Journey at Urchin Restaurant: A Western Cape road trip in the city
A review of Marcus Gericke’s new restaurant at The Hyatt Regency in Cape Town
By Shawn Godfrey (The Roasted Dad)
Paths cross often in the South African culinary world. Back in February 2022, Chefs Darren Badenhorst and Callan Austin invited me to be a guest at 'The Chef Collective Project' in Franschhoek. I had first met Callanwhen he was a guest judge on MasterChef season 4 (he also featured in season 5), and he introduced me to Darren. Together, we ran the once-off pop-up restaurant at Makers Landing.
In the planning phase of that event, Darren and Callan invited me to experience their collaborative lunch featuring Belgian Michelin star chef Piet Huysentruyt and Marcus Gericke. Each dish came with a story from one of the four chefs, and Marcus’ ode to his late father made a big impression on me. At the time, Marcus was serving as the Head Chef at the renowned Le Coin Français restaurant in Franschhoek (Darren and Callan continued to work together starting Dusk restaurant in Stellenbosch).
A year later, we saw Marcus again at Bertus Basson’s Chorus, where he was running the kitchen when we came to celebrate Lianne’s birthday. Marcus and I have always stayed in touch, following each other’s food adventures through Instagram. He is an incredibly talented chef, so when he invited us to experience his new solo venture, I gladly accepted the invitation.
About Urchin restaurant
Marcus Gericke has taken over Urchin restaurant which is located inside the Hyatt Regency in the Cape Town CBD. The restaurant itself has an interesting backstory. The hotel owner had been asking Marcus for years to launch a culinary concept inside the building. The initial offers were always for the downstairs space, which Marcus turned down. However when the upstairs venue became available, the pieces fell into place.
Shawn Godfrey, Marcus Gericke and Lianne Godfrey at Journey Urchin restaurant in Cape Town.
The menu is inspired by a 1881 km road trip across the province, tracing flavours from Kalk Bay to Paternoster, and Stellenbosch to Prince Albert. This literal journey inspired the 11-course menu “A Western Cape Food Journey”.
Our evening began with a fairly non-descript bar menu. We were given three choices: Oak & Orchard, Dust & Smoke, and Garden Spritz. Barman JP took our orders, and while the man behind the drinks programme, Devan Williams, unfortunately wasn’t there on the night, JP proved to be just as knowledgeable.
Chef Marcus apparently discovered Devan working in a local bar after being served what he calls ‘the best cocktail he ever had’. We were not disappointed either. My Dust & Smoke turned out to be a tasty cocktail, and Lianne’s Oak & Orchard revealed itself as a crisp white wine from Constantia. We received more information about our drinks at this point, but the mystery was part of the experience and so I won’t reveal all here.
I paired the Journey with Devan’s curated beverage pairing at R700, while Lianne opted for the standard wine pairing at R900. If you prefer to bring your own wine, Gericke charges no corkage fee, because “Capetonians know the best wines”. While it is unnecessary considering there is an extensive -and reasonably priced- wine list, it is a nice, hospitable touch, that sets Journey at Urchin apart from its competitors.
Instead of a traditional bread course, the kitchen started us off with a generous spread of snacks. It features chickpea flour treats, nuts, slangetjies, and samosa wrappers transformed into light, kroepoek-style crisps. It was clever because none of it felt heavy or overly filling, leaving plenty of room for the chapters ahead.
The dinner forces you to move, literally. We started at one table, migrated directly into the working kitchen for a mid-meal interaction, and then finished the evening at a separate table. While in the kitchen, I got to step up to the pass and sprinkle beetroot dust over a plate. It was during this kitchen interlude that the personal nature of the menu became obvious. Marcus has his late father’s knife set on display alongside a painting from his childhood home. He explained that growing up in the Free State, bone-handled knives were strictly reserved for special occasions, which is why he now insists on using them every night, paired with rustic tin plates.
One of my favourite dishes of the night was the crayfish, closely followed by the pumpkin starter. Lianne, who generally avoids seafood and had never actually tried pickled fish before out of fear she would dislike it, was completely won over by their version. The raw fish is lightly pickled rather than fried, which preserves the texture beautifully. I previously made a warm pickled fish salad recipe that Lianne was hesitant to try, so I was impressed that Marcus’ rendition finally convinced her that she can add pickled fish to her notoriously selective seafood repertoire.
The Cape Malay curry course arrived with vibrant coriander oil and avocado to cut through the heat. The kitchen also turned out an excellent African risotto using samp, paired with an 18-hour oxtail and goat's cheese.
The dining room format is a logistical challenge for the front-of-house staff, and shifting tables mid-meal can occasionally break the rhythm of your conversation. However, the wait staff were sweet and highly attentive throughout the transitions and it led to a fun and different dining experience. Lianne and I kept referring back to Will Guidara’s must-read New York Times bestseller Unreasonable Hospitality, as the hospitality truly is unreasonable at Journey.
