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.

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

I am writing this for my husband, because I didn't get food from this place. But as soon as we got…read moreto Sydney our Uber driver told us that we HAD to go to China town and get some food. He got some spicy seafood ramen. He said it was really flavorful and full of noodles and food. He would have definitely gotten it again. This place is in the Haymarket located in Chinatown.

Really filling and hearty noodles. The broth is heavenly. The meats were just okay and I would…read morestick to the seafood ones (chicken was on the dryer end). But man the broth knocks ya.

I'm not the biggest fan of spicy food and hence don't go to Sichuan restaurants that often, but I…read morewent with a few friends on a trip to Sydney and it turned out to be quite delicious! We ordered a few things to share for the table. The peking duck was really juicy, but the "tortilla"-shaped wrap was a bit strange as I'm used to the fluffy white baos. Green string beans were cooked very nicely -- quite a staple of Chinese food. The fried chicken came in a bowl of half chicken and half chili -- it looks really scary for someone not a big fan of spicy, but the chili added a good kick to the chicken and made it hard to stop eating it. The highlight of the meal was definitely the fish doused in a spicy oily sauce, and again full of chilis. The sauce itself was really spicy with all the sichuan pepper but the fish itself was so tender and juicy.

Do not be scared to try Red Chili Sichuan although it has Chili in the name ! Food is not that…read morespicy and there are some milder options! This place is perfect for a group dinner (we were 12): it is fun to try lots of different dishes, and they have some private rooms or large tables. Yes, do not expect a Michelin star service level...it can be quite slow and you might have to ask several times for the same thing, but staff remains friendly and when you are a large group you tend to be more forgiving! We ordered numerous dishes from dumplings to sweet potato pancake and more original options - the chefs special fish fillet was a standout as well as the lamb ribs. Veggies are yummy (but a bit oily), notably the fried eggplant and green beans with pork. We had a fun night and are just the right amount for 36$ pp (incl drinks), worth visiting !

Walking and sweating. No AC. Needed a drink. Stop here for ice cold hong kong tea. So great full…read morefor ice. Smooth tea. Very nice staff. If I had more time I would eat here.

This is a great spot for a reasonable meal in Chinatown…read more They have a huge menu. It's very casual. Find a table, grab a stool and order off the extensive menu. It is Hong Kong style food. I had the curried beef brisket noodle soup and my husband had beef with black beans over rice. The portions are very substantial and prices are very reasonable. The servings are substantial and the food was very good. The food comes out when it is ready so the whole table may not be served at the same time. When you are finished you walk up to the till to pay your bill. Washroom is available but you need to ask for a key. It was very good food at a reasonable price. Great for a casual meal.

Within 30 minutes after checking into our hotel room, we "hit the ground running" and headed…read moredirectly to Ho Jiak Malaysian Grill & Nyonya House in Haymarket since we were hungry and craving Chinese comfort food. Our Cantonese heritage taste buds from Hawai'i would have been happy with steaming hot bowls of soup noodles and dumplings after our long travel day. Still, I suggested to my husband that we eat a familiar Asian cuisine we wouldn't usually get back home; hence, Malaysian & Nyonya were the answer. I had bookmarked Ho Jiak Haymarket because it was in the Chinatown neighborhood, where we also planned to explore, and it was about a 15-minute walk from there. We were certainly glad that we didn't have to wait in line to get in, as Google Maps photos show. We were seated immediately and took a few minutes to scroll through their extensive menu, then chose items from the Lunch Specials Menu. The Lunch Specials Menu included an entrée (choose from 8 selections) and a beverage (non-alcoholic or alcoholic) for A$25 or around $17 USD. FOOD: -Hainan Chicken Rice + Teh Tarik (cold): I received a half slow-poached chicken, fragrant rice cooked in chicken broth, and a bowl of chicken broth. The chicken was garnished with fresh cucumber slices, bean sprouts, and cilantro. Also, it was served with chili sauce, soy sauce, and finely chopped ginger root and garlic. The tender poached chicken was juicy, non-greasy, and tasty. This dish was a healthy and toothsome meal. Teh Tarik is a Malaysian "pulled or shaken" milk tea, and I requested it in the cold or iced style because the outside temperature was quite hot. The Teh Tarik was refreshing, thirst-quenching, and flavorful. A$25 -Char Hor Fun + House Beer (Asahi Dry 330 ml): My husband selected this dish, but didn't know what to expect as he doesn't read or speak Chinese. Admittedly, my limited reading of Chinese characters suggested that this dish might be similar to my "usual" Cantonese childhood comfort food, Wat Tan Hor. When the Char Hor Fun was delivered to our table, I immediately recognized it as Wat Tan Hor, except that the egg sauce contained tender pork slices, shrimp, green vegetables, fish cake, and, I think, chunks of fish. The flat, broad rice noodles were stir-fried in soy sauce for additional seasoning, and we could tell the wok heat was perfect because there were very few broken noodles. When the server brought the House Beer, my husband was pleasantly surprised to receive an icy cold bottle of Asahi Dry. A$25 -Loh Bak: We selected this appetizer because of its description and our pork-leaning taste buds. Loh Bak is five-spiced pork jowl rolls wrapped in bean curd skin and deep-fried. We were thinking these pork jowl rolls would surely whet our appetites, and the deep-fried rolls didn't disappoint. A$20 This restaurant was lively, friendly, and clean with authentic-tasting Malaysian and Nyonya flavors. The service was prompt, amicable, and helpful.

We shared: 1. Char Koay Teow - Spicy stir fried flat rice…read morenoodles with seafood & Chinese sausage 2. Nasi Lemak - Fragrant coconut rice served with anchovies, peanuts & sambal & Beef Rendang 3. Kiam Ah Nui Kay - Stir fried chicken wings with salted duck egg yolk, butter & curry 4. Char Koay Kak - Wok fried radish cake in signature soy sauce I have little Malaysian food experience so I can't speak to authenticity. Just that it was a very satisfying meal. Big flavor and big portions. Meats and carbs were perfectly cooked. I would've preferred bigger wings and drier rice though. Service was good and friendly.

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.

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).