luck Club) Sweets was a combination of many items: Macadamia Nougat, Salted Chocolate Caramel, Pear & Tonka Bean Pate de Fruit and Mango & White Chocolate Mochi, the last of which I am now really not a fan having it two nights in a row as it is truly gummy and weird.
PEANUT BUTTER BOMB was a banana mousse with a fabulous honeycomb crunch, banana tuile and Frangelico Sabayon
The cheeses were Ash Goat, Karoo Crumble, Languedoc and Smoked Sanford--all very different and quite wonderful.
We rolled out and headed back to the hotel a tad sad knowing that the next day we would say goodbye to many of the new friends we had made on the cruise.
