One of the best restaurants I had ever visited in my lifetime was The Test Kitchen in Cape Town. I was lucky to score a reservation at the restaurant for lunch during my visit to the city in 2014, and I was simply wowed by the exceptional ingenuity and execution behind each dish. Sadly, The Test Kitchen closed in 2021, but the chef behind the restaurant, Luke Dale Roberts, still maintains a strong collection of other restaurants in Cape Town, one of them The Pot Luck Club located in the Old Biscuit Mill, a shopping center built from a restored biscuit factory. On our recent anniversary trip to Cape Town, my wife Jun and I checked out the restaurant and had a lot to like about the food coming from the kitchen.

The menu at The Pot Luck Club has a ton of enticing small-plate dishes ideal for sharing. Each dish had flavor profiles including umami, salty, sweet, sour and/or fusion to give you a sense of what to expect. Jun and I focused on a few dishes from the Family Favourites section seemingly featuring the most popular items. For kicking off the meal on the right note, fish sliders with hake and miso mayo are a safe bet. Cape Town’s Cape Malay influence (from the city’s Muslim community, many of whom settled in the colorful Bo-Kaap neighborhood) features prominently in the restaurant’s menu, like the crispy cauliflower with Malay pickle and chili sambal. The best dish for me was the Penang pork belly with coconut and peanut curry; the texture of the pork meat as well as the addictively delicious curry flavor were both spot-on.

We also ordered smoked beef fillet with truffle café au lait sauce; the portion was somewhat smaller than I had expected (especially with the dish being one of the more expensive ones on the menu), but it turned out to be a winning combination with another dish we ordered, wild mushrooms with the restaurant’s signature “Cep Au Lait” sauce. Don’t skip the desserts at The Pot Luck Club. The peanut butter bomb, consisting of banana mousse, honeycomb crunch and banana tuille, was a standout dish, and the assortment of macadamia nougat, salted chocolate caramel, tropica bomb and raspberry mochi in “PLC Sweets” would beat most of the petit fours at other fine dining restaurants.

Getting a reservation at The Pot Luck Club wasn’t too challenging for a leisurely weekday lunch, although the restaurant filled up over time. I also really liked the setup of the restaurant, located on the top sixth floor of the building to give a 180-degree views of the city with the famed Table Mountain in the background. I could see a lively atmosphere on a weekend dinner with handsomely dressed people from all over the city, with stylish décor and an open kitchen giving a sense of cool vibe without much pretense. The beverage list at the restaurant is also strong, with a nice mix of creative cocktails and wines from a variety of regions in South Africa. The Pot Luck Club was one of the culinary highlights in our anniversary trip, and I highly recommend anyone visiting Cape Town to check it out to explore globally influenced small plates to share over some cocktails or wines for a memorable meal.   

KenScale: 8.25/10 (Jun’s Score: 8.25/10)

Address: The Silo, The Old Biscuit Mill, 373-375 Albert Road, Cape Town, 7915, South Africa

Website: https://thepotluckclub.co.za/home/

Reservation via Website