Edible exotica

Sydney has remained understandably cautious of fusion food since the short-lived days of Rimbaud restaurant, where a Dutch chef straddled modern French with the Chinese and Portuguese influences of Macau in a site on Italian-leaning Norton Street.

Tapas Joint, a new restaurant in Dixon Street in Chinatown, wears internationalism on its menu sleeve. Salmon avocado fried rice, cold cognac chicken and green tea tofu are just some of the exotic items the restaurant peddles. It also lists a spaghetti bolognese with ''port wine''.

We'll leave it to the reviewers to report back, but if that ingredient list isn't global enough for you, Short Black's operatives report that the Chinatown restaurant has a charming Dutch waiter.