Despite making a reservation online through their website, my name was not on the list. Thankfully,…read morethe restaurant was pretty empty (7.30pm on a Friday...hmmm), they seated 7 of us at a big table in a corner. FOOD -- One can choose either the buffet ($25pp) or the ala carte menu. Note that the buffet does not include the soup base (ranging from $12-$16) or sauces (about $1.20 per type of sauce). We (bunch of finance geeks) spent over 15 mins debating if it was cheaper to do the buffet. In the end we chose not to. It turned out to be a good decision, cause the meal cost each of us around $21pp (excluding softdrinks). We ordered about 20-22 plates of veggies/meat. The food was pretty good, everything was quite fresh. My favourites are probably the spam & beef rolls. Who knew spam tasted so good when boiled in spicy broth ? :) SERVICE -- A.R.G.H. This is the only reason why Im giving this restaurant a 3 star instead of a 4. Ordering through the iPad is a stupid idea because you can only see 2-3 items per "page", so it was time consuming to "go-through" the menu. (especially when i am HUNGRY, A.R.G.H) Getting the attention of a waitress/waiter was the worst. Maybe because we were sitting in a corner but it was almost impossible to catch their attention. We gave up and took turns to walk over to the cashier counter each time we needed something from them. A.R.G.H They should consider doing what some korean restaurants do - putting an alert/bell system on each table. Lastly, I heard from my guy friends that the male bathroom was NASTY ! (boo!!)

Can't comment on the service (other than a few unique things) because we came when it was during…read moreits quieter times (Tuesday night) so it was as expected but as a hotpot lover I found the food to be very good compared to the other buffet hotpots around the city. The unique thing about this place is that they gave protective sleeves for your jackets because hotpot smells tend to stay with clothing for some time. Average spend is around $30 for the all you can eat menu (and also unlimited softdrink, but don't fill up on soft drink) which is very fair when there are other places which charge about $35 (without the drink thing).

Neptune Palace was one of the few restaurants in Sydney that don't charge a 10-15% surcharge on…read moreSundays (they still do on a public holiday though). We were staying right down the street at the Marriott and decided to order takeaway from this restaurant. There was only one hostess and she was busy juggling walk-ins, seating customers with reservations, and handling incoming calls. However, she was pleasant and relatively efficient. We ordered 3 items for a total of ~$60 USD: XO Chilli Prawn Cutlets Beancurd and Vegetables in Oyster Sauce Vegetable chow mein The portions are huge! The containers were literally packed to the brim. We had enough to feed 3 people for dinner and for breakfast the next day. Would definitely recommend!

Very nice Chinese/ Malaysian restaurant in the Circular Quay area of Sydney…read more They use Halal standards for food handling and prep. We dined in the upstairs portion of the restaurant ( which is tucked in a multi use building ). Service was friendly and attentive. Food was absolutely delicious. Fresh seafood. Fresh veggies. Portions were decent sized. They do have some pricing quirks to be aware of: There is a minimum spend per person and I believe it varies with party size. They charge a 10% surcharge on Sundays. Not sure if this standard in other restaurants but I doubt it. I'm mentioning it so diners on Sunday are aware. I liked the food enough that I just chalked it up to a vacation u expected expense. I'd eat there again if I had the chance. Notorious MD approved!

