China Diner

So far, Steve Anastasiou and his partners have opened modern Chinese restaurants called China Doll, China Beach, China Lane and now China Diner. I think we can all see the business plan for the next few years.

A smart degustation restaurant, for instance, called China Plate. Something up in the Pilbara? The China Miner. Or perhaps one in the Hunter Valley - the China Winer, of course. In the meantime, China Diner is what it says it is - a smart-casual pan-Asian bar-restaurant that's the latest addition to Bondi's regenerated Boheme development.

With its coveted frontage on Hall Street, this whopping 200-seater runs the length of the building, from its softly glowing bar with high-rise stools and corral-like booths, through a vast dining room with sweeping banquettes, to an industrial canteen kitchen. The iron work, Chinese-inspired bare-bulb lanterns and raw, recycled timber cladding give it the air of a Shanghainese teahouse tucked into a woolshed.

The menu is the same throughout, so you can - and should - start with nutty brown rice, sesame and nori crisps ($5) wherever you are.

Chef Sebastian Gee has cooked at both China Doll and China Lane, which helps to explain the family resemblance in a menu that meanders from Cantonese dumplings to Vietnamese banh mi rolls, Indonesian rendangs, Sichuan hotpots and Thai sticky rice desserts. It feels more streetfoody than the other Chinas, complete with sauce bottles, chopsticks and jars of pickled chillies on the bar tables.

From the ''Smalls'' section come prawn and sweet pea har gau dumplings ($4 each) that are more generous than elegant, the double-decker filling encased in well-made pastry. Marmite chicken, a seriously sticky dish of wings in the Malaysian style ($3 each), is just too Marmitey for this little Vegemite, and the Crying Tiger's large pads of chilli beef ready to wrap and roll in lettuce and herbs ($5 each) feel both chewy and pasty. Grilled pork bun cha ($16), on the other hand, is a successful deconstruct of Vietnamese street food, the grilled pork patties tossed with rice noodles, perilla leaves, Thai basil and a tangy nuoc cham dressing that's extremely likeable.

A Suzy Wong cocktail of watermelon, gin, chartreuse and oh-so-fragrant kaffir lime ($16) from mixologist Quynh Van Nguyen paves the way to an organic, intriguingly peachy Switch chardonnay ($12/$50) from the Adelaide Hills, from sommelier Sebastian Crowther's balanced list of contemporary wines.

More hands-on action comes in the form of twice-cooked five-spice duck breast ($25) served Peking-style; a clever modern take with clean, cut-through flavours.

Main courses are smaller than expected but carry big whacks of flavour, especially in a chilli hotpot ($25) of minced pork, eggplant and black fungi that's strewn with a pile of tingly Sichuan pepper. A pungent, tangy sour-orange curry of poached rockling ($28) is not as balanced, and could do with more fish.

There's a house special of deep-fried ice-cream ''lamington'', and a simpler coconut sago with fresh fruit ($12) that hints at gula melaka from a comforting Sunday-night-tea sago pud standpoint.

Food can be slow as the newly embedded kitchen grapples with the crowds, but China Diner is a heap of fun.

It's less corporate than Chinas Lane and Doll, and, like them, has nice people on the floor, including ops manager Kingsley Smith and waiter James O'Neill.

Another good option in Bondi for the high-fiving, cocktail-sipping, duck-wrapping, spice-conscious crowd, then. Until that inevitable alliance with P&O cruise ships, of course - the China Liner.

The Lowdown

Best bit: The booths in the bar.
Worst bit: Food can be slow.
Go-to dish: Five-spice duck pancakes with hoisin, shallot and cucumber $25.

Terry Durack is chief restaurant critic for The Sydney Morning Herald and senior reviewer for the Good Food Guide. This rating is based on the Good Food Guide scoring system.