As Capetonians retreat indoors and international visitors head for warmer shores, Cape Town’s restaurants respond by unveiling their latest winter menus.
The winter specials make the acclaimed kitchens more accessible, but beyond the headline names, there are several neighbourhood favourites with compelling deals which are well worth exploring.
The Pot Luck Club Cape Town
On the sixth floor of the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock, the Pot Luck Club has long held its place as a Cape Town institution. The room strikes a particular balance ― cosmopolitan with an industrial edge and leather banquettes (now with higher backs and fluted upholstered leatherwork) warmed by pools of soft light – and the atmosphere, even in winter, feels vital yet cosy. Subtle upgrades include new lighting with softened steel-cut screens that have made the space a bit more refined and luxurious.
This year’s five-course Winter Feast draws on Japanese and Korean tradition, a direction that suits the PLC’s bold, sharing-plate philosophy well. The tone is set before a bite is taken since every piece of crockery is sourced from Japan. Pillowy steamed dumplings arrive first, served with burnt yuzu and miso butter, followed by Malay-style prawn tacos and a crunchy pickled Japanese salad ― bright, acidic and punchy (a touch fierce for some tastes, thrilling for others).
Main courses include tonkatsu, a fragrant five-spice orange duck, and the standout of the meal for me: Tabon Yaki, a beautifully prepared linefish alongside steamed Koshihikari rice. As it turns out, Jason Kosmas, the group executive chef at the Luke Dale Roberts Group, is obsessed with fishing, so this makes sense.
The meal closes with a delicate Japanese souffle cheesecake, roasted sesame ice cream, poached strawberries and quince, and white chocolate crumble. As Dale Roberts explained, this style of eating is communal and generous ― it brings a real sense of comfort, “which is exactly what you want in the winter months.”
The Pot Luck Club’s Winter Feast is priced at R695 per person for lunch only, running from May 1 to the end of October.
COY
COY has long offered one of Cape Town’s most visually dramatic dining settings with sweeping waterfront views, the Bascule bridge opening and closing, yachts drifting past and Table Mountain presiding over it all. This winter, the restaurant extends its more flexible COY Edit format to dinner for the first time, available seven days a week.
Where the full tasting menu commits you to seven courses and a longer evening, the Edit lets guests engage with the kitchen’s cooking at a pace and price point that suits them.
The food remains rooted in the same African-ingredient philosophy ― fire, fat and fermentation guiding the plates through raw, seared, crisped and slow-cooked elements. The fried chicken is a perennial hit: irreverent, a little playful, nodding knowingly to both takeout and chef Gopolang Modika’s much-loved version. Chargrilled steak with African pepper sauce and roast potatoes satisfies without complication. Lastly, beef tartare, seared tuna, grilled cabbage and seasonal pickles round out the menu.
The dessert ― burnt banana crème with milk stout and malt ― is always a crowd-pleaser due to its unusual flavour combination and sense of nostalgia. As with their other dishes, it’s a perfect example of how COY reinterprets African flavours and local tastes in a refined way. As co-head chef Teenola Govender says, the dishes are simple, honest and built for cooler nights.
Galjoen
Galjoen’s approach to winter is characteristically unfussy: local fish and shellfish, responsibly sourced, from South African waters only. If it doesn’t come from our coast, it doesn’t appear on the plate. On the vibey Harrington Street, the room is semi-industrial – slightly cavernous, with clean lines, a double-volume ceiling and nautical details that allude to the sea without overselling it.
The three-course menu changes with availability, so you arrive knowing fish is coming, but not exactly which one. Lunch opens with a gift from the kitchen: a delicate cob sashimi dressed with curry emulsion, masala and vinegar rice crisps, followed by a warm pot of Saldanha mussels (or an excellent cauliflower alternative) in a bright, citrus-laced broth that practically demands bread.
Then comes the main event: fish and chips, done properly. Most people head for the battered fish, but it was the grilled fish that really stood out – clean, flavourful, exceptional. It arrives with homemade tomato jam, an Asian-inspired slaw and a generous heap of crispy chips. During our visit, dessert was a tipsy tart with dates and homemade banana ice cream with gingerbread and peanut crumb ― exactly what a cold afternoon calls for. The wine pairings are thoughtfully chosen throughout.
Galjoen’s winter lunch is priced at R450 per person, which includes three courses and a complimentary treat from the kitchen. The lunch is available from Thursday to Saturday and runs until the end of July. An optional wine pairing is available at an additional R275, while dinners are available at R850 per person.
Chef’s Warehouse Beau Constantia
A decade in, and Beau Constantia is doing something it has never done before: a dedicated winter tasting menu. It’s a welcome first from one of the country’s most awarded restaurant-and-estate combinations, set high on Constantia Nek with vineyard views that are genuinely breathtaking no matter how many times you’ve seen them.
The room has an easy, unhurried quality. Diners arrive at various points throughout the afternoon; the pace is relaxed and the setting does much of the work before a plate even arrives. The meal opens with coal-fired bread and butter (a memorable start), then moves into a series of choices that clearly reveal chef Ivor Jones’s present obsession. The Crying Tiger Tuna ― sesame emulsion, red apple, cabbage, kimchi, topped with a popcorn buckwheat cracker ― is bold and theatrical, almost too beautiful to disturb.
Alternatively, guests can enjoy torched linefish sashimi with spiced coconut and turmeric sambal. Smoked beef tartare follows, served with a steamed bun, or crumbed veal sweetbreads in crumbed shallots on a roasted potato foam and sherry velouté.
The main courses include roasted linefish with herbs and aromatics or a Thai roast chicken with pandan stick rice and coconut naam pla – the latter so good it prompted calls for Jones to open a dedicated Thai restaurant (he is heading to Thailand for several weeks so one suspects the menu will only deepen in its orientation towards Thai from here). Moist and flavourful, it’s a reminder that just because we eat chicken regularly, there’s no reason not to choose it in a fine dining setting.
Dessert arrives in two parts: cherry ice cream with roasted geranium mousse and amaretto foam and the more intense honey cake alongside banana caramel and toasted brown rice ice cream. Throughout the meal, Jones is absolutely hands-on in the kitchen, his enjoyment of cooking and creating palpable.
Their Winter Tasting Menu is priced at R895 per person for four courses, lunch only, running from Monday to Friday until the end of September. An optional wine pairing is available at an additional R700.