Towards the end of the night, we asked Chef Marcus about the salt on the table, which we had left untouched. Most fine dining establishments pride themselves on omitting salt entirely under the assumption that every component is seasoned to absolute perfection. Honestly though, there have been a few occasions where -even at top-tier spots- I have secretly wanted a pinch of salt but felt too bad to ask. At Urchin it was the opposite. The salt was readily available, yet the food was balanced well enough that we never actually reached for it. According to Chef Marcus, the salt was previously added to the table for a specific dish, which is no longer on the menu, but the habit to set the tables with it simply remained.
The dessert leg was handled by pastry chef Thando, who had recently returned to the kitchen after injuring her arm in a car accident. Her dedication showed. The butternut cheesecake was excellent, but the real standout was the milk tart. Built in a contemporary cheesecake style with crunchy honeycomb, Thando avoided the predictable route by replacing the traditional dusting of cinnamon with a bright cinnamon sorbet. This was followed by a rich combination of peppermint crisp, Amarula, Milo foam, millionaires shortbread, and fresh raspberries. And all of that made with one arm. Perfection.
Chef Marcus sources his snoek from a single local fisherwoman whose photograph hangs proudly above the restaurant's point-of-sale system.
One of the two massive chocolate moulds showcasing the topography and elevation of the Western Cape.
One of the things I love about Marcus’ cooking is how he makes a point of showcasing hyper-local sourcing. He gets his Cape Malay spices directly from the Bo-Kaap and sources his snoek from a single local fisherwoman whose photograph hangs proudly above the restaurant's point-of-sale system. As someone who loves playing with coastal ingredients, whether it is making snoek on the braai with plum jam or doing a smoked snoek on the Weber, I respect a chef who knows exactly where their seafood comes from.
Before heading out, we admired the two massive chocolate moulds near the entrance that map out the topography and elevation of the Western Cape landscape, a project that apparently took between 12 and 18 hours to construct.
To top off our experience, we left with several parting gifts: a printed souvenir booklet containing a photo taken of us earlier in the evening, alongside a packet of homemade rusks and sweet treats as ‘padkos’. You can’t get more South African than that.
All in all, I can strongly recommend that you allow Marcus and his team to take you on a journey. It is a deeply personal, ambitious evening that successfully avoids the predictable, stuffy tropes so common in modern fine dining. The creativity on the plates and the warmth of the hospitality let you experience the Western Cape through a completely fresh culinary lens.
Booking Journey at Urchin Restaurant
You can find Journey Urchin restaurant at Hyatt Regency, located at 126 Buitengracht street in the Cape Town city centre.
The restaurant is fully halal and they provide complimentary parking through an arrangement with the hotel. You can secure a table by booking directly through their Dineplan portal, or give them a call on 021 215 1234
Have a look at their website: Urchin Restaurant
Terrarium is situated within the Queen Victoria Hotel, in the the Queen Victoria Hotel in the historic Portswood Ridge precinct, a short walk away from the hustle and bustle of the V&A Waterfront.
More restaurant reviews:
If you are looking to map out your own culinary exploration across Cape Town and the wider Western Cape, check out a few of my other recent reviews:
Dinner at Terrarium: An intimate, sustainable fine dining space at the V&A Waterfront where Chris Erasmus experiments with playful optical illusions and deep, local flavours.
Little Fox in Constantia: A quiet suburban escape nestled in the winelands, perfect for disconnecting over an accessible multi-course menu.
Eleven Restaurant in Franschhoek: Ryan Shell's South African-inspired culinary gem located right on the bustling main strip of the valley.
Spookfontein in Hermanus: Striking architecture meets incredible hillside views, making it a fantastic stop for lunch while exploring the Hemel-en-Aarde valley.
La Colombe in Constantia: My thoughts on Constantia's world-renowned institution and how they continue to push boundaries on the global stage.
About Shawn Godfrey
Photo credit: Niki M Photography
Shawn Godfrey is an entrepreneur based in Cape Town, South Africa. After the Covid-19 lockdown saw his business in financial distress, cooking was the creative outlet that helped to keep him sane. To keep track of his recipes, and encourage friends and families to join him, he starts his instagram account The Roasted Dad.
Fast-forward to late 2021 - on a whim Shawn (encouraged by his wife Lianne) enters MasterChef South Africa. It is a crazy time of life: running a 200 people business and struggling to keep it profitable, two small children with a third on the way, and about to move into a new house. But when Shawn gets selected to be one of the 20 contestants participating in the fourth season of MasterChef South Africa, he decides to go all in. Leaving his 7-month-pregnant wife to look after their then three and one-year-old children, he battles it out and comes back home five weeks later with the trophy and a million rand prize money in his pocket.
It all started with an Instagram account, but The Roasted Dad is so much more now. Shawn has stayed his entrepreneurial self and whilst he hosts Private Dinner Parties and Cook-with-Me Demos, does Restaurant Take-Overs, he still runs the lighting company and several other businesses.
On his blog, Shawn shares Restaurant Reviews and Accommodation Reviews, and gives an insight into the wild and wonderful life he leads together with his wife Lianne, and their three children Aiden (8), Olivia (6) and Harvey (4).
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