I became familiar with this Chinese restaurant before I went there. Such is the power of word of…read moremouth. It wasn't a terribly exciting or even positive introduction. And it had absolutely no relationship to the food. It was the stools. The red stools that people sit on. And I got word that they were supremely uncomfortable. I didn't follow up on the critique (made by a friend) and in fact forgot about the restaurant altogether. It wasn't until my partner and I happened to be walking around Darlinghurst around dinner time at a later date that I remembered about the comment (which would surely put a black mark on any restaurant's name). And yet, it was delightful. We were the first ones there - so early in fact that we lingered outside like miscreants while the staff were eating their dinner - and avoided the stools altogether, and instead sat at the two person table further toward the kitchen. We ordered the Beijing Dumplings (lamb and vegetarian), the steamed vegetarian buns, hainan chicken rice and the nyonya chicken and potato curry with two pots of brown rice. Mostly everything was outstanding. The only thing that didn't surpass our expectations wildly was the Hainan chicken rice. The rest was so incredibly good that we've gone back twice since (take-away). The staff were also incredibly accommodating and take note that they have a vegetarian menu as well as a Coeliac one. As for those infamous stools, on our last visit there to pick up our take-away we saw Hugo Weaving sitting on one of them at the far end of the communal table eating his dinner. If it's good enough for Hugo Weaving ..

Thinking about the Sang Choi Bao ($13) at Fu Manchu is enough to get me excessively drooling. I am…read moreso glad a friend of mine shared one of hers with me all that time ago because now when I come here I encourage other friends to try them too. Everybody is just as impressed as I am. The fresh prawn rice paper rolls with chilli dipping sauce and Beijing vegetarian dumplings are also staples. The Beef Tenderloin Fillet Fry ($20) is tasty but the Mixed Asian Greens ($10) is uninspiring. The menu is a little pricier than you would find elsewhere and you may find yourself leaving still relatively hungry. But if you order more (like I usually do) or come on a night when you are not incredibly hungry to begin with, then the quality of food should impress you. The restaurant is BYO and also has a coeliac friendly gluten-free menu and options for kids. The only issue I have with this place is the menu layout. I think it would be more successful if the dishes had a bit more description in terms of the sauces rather than just the main ingredient.

HOT POT! Who doesn't…read morelike hot pot? (I didn't before, but now I do.) Hot pot is similar to fondue, except instead of cheese you have broth, and instead of dipping items in the cheese, you cook food in the broth. I discovered this little gem via my local Asian Aussie friends. You know this place is legit when the patrons are mainly FOBs (Fresh Off the Boat/immigrants so to speak.) For those unaware, there's a big difference between Asian FOBs and Asian Aussies/Asian Americans. This was my second time here, and it was just my buddy and I on a Saturday evening. We arrived around 7pm and we were promptly greeted by a massive line. This place gets so busy on Saturday that they have a few rows of chairs outside the restaurant for people to wait. When we spoke to the hostess, she asked us if we wanted a smaller hot pot or the regular sized hot pot. The former was a wait of 15 minutes, the latter a wait of 30-40. We opted for the latter. This place offers cooked food as well as hot pot, but people pretty much come here for the hot pot. When you enter you notice several hot pots just cooking the various assortment of thinly sliced meat, seafood, vegetables, and the like, with the wonderful smells wafting to your nose. You order by making marks on a sheet they give you similar to when you go to a yum cha restaurant, and this goes for drinks too. On the sheet you can opt for a chicken broth, spicy broth, or half-half. You can also mark how spicy you want it and how salty you want it. If you opt for the spicy broth, I recommend getting it mildly spicy...because normal spicy made me sweat buckets, and I kind of regretted it this morning, if you know what I mean. We ordered the Wagyu beef, smoked pork belly, tasty mushrooms, oyster mushrooms , and handmade noodles (don't bother with egg or rice noodles.) We also got sides of sesame oil + garlic to dip the meat. They should rename this place Skittles, cause I was tasting the rainbow with all the colourful flavours in my mouth. That's all you really need to know about this place. Come here, and come here with friends...though you can get a personal hot pot of your own and sit at a counter if you want. No one will judge you because they will understand that this place is that good.

Best hot pot in my life. TOO MANY OPTIONS (NOODLES, MEAT, TOFU, ETC), TOO DAMN GOOD. This is my…read morecousins' favorite place to go. And sadly one of them didn't get to eat here before the went back to Asia for several years (he was totally dying to get some). You could always do half half soup for non-spicy folks. But I prefer spicy.. the clear one could be mixed with the spicy one in my opinion, but the clear one was definitely great if you wanted some herbs and to kill some of the spiciness down. GET THE FISHCAKE WRAPPER THING WITH THE FISH EGGS INSIDE (BUT TIP: bit a bit the top off first and let it cool a bit or you'll burn your poor mouth from the steam).

