Potjie Pot restaurant opens in Hervey Bay

The sad closure of a Greek cafe on the Esplanade has opened the door to a new international cuisine as Hervey Bay’s first South African eatery starts up. PHOTOS, MENU OPTIONS.

Potjie Pot owners Jakob Vogel and Wilma Vogel.

Hervey Bay locals can now enjoy South African cuisine on the Esplanade for the first time.

Restaurant Potjie Pot and has taken over the space previously occupied by Greek restaurant, Kefi on the Bay, which closed suddenly earlier this month.

The name is derived from a Potjie Pot cooking oven -a traditional South African camp oven built with three legs.

It’s run by Jakob Vogel, a butcher by trade, who together with wife Wilma, also owns two other stores in Hervey Bay and Maryborough which sell South African liquor, food and spices.

Potjie Pot owners Jakob Vogel and Wilma Vogel.

The couple came to Australia in 2006 and is looking forward to introducing locals to traditional dishes while reminding South African expats of home.

“We have quite a lot of South Africans down here,” Mr Vogel said.

Potjie Pot South African Restaurant Hervey Bay.

As for the menu, locals can expect mouth-watering South African cuisine like ‘bunny chow’ (which is a small bread filled with curry), oxtail and peri peri chicken livers.

Diners can also take in the South African landscape with beautiful murals painted on the walls of sunsets, giraffes and an illustration of Potjie Pot camp ovens.

Potjie Pot ovens are painted on the restaurant’s walls.

Mr Vogel explained South African cuisine wasn’t a common offering in regional Queensland.

“I think the kind of food that we serve like the oxtail, per-peri chicken livers … you don’t really get anywhere else in the world except South Africa,” he said.

Potjie Pot officially opens on Monday May 16, and trades 7 days a week from 6am to 10pm.

There are also other murals showing the South African landscape.

Originally published as Potjie Pot restaurant opens in Hervey Bay