Potluck Club 佰樂

I had finished a mid-day trip to the MET with some coworkers and three of us were headed down to Chinatown for some post-museum boba. One of my coworkers suggested we grab food as well and since it was so early, we decided to try our luck at Potluck Club. It was about 5:48pm, so about 18 minutes since their opening and we managed to snag three seats at the chef's bar. Score.

We ordered a few items to share:
- XO Fried Rice with house xo, shrimp, chinese sausage, and corn
- Tiger shrimp with candied walnuts - calabrian chili aioli
- Salt & Pepper Chicken with scallion biscuits and chili-plum jam
- Spicy Eggplant with garlic, oyster sauce

All the food was really good, but I absolutely loved the tiger shrimp with the calabrian chili aioli. It gave the shrimp a bit of a kick, instead of the standard sweetness of the walnut shrimp you get at Cantonese restaurants. The spicy eggplant wasn't super spicy and was so flavorful and unami.

I had a Ribena Spritz, which has yuzu sake, ribena, and seltzer. It was so yummy and I would gladly drink this again.

Service was attentive and friendly. I know some people don't love that it's essentially expensive Cantonese food, but I love the idea of an elevated, creative twist version of my people's food.

(Overall: D) - While the service was good, and the staff are knowledgable and attentive, with a cozy atmosphere and contemporary decorations, I felt that the food was just poorly executed from a multitude of views. When the menu is countably small, you would think that each dish would be prepared flawlessly. However, each of them each have technical errors that are problematic and does not pay the underlying representation of Cantonese food with respect.

(Rice Noodle Rolls: F) - While I was drawn to the restaurant by this intriguing dish, unfortunately almost every single component of this dish has some technical flaw. First, as a person who enjoys saline forward food, I found this dish to be incredibly oversalted in a beyond unpleasant way -- this issue is further exacesterbated by the mushrooms absorbing the sauce to its entirety. The steak is also borderline overcooked as the wok hay was not present so the steak was not cooked fast enough to be tender and tastes boiled. Finally, asparagus was a poor substitute for a more traditional chinese broccoli as its delicateness does not allow to give any reprieve from the salt overload.

(Snow Pea Shoots: D) - This is a traditional take on pea shoots, with the addition of oyster sauce, which unfortuately I felt added to the saline foreward profile of this restaurant's entire menu.


(Old Man Chiu Cocktail: C) - This is a pleasant yuzu soda spiked with yuzu soda. The drink is on the sweet side and the the presentation is on the simple side, but I wish I could taste the sake a bit more as it was undetectable.

(Tiger Shrimp: F) - Unfortunately, this dish felt overpriced and not cohesive. At $31, I was expecting more than 6 shrimp, a few pieces of candied walnut that was surprisingly bland, and roasted romanesco. The biggest issue of this dish is that it felt like the components were prepared separately and not combined together in any way and the flavors dont necessarily build off of each other so it is just poorly executed.

--

Food: -1
Presentation: E
Price: -1
Atmosphere: +1
Service: +1
Menu: -1
Overall: -1 D

Insta/Beli: @amei_eats

Went here this past month-- Had the chicken with scallion biscuits and the xo fried rice. I would say food is solid, nothing mindblowing but the portions for price are very decent for new york.

Main selling point is the ambiance! The decorations are so cute and they even have a vending machine with secret fortune cookies to take on your way out along with nostalgic japanese fruit gummies when you get the check. The staff were such gems, super sweet and quick with taking our orders + getting food to us even on a Friday night.

Would definitely say it's a great place to go with a group of friends to try and share dishes. The ambiance + good company make the dining experience :)

Tempted by its nostalgic HK style decors, I finally made a resy to Potluck Club. The restaurant was packed with big groups on a Saturday night. It got really noisy and I had to yell to be heard

BTW don't skip out on the cute vending machine, where you can grab some free fortune cookies before you leave!

＊Salt & Pepper Chicken w. Scallion Biscuits
I like savory pastries, so I was excited to spot scallion biscuits on their menu. Unpopular opinion: I wished they served more scallion biscuits and fewer fried chicken.

It was basically an Asian-fusionized chicken waffles. The salt and pepper seasoning was invisible. It tasted straight up like a regular fried chicken to me. The chili-plum jam was an interesting pairing with either the chicken or the biscuit.

＊Oyster Mushroom Rice Roll Noodles
It was delicious, but was it mind-blowingly deliciously? No. The asparagus was a great veggie accompaniment to the dish, and I liked the bounciness of the oyster mushroom. Yet I found the rice roll noodles a bit salty after few more bites. It also lacked the wok hei I expected.

HOWEVER, despite my slight disappointment on their food, I might still come back. I watched interviews of their owners and I admire wholeheartedly their concepts and missions to promote Cantonese food. The restaurant is more than just for Instagram.

No. Just a straight no for the terrible appetizers.

