First Taste: Thali Tuesdays at The Melting Pot

The Melting Pot is embracing winter with a delicious new midweek special that is set to add some fire to Tuesday nights in De Waterkant.

Chef John van Zyl’s acclaimed global street-food restaurant has launched ‘Thali Tuesdays’, a weekly winter deal priced at R295 per person. The special is available every Tuesday this winter, with bookings recommended. 

The menu at The Melting Pot has always taken its cue from travel, tapping into the bold flavours and generous, shareable plates that Van Zyl has devoured on his many travels across the world. Alongside a sprinkling of European influences (hello, mussels with fennel and sourdough! IYKYK) Asian and Levantine flavours loom large on the menu. But given that he was once Head Chef at the acclaimed Indian restaurant Thali, this latest foray into the flavours of the subcontinent makes perfect sense. 

A thali is all about variety. It’s a platter of different dishes served together, typically balancing spice, texture, richness and freshness in one generous spread. For diners who love a little taste of everything, it’s the perfect solution.

“People crave curry in winter, and we’re creating these thalis to be all about an abundance of nourishing, delicious and moreish winter food,” says John. “Indian food is all about the balance of savoury, sweet, sour, astringent and bitter. The beautiful thing about a thali is that you are able to include all of those elements in a single platter.”

With Thali Tuesdays at The Melting Pot, you can expect an array of plates that range from a meat curry (a deeply rich lamb in yoghurt and tomato, right now) or veg curry to a tadka dahl.

To whet your palate, there’s a little savoury snack – a superb onion bhaji on my visit – before you work your way through the platter of steaming bowls.

First up, let’s talk about the roti… for me, it’s the stage that any North Indian dish must perform on. Here they are buttery and perfectly flaky, with enough strength to cup a steaming cube of succulent lamb without being chewy. 

Roti in hand, most diners will go for the meat curry first, but I’d suggest working up to that. Dabble with a spoon of the tadka dhal, perhaps mix it with the fragrant basmati rice. Add in a little carrot pickle. Then tear and dunk a little roti.

Indian cuisine is anything but one-dimensional, and here you’ll find bowls of spicy carrot pickle and creamy raita to liven things up. Add a squeeze of lime, or a sliver of red onion too, if you fancy. It’s a hands-on experience that packs a lot of flavour into a single tray, and will leave you chewing over the flavours for the rest of the evening. To finish, there’s a little ‘Something Sweet’ too. The menu launches with a tasty little koesister, fried, dunked in syrup and rolled in coconut. A Cape take on something oriental. But Van Zyl is known for constantly tinkering with his menus, so repeat visits are well worthwhile to see what else he’s come up with. My bet is on a gulab jamun coming soon!

If you’re in the mood for the full The Melting Pot experience, the regular menu will be on offer every Tuesday too. But for something new, or a more affordable taste of van Zyl’s cooking, ‘Thali Tuesdays’ gives locals a tidy reason to kickstart the week.

The offer arrives at the perfect time for hungry Capetonians seeking comfort food at an accessible price, and is a welcome addition to the menu of winter specials and value-driven deals currently on offer in Cape Town. 

Need to Know

• The Melting Pot is at 137 Waterkant Street, De Waterkant.
• Thali Tuesdays runs every Tuesday this winter
• Cost R295 per person.
• Book via The Melting Pot on Dineplan.

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