This autumn, the Waldorf Hilton in London’s Aldwych welcomes one of Cape Town’s most celebrated culinary gems – The Pot Luck Club.
Conceived by the British-born South African-based chef Luke Dale Roberts, the restaurant has been a fixture of Cape Town’s dining scenes for over a decade, drawing food lovers to its chic perch in the Old Biscuit Mill with its bold, inventive flavours. And, lucky for us, it has come to visit us in London.
And not just anywhere in London but within the elegance of the Waldorf Hilton on the edge of Covent Garden. The hotel oozes timeless class and warmth – the kind of place that lifts your mood the moment you step through its doors.
Their restaurant, Homage, provides a fitting stage for such a culinary occasion – think grand columns, glittering crystal chandeliers, beautifully soft lighting and decor in hues of cream and gold. We settle in quickly, perusing the menu while sipping on a lovely South African Pinotage.
The menu is a curated selection of globally inspired small plates. An invitation to explore a broad palette of flavours that encourages discovery, with many intriguing combinations on offer. A bespoke Pot Luck Club order form, complete with a branded pencil, awaits on the table.
I find myself writing our choices with care, as though I’m signing off on something of importance – there’s something delightfully deliberate about the process. This is dining that calls for a little reflection – the descriptions are full of intrigue and we’re really not sure what we’re going to get. That’s part of the joy of it.
Our waiter, the attentive and charming Lucas, introduces himeslf and explains we can pace our evening to our liking. We request dishes are served slowly and one at a time so we can fully savour each creation. He manages it perfectly.
A distinctly Asian influence weaves its way through many of the dishes with offerings like Penang-style pork belly and the Pot Luck Club fish slider (a perfectly crisp, succulent piece of hake served in a pillowy Japanese bun with miso mayo) and the seared yellowfin tuna delicatedly balanced with tom yum and tamarind sambal.
Other global inspirations are also well represented with fresh Maldon oysters, beef tartare with bloody mary dressing and an incredible smoked beef fillet – arguably the evening’s standout – with its sublime tuffle cafe au lait sauce.
The plates are billed as small, but in reality they’re on the larger side. We seemed to consume a lot of food – I mean who can resist dishes like this. We couldn’t even turn down the temptation of dessert and shared the mango and sago pudding with litchi and coconut sabayon, coconut meringue and mango sorbet. A tropical island in a bowl. Just magical. And the perfect conclusion to our London Pot Luck Club
experience.
You can visit The Pot Luck Club pop-up in the flagship dining room of the Waldorf Hilton, Homage, until 14 November . Opening hours are Monday to Sunday from 5.30pm to 10pm.
https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/lonwahi-the-waldorf-hilton-london/dining/
Words by Sandy Cadiz-Smith