Miss Potz restaurant review: Mt Lawley hidden gem serving Indonesian favourites worth ducking out for

There’s a saying which communicates one’s high-level of ravenousness involving a low-flying duck. It’s too crude to repeat in a family newspaper, but let’s just say Donald or Daffy doesn’t come out of it too well. And let’s add that it would be wise to rock up to Miss Potz, a modest mod-Asian restaurant down Beaux Lane in Mt Lawley, not just hungry but starving. Like, got-lost-in-the-Great-Sandy-Desert-for-a-week hungry. The other tip is to, yes, try the duck. Specifically, the crispy spiced number ($46) with sambal matah, pickled cucumber and a killer plum hoisin, plus soybean pancakes. It’s magnificent. The dish stars two decent-sized duck legs generously spiced and roasted until you could bounce a 1000-rupiah coin off the skin. The leg is designed to be pulled apart to access the succulent, rich meat, which you then roll with condiments in the wafer-thin pancakes, which arrived in a steamer basket. This quacker cracker is currently one of my favourite dishes of the year. I want to pour the hoisin sauce over ice-cream. Not that there was any room for dessert. The servings at Miss Potz are more generous than scandal-ridden rapper Drake when his reputation is on the rocks. Enough talk of ducks and Drake (I’m on Team Kendrick), this Indonesian-leaning diner is more discreetly tucked away than a drag queen’s nether regions. Apparently, Miss Potz has been lurking down Beaux Lane for close to a decade. Why didn’t anybody tell me about this humble gem? While the spice in classic dishes such as the Sticky Angus beef rendang and Singaporean chilli prawns could’ve been dialled up a few notches, the flavours, execution and presentation were on song. As in the best restaurants of Seminyak, service was welcoming and efficient in a very casual environment at this 40-odd seater. Miss Potz has every bogan’s favourite holiday tipple, Bintang, alongside a posse of bottled lagers — Asahi, Tiger, Tsingtao et al. There are seven cocktails, two mocktails and 11 wines by the glass — the latter nicely priced between $9-$13. My mate Emmanuel and I both had a glass of decent Porongurup riesling for $9. When Miss Potz opened in 2016, the diner described itself using the Spanish word that often translates as “rip-off” in Perth: tapas. Perhaps that meaningless catch-all worked for the small plates, two or four bites incorporating spring rolls, bao buns, dumplings and skewers. Manz and I started with the Miss Potz tofu ($9), and were glad we did. Two satisfyingly crunchy cubes of salted fried tofu with a spicy tomato sambal vinegar. The pork, prawn and chive dumplings ($16) were four big chunky boys swimming in a piquant soy vinegar broth sprinkled with roasted sesame seeds and chilli crisps. And the salt and pepper squid ($21) had big pieces of deep-fried chewy cephalopod served with a lovely nuoc cham (or Vietnamese fish sauce) plus crisped-up curry leaves and fried chillies. Besides slightly tough squid, Miss Potz was firing three for three before our low-altitude duck had even flown in. We were glad we’d arrived with Great Sandy Desert hungers when the heaving bowl of Singaporean chilli prawns ($35) crashed our dinner — big Shark Bay tiger prawns smothered in a sweet ‘n’ spicy sauce sprinkled in chives and served with a basket of fried mantou rolls. Made from wheat, mantou rolls are a staple food in northern China. In Mt Lawley, they were ideal for mopping up the prawn’s sauce, albeit at the risk of leaving us prematurely stonkered. Sticky Angus sounds like a nickname given to an unpopular kid at a posh private school. In this case, it described the beef rendang ($36). The Indonesian classic lacked heat but developed a lingering spice thanks to Indonesian chef Ari Satria’s judicious use of cinnamon, cardamon, star anise and other spices. The meat wasn’t overcooked into a stew, with the chunks of Angus beef garnished with toasted coconut, coriander and more crispy curry leaves. Very good, perhaps not as live-affirmingly satisfying as that made at Highgate’s much-missed Sparrow Indonesian, but very good. We ate this signature dish with a side serve of steamed jasmine rice (more than enough for two costs $5.50). A lovely bowl of wok-tossed Asian greens in XO mushroom sauce ($19) completed our Thursday night feast, alongside — of course — the duck-to-die-for. Like I said, no room for dessert. The tucker at Miss Potz could use more spice but there’s probably more than enough fragrant aromatics and lingering flavour to satisfy regulars. This place is an unpolished diamond among the craven fast casual dining chains currently dominating Beaufort Street. Can you tell I’ve got a soft spot for Miss Potz? I wonder, perchance, is there a Mr Panz? Miss Potz Beaux Lane, shop 3, 609 Beaufort Street, Mt Lawley OPEN Tuesday-Sunday, 5pm-late. CONTACT 9228 9338, misspotz.com.au BOOKINGS Yes THE VERDICT This hotspot was under my nose for nine years. Better than solid pan-Asian fare leaning most heavily on Indonesian classics with flourishes from China, Vietnam and Singapore. A small wedge of a restaurant down a lane off the Beaufort Street strip. Recommended, especially if you’re starting to eye off low-flying ducks. 15/20