Knew fancy Chinese could go either way and as I am vegetarian wasn't sure at all but clients invited some colleagues and I and it was lovely to be invited somewhere nice! Location was lovely, the old building it's set in is gorgeous, we had a great view of the water and comings & goings. Decor was nice and in the rest room I particularly liked the wallpaper but it was let down by horrible hardware store stickers that said 'bin' and industrial quality squirty soap, a small thing but in expensive place it is the little things that count.

Anyway back to the food, starter Vegetarian San Choy Bau was gorgeous and plentiful, this is traditionally a pork dish so they made a good vege job of it. Mains: Wok Fried Asian Eggplant & Tofu w Sichuan Chilli Bean Paste, very nice, not amazing but very nice and a good portion with a decent portion of rice. I had some of the banquet dessert as that's what my companions were having: 3 kinds of sorbet, tapioca and black sticky rice and it was really nice, esp. the black sticky rice served with mango. And amazingly the vegetarian food was served in synch with the carnivorous banquet.

I know my companions felt a little hard done by with the $69 p.p. banquet, a banquet suggests a plethora of food all laid out at once, right? Well this banquet came a dish at a time, so 'Starters' were 1 plate with 5 Steamed Half Shell Scallops w Ginger & Shallot, later 1 tiny plate with 2 small pieces of barramundi to be split between 5 people which really did look laughable, later Chilli Salt Squid 1 plate for 5 which seemed ok, and 1 plate with a few Corn & Zucchini Cakes w Coriander Sambal to be split between 5. So after my boss complained the 'Mains' of Crispy Chicken w Pickled Chilli Vinaigrette and Pork Belly w Chilli Caramel & Nam Pla Phrik came out in double portions, the Chinese Greens were miserable enough looking but tasted ok. The complaint was greeted with a "don't be so aggressive" comment when really I don't think it sounded aggressive to begin with. Everyone at my table is convinced they wait and see do you complain before increasing portions. Later another 2 pieces of barramundi arrived but a bit too late. However it did all taste good. Wine list was decent too.

If I were the owner I’d serve the 4 little banquet starters at the same time, then the 2 mains in double portions, then people would feel it was more, well, banquetty. Strange not to see one Chinese staff member so I am guessing it’s a very western take on Chinese. Don’t know about it the 7th best restaurant in Sydney but having said all that I would go again though if opportunity presented itself.