Pot Luck club and Gallery Sunday Brunch

I have posted about Pot Luck club before and it remains my favorite tapas restaurant by far, this post however is about their Sunday brunch which I tried for my birthday recently with my chef friends, sharing food with them is always my favorite.

The meal costs R350 for the menu in the picture but I suggest you add the bottomless bubbly and the bloody mary bar for an extra R150,  the constant flow of Graham Beck and bloody mary's with every topping possible from caviar to pickled onions and chorizo sausage definitely adds to the festive sharing feel of the brunch.

The food begins to arrive perfectly paced and beautifully presented with our waitress explaining each dish and also accommodating food allergies where need be.

Endless tapas keep arriving giving us a taste of food from different countries and using all different cooking methods, flavour combinations and textures from classic french to korean, a real treat.

Besides the food and service the venue is spectacular with a full surrounding view of Cape Town and Table mountain, main course arrives just before everybody is drunk on bubbles and finally dessert was a fun popcorn milkshake and churros, most delicious milkshake ever topped with honeycomb coated popcorn.

I cant wait to go again, sit on the top of Cape Town being wined and dined by Luke Dale Roberts and his team. Great birthday treat. Brunch is from 11am - 2pm and you must book.

Pot Luck Club and Gallery

021- 4470804

Pictures and review copyright by Tamsyn Wells

La Parada

La Parada is a new tapas bar/restaurant on the buzzing Bree Street in Cape Town. The restaurant is beautiful just like I would imagine the buildings to look like on the streets of Spain with a bar under ground called Bunker it is the new place to be.

We went for an early dinner on Christmas eve so it was fairly empty still but I am sure it picked up later, we were happy and got to sit at the window seats. All dishes come in a small (R15-R25) or large size (R35-R45).

We started off with lighter choices, the first was called spicy steak on the menu and was a bit plain for me, tapas should be small bites and big flavour, steak on toast with a spicy sauce under the steak just not wow. Second was calamari and potato with smoked paprika, calamari was tender and it was moreish but still lacked a bit of lemon zing.

The next two dishes were the best of the day, ham croquettes with pesto, crispy outside and soft centre, we fought for the last one. I was hesitant to order the paella but it was so tasty and the rice perfectly cooked with lots of different seafood bits.

The chickpeas in a tomato stew were also very good and has made my brother an avid fan of chickpeas requesting them all the time now. The Patatas Bravas were a deep fried potato cube covered in a tomato sauce, they forgot to add the chorizo but it was still a good flavour and went well with the fish.

                                   

The last two were line fish topped with a red pepper relish, it was light and fresh flavoured and the finally we tried the beef cannelloni topped with potato crisps which was well made with a pulled beef centre but had strong flavours of clove and nutmeg so if you not a fan of clove try the other meat dishes rather.

Overall a great night, we washed it down with artisan beers and its always fun to share food and chat while tasting different flavours. I would definitely go back we were really full after all this and chose the large size of each dish, the bill was R500 for 3 people with 2 beers each.

La Parada / The Bunker

107 Bree street

021-426 0330

Pictures and article copyright by Tamsyn Wells

Potluck Club

I finally got to eat some of Luke Dale Roberts food, his restaurant, The Test Kitchen wins best restaurant on Eat Out every year and he has won since his days at La Colombe so I made a booking for myself and my foodie friends at The Potluck Club and Gallery as it serves Tapas and we love tasting and sharing.

I am not entirely sure but I think they moved from downstairs at the biscuit mill to the top floor of the Silo Building so not only is the food, atmosphere and well pretty much everything amazing, you are also surrounded by one of the most beautiful views I have seen in Cape Town, millions of lights and the Mountain of course.

The Menu is laid out as Salty, sweet, bitter, sour etc aiming at all the taste buds which the chefs achieve perfectly although Luke Himself was not there the chefs do a great job and they are interesting to watch pushing out plate after plate of perfection, we started with Edamame beans to nibble while we waited for each dish to arrive. First was seared tuna on a tomato salad with radish and micro herbs, the tomato dressing was so tasty and the tuna perfectly seared.

I have tried Wagyu burgers before but we had never tried it as a cut of meat, this one was served with Argentinean Chimichurri and costed a rather hefty R140 cooked to perfection and the herb sauce was delicious although we all thought maybe to over powering for the delicate Wagyu and I would have been happy with just a slice of fillet, it did not have the melting soft texture you would expect from Wagyu but tasty nonetheless and now we have tried it.

This dish looks very simple, battered hake which you can get anywhere in Cape Town but the harissa mayonnaise on the side made it the best fried piece of hake I have ever had with crispy baby potatoes and mayonnaise.

                                 

The dishes come from the kitchen in order from light to heavy, next was fall off the bone Moroccan Lamb with yoghurt and flat bread and sticky beef shortrib with asian flavours both these dishes I would have again.

The two pork dishes were my favorite but all the other dishes were very close, the pork belly topped with grated Halva and a baked salted apple won the night but the pigtails were really interesting and happy I finally tried it served with a honey mustard dressing.

                              

The desserts were light and fresh, Champagne, strawberries and cream with a difference and the other was passion sorbet, tapioca and fresh fruits with a delicate sugared tuile biscuits.

We ended off the evening with a cheeseboard served with my new favorite cheese accompaniment, honeycomb and a final glass of Peter Bailey Port, 11 dishes later we were a happy bunch, with 2 bottles of wine and four Gin and Tonics the bill came to R1300. Potluck has really been amazing so much flavour in such small dishes I will definitely go back.

Potluck Club and Gallery

375 Albert Road (in the Biscuit Mill)

Top of the Silo Building

Woodstock

Tel: 021-4470804

Pictures and article Copyright By Tamsyn Wells

Dorp Street Deli and Bramptons Wine Studio

I have not really been out in Stellenbosch since I was in my twenties when I would go to The Garage in the Nielsie for some wild student parties. I now have a few friends who stay out there and they invited me to dinner in Stellies, I must admit I had flashbacks of sambucca shooters and crazy beer specials however this night out was a lot more "civilized".

We started out at a little bar called Brampton's, small but vibey and intimate where we sipped on some of the Brampton sparkling wine. They call themselves a wine studio and are only open until 8pm so go for pre drinks or post work drinks and try their own affordable brand.

Our dinner destination was Dorp Street Deli, it turns out I have worked previously with both owners Louise and Piet. It's also small and vibey like Bramptons, just the look I love, lots of wood and brick, great lighting giving a welcoming feel.

Piet the chef / owner is always behind the counter cooking all the dishes on the menu. We ended up not looking at the menu and letting Piet send us any dishes he wished so I can't really tell you what items were on the menu and their prices but it was tapas style food.

First we tasted a great assortment of breads, lavash and breadsticks with olives, eggplant caviar and feta. As we ate more dishes arrived, rustic Caprese salad tossed in pesto, meatballs in a tomato and basil sauce with parmesan and slightly spiced prawns in a garlicky butter.

For dessert we had a plate of chocolate truffles, hot chocolate pudding, an apple filled croissant (not sure what it was called) and a bowl of ice cream.

I'm not sure if it was the wine, food or great company that made me forget to take more pictures but we all enjoyed and would all go back. The total bill per person came to R140pp including tip, wine, food and a shot of tequila... of course we in Stellies!

I can't find the number but will update my blog as soon as I get it, find the deli in Dorp street Stellenbosch

Pictures and article copyright By Tamsyn Wells