The jellyfish tasted so salty like our marinated salty white radish. It reminded me of the first time I had a really salty Nathan's hot dog on a hot summer day in Coney Island. Who would have thought bad food can bring out bad food memories? They added soy sauce on top of the already salted jelly fish to accompany it. I can't!! Also, no Cantonese/HK dish has tuna on runny eggs. It tastes ok but...meh!

This was my birthday dinner. I was so appalled. We told the waitress and she brought it back to the kitchen, and then brought out the same dish that tasted as salty as the last. It was bad. I wonder if the chef even tastes the dish himself? The other food also tastes average.

This place seems to be created for white people. It's got the nice decoration and vibe (and you can see through a hole in front of the bathroom a picture of Jackie Chen - the place is definitely decorated with cafe). There are certainly a great element of the Cantonese cultural showcases. But the food? I can't approve.

It's pricey and it tastes...below average for the portion. You are really paying for a nice sit down but to a Chinese born Cantonese, I am so disappointed on the food.

** BRUNCH REVIEW ONLY **

Came here for brunch and overall it was a solid, but not amazing experience. Potluck Club has been on my "must try" list for a while now and as a Cantonese-American I've been so curious at where Cantonese dishes could go. Walked in with a resy at 11am and was seated promptly. Was packed by the time we left.

At any rate, we basically ordered all the items on the brunch menu EXCEPT for the fried chicken sandwich. We did opt to add the same fried chicken to the salad.

Anyways, to go down the list of food items:

Endive Salad - Pretty refreshing/nice, albeit maybe a lil overly dressed salad. My wife really enjoy it. The fried chicken was good lol.

Taro shrimp fritters - My fav savory item on the menu! Really crispy. Like the sauce. Like how compact they make the paste they deep fry it in.

Karaoke fries - I do like HK curry, but I actually think the fries they use for this gets soggy wayyyy too quickly. Felt kinda like I was eating mush after only a few minutes. Maybe should've asked the sauce on the side if possible, idk. A miss for me and the other people I ate with.

Bolo Bao Milk Toast & Hong Kong French Toast - Both were really tasty and probably my fav dishes from the brunch menu. The bolo bao is for the "not too sweet" people and the Hong Style French toast are for the sweet tooths. Do I think it's way better than other HK style toast (or any Asian toast)? Probably not too much, but I do like this one!

Pork Belly cha siu sandwich - This was solid. I do just like eating cha siu with rice, but this was yummy although a lil boring for me.

Radish cake hash - This was just... reallyyy basic and felt a bit uninspiring. There were maybe only 4 or 5 pieces of radish cake too which seemed pretty sparse. Closest thing to me just saying "you can REALLY easily something similar to this at home." Would not order.

Chow mein - I liked this. Pretty typical though I feel although their chili oil was good. Rest of my group thought it was a bit too salty. I enjoyed it but I'm a salt fiend.

Service was fine although they did forget an order until we asked them near the end of the meal. Overall I have really mixed feelings because I was really hyped up for this and although some items were good, no dish is making me want to come back. There are a few items I still want to try for the dinner menu so I plan on giving it another shot, but for now I feel like Potluck Club is "just okay."

Hidden on a busy street in Chinatown, Potluck Club doesn't look like much on the outside, but once you walk in, it transforms. Potluck Club becomes modern and sleek and features films and Chinese designs throughout. My friend and I shared the Hong Kong French Toast and Pork Belly Cha Siu & Egg Sandwich. Although the toast wasn't too special, the sandwich tasted great and was balanced. These were part of their brunch menu, but I do want to come back to try their other items!

By far my favorite restaurant for brunch and dinner ! I highly recommend this spot and coming with a group of friends so you can order a bunch of things from the menu or order everything from their menu like I did! The staff is so attentive and friendly towards their customers! I enjoy everything on their menu and will continue to be coming back for brunch and dinner!

We came here for my sister's birthday and I already love the vibes! It's very 80s hong kong with old movies on the walls and giant posters and they even give you a postcard with some hong kong celebrities when they were younger like Jackie Chan and Jet Li!

The drinks were delicious however they weren't strong - we got the arnie wong and the ribena spritz - while tasty, do not expect to get tipsy on them

My favorite dishes were the short ribs , perfectly tender and flavorful and the tiger shrimp was very flavorful as well with a nice kick to it!

I didn't get a picture of it but we also ordered the XO fried rice which is also one of my favorites as well!

I'd highly recommend this spot! I am looking forward to trying their brunch next time!

Potluck foods are very flavorful, at one point it's quite salty for some of them. When the Oyster Mushroom rice roll noodles served on our table, we couldn't help but rave about how amazing they smell! The rice roll was packed in flavor and had a soft, firm texture. Some bites from the endive salad was good assuming the blood orange to be sour but it's sweet (found out it's different type of orange), this type of salad or other fancy salad always have a slight bitter aftertaste. The eggplant we had is the savory type comparing to the regular fish sauce eggplant. All the drinks are awesome!