Bring a towel. No seriously, bring a towel or have a pack of tissues handy cause you will SWEAT…read morehere. The spiciness here is a whole different level of the spiciness you might expect from other cuisines...it's only spicy while you eat. There's no lingering feeling of spiciness if your mouth when you stop eating, and it doesn't burn...but for whatever reason it's spicy while you eat, and it will cause you to sweat BUCKETS. Service is fast (except they don't give you nearly enough napkins) and there are several ways to order your noodles...by spiciness and sourness. I chose medium spicy (holy cow I don't even want to know what extreme is like, and I like spicy food) and medium sourness. The noodles and broth are OK, not amazing but they pack a punch. The side dishes are all pretty good on their own, and you get some with a few of the noodle options. Protip: Order a cold drink (something with milk for the base to offset the acid)

Be prepared to sweat, because these noodles are pretty spicy. It's not a burning of the tongue kind…read moreof spicy, but a literally heat that just builds up. Twisted Noodle Bar is located right on Dixon and is a completely different noodle experience. You can get the noodles prepared in several different spice and sour levels. I opted to go for the medium. Keep in mind I enjoy spice...a lot of it. After a few bites you start the sweat wipe that doesn't end till after you've eaten. Your mouth tingles from the heat, but goes away rather quickly. The sweating gets a bit much and eating becomes a task. They provide 1 napkin at a time....and then when you ask for more they only provide what you can grab from the tissue box. The milk tea is crucial though...so make sure you order it iced! I'll be checking out the many different options they have, but this time with a sweatband on my head and wrists.

Love this Hot Pot house! They use traditional 9x9 square…read morepots which is quite awesome! Lots of soup base to choose from, personally I quite like to get a mixed pot (half spicy half plain stock). Food is quite awesome! Reasonably priced for the variety and great setting too! I mean it's not exactly the biggest place so it does get closey, but I think that just adds to the hot pot vibe! Definitely try the spicy soup because you will love it!

I like it here. Service is attentive. Ordered the soup with four flavors for $30. Their soups are…read moreso flavorful you don't need the dips and sauces. In Chengdu, Sichuan, most will eat the spicy soup with beef oil. For most hot pot places, vegetable oil is used. There is a slight difference in using beef oil. Tastes authentic Sichuan spicy soup. All of the vegetables look so fresh and the meat plate was nicely presented as well. I liked the texture of the sweet potato noodle. It's located at the heart of the Chinatown food area. I can't believe this place doesn't get more love or it hasn't been discovered by locals, yelpers and travelers yet.

Incredible fresh food! I have never known food like this place. Every dish is authentic original…read moreChinese food without perservatives. I love the lemon chicken..ummm so finger lickin good. The fried beef and beans is crunchy and fresh and just tantalising. Even the tofu dish is surrounded with seafood and looks like it came out of some gourmet magazine. A hot or of green tea is served throughout the meal, the rice container is continually refilled and the waitress is extremely helpful. A line of people are waiting for a table. The line gradually is getting longer and people don't mind waiting knowing that the food is worth the wait. This is definitely a place to book. Book early too so you are not encouraged to leave right after the meal. Great food, good atmosphere a place to dine!

Looks established old restaurant, but toilet was dirty that put me off before the meal. Beijing…read moreduck and noodle were mediocre, and so was service.

Decent xiao long bao. They have the crab and pork version…read more The roast duck, however, was quite salty. Located on the B floor of a shopping centre building in CBD

Not bad for just the XLB pork and crab orders. The others are just mid taste, but perhaps I am too…read moreused to DTF (Din Tai Fung) standards. Not bad ambiance but there are flys that hovered the food and one fell into the plate lol