Luke Dale-Roberts’s young protégé Wesley Randles has his hands full with two sittings a night at this handsome Woodstock restaurant. Small plates and powerful flavours have made The Pot Luck Club into a buzzing landmark of a restaurant at the top of the Old Biscuit Mill’s refurbished grain silos.

The restaurant made it into the Top 10 for the first time at this year’s Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Restaurant Awards. Watch them receive the announcement on the night.

Eat Out copy editor and critic Linda Scarborough explains why you ought to plan a visit, stat.

Food

The Pot Luck Club has a lot going for it. Its membership to the Luke Dale-Roberts stable and its proximity to The Test Kitchen pretty much guarantees perennial popularity. Its location – on the top floor of the former silo at the Woodstock Biscuit Mill – displays the urban landscape to its best advantage, fringed by the train tracks on one side and the iconic mountain on the other. Add to the mix a menu of great cocktails and tapas, and it would probably be a winner without even trying.

Head Chef Wesley Randles of The Pot Luck Club. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

The Pot Luck Club, however, is not one to rest on its laurels. At this eatery, easy does not do it. It might feel bright and edgy and modern and effortless inside, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

A menu of seemingly simple tapas belies the complexity and techniques layered in each dish. Unique ingredients, flavours and methods are borrowed from Asia, South America, South Africa and flipped on their heads. Street food turns fine dining, but it’s accessible, sensational, thrilling food.

Asian style beef tartare at The Pot Luck Club. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

The menu – divided into sour, bitter, salty, umami and sweet – is very understated, a few words barely hinting at the magical dish to come. It doesn’t shout about its incredible produce, or the time-consuming and pain-staking methods involved in preparation. The waiter will tell you more if you look interested; the provenance of this, the type of wood used to smoke that. South African ingredients come to play too, offering some smokiness and depth here, and earthy nostalgia there.

Ciabatta made from masa (corn flour treated with limewater and dried, also used to make tortillas), is served with chimmichurri, braaied cauliflower dip and anchovy-and-kelp butter. It looks rustic, and is, but the execution of every element is flawless, from the crusty hot bread, aromatic with corn, to the zingy, smoky and salty accompaniments. You could eat just this and walk away happy.

The now-famous fish tacos live up to the hype. And how clever: the portion now comes in two bite-size tacos to make devouring – or sharing, if you really, really care about your companion – all the easier. A dish for the perhaps less adventurous is the amasi-battered fish sliders served on soft and light steamed buns. A crunch of lettuce and blob of mayo inside make for an irresistibly simple and tasty burger bite.

Fish tacos at The Pot Luck Club. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Then there’s the springbok carpaccio with smoked pine nuts, burned honey-soy dressing, and impasto-style layer of creamy goat’s cheese. The ceviche with jalapeño tiger’s milk, quinoa, and a tuile of samp and masa. Duck with naartjie segments, yuzu dressing, fine strips of sweet potato, and delicate yellow viola flowers. The steak tartare, polka dotted with avo purée on a slick black plate. The sensational smoked beef fillet with black pepper and truffle café au lait sauce that you will scrape up with your fingers until the bowl is clean.

A fascinatingly complex dish – and a treat for vegetarians – is the ash-baked celeriac with tahini, lentils, mint, goat’s cheese, hazelnut oil and roasted hazelnuts and 25-year-old balsamic vinegar. The plating is an exquisite mess, with artful dots, drizzles and smears in the best way possible. A must for the daring of palate.

Amidst all this seriously fine food, things can be childlike and fun, too. Chickpea fries are served in a charming cardboard box à la takeaways. But don’t expect a potato flavour: the interior is very soft and creamy, with a crispy, textured shell that’s ever-so-slightly bitter to complement the smoky tomato ketchup and aioli accompaniments.

Chickpea fritters with Tails and Fries at The Pot Luck Club. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

To end off this flavour and texture adventure, you might want to go for the comforting strawberry-and-champagne-poached rhubarb with toasted oats ice cream and vanilla ricotta, rusk crumbs and shortbread, or the more airy and refreshing ‘poached egg’ of granadilla curd ‘yolk’ nestled in a soft and glossy Italian meringue ‘white’, on lime and elderflower set cream with little cubes of white-wine-and-strawberry jelly, resembling tomato salsa. Tonka-bean churros with malted chocolate sauce and malted chocolate fondant soufflé with halva ice cream round out the smart sweet offerings.

Drinks

If you feel unable to deviate from your favourite pineapple-vanilla cosmo – could any cocktail ever taste better? – you might be persuaded to try a sip of the green Thai curry cocktail. The chilli-ginger warmth will spread through your mouth, nose, head and entire body, tempered by the cooling litchi and coconut water – and who knows what else. These are drinks you won’t want to put down: the glass remains against your lips until the liquid is gone. The generous wine menu boasts a well-considered selection per varietal, with some special bottles, affordable house wines and plenty by the glass.

Pop corn shake and Tonka churros at The Pot Luck Club. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Service

Emerging from the glass elevator, dizzied by the height and drama of it all, you’ll receive a warm welcome at the front desk before being shown to your table. Guests place their orders on a little paper sheet and the kitchen sends dishes in the order they’d recommend so as to avoid clashes or delicate flavours coming after bold hits of chilli and smoke. These guys are pros.

A view of the kitchen across the dining area at The Pot Luck Club. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Cutlery is discreetly replaced after each of the many dishes, water topped up and tables wiped down of any errant crumbs. It’s very casual and young, but still razor sharp. If you’re interested in hearing more about any of the elements, the waiters have impressively in-depth knowledge about how the dishes are prepared and cooked.

Ambience

The Pot Luck Club is almost better during the daytime, showing the 360°C views off to their best advantage. You’re teetering at the top of a burnished golden tower. Nothing has really changed décor-wise in the last few years, but it’s unfussy, uncluttered and ultra modern, so it doesn’t need to.

And…

Being able to see the bright young chefs manoeuvre expertly around the kitchen adds an extra frisson to the experience, with head chef Wesley Randles running a tight ship.

Have you been to The Pot Luck Club in Woodstock? Tell us about your experience with a review.

The dining area at The Pot Luck Club. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.