Master

Scallop silk. It looks like a silken hanky dropped on the plate, but it tastes of scallop. It's quite amazing. How do they do that?

"We remove the adductor muscle, then vacuum seal it and roll it out into a thin film, cook it in water at 50C for 30 seconds so the proteins set, then refresh it in iced water, and dress it with house-made XO sauce," says John Javier, the 27-year-old head chef of Master,  and alumnus of Quay, Momofuku Seiobo​ and Assiette​.

Clearly, this is not your run-of-the-mill modern Asian diner.

Javier and  business partner Jarred Roker​ took on the former Watts on Crown site and have done it down rather than up, exposing bare bricks, painting water-damaged walls white, and installing small, easy-wipe tables that reference the Chinese takeaways of childhood.

The decor is utilitarian chic, limited to linear strip lights; exposed copper piping, and monochromatic and woodblock graphics from local artist Chris Yee. Upstairs are two straightforward dining rooms, while downstairs, it's a mix of table seating and a stool-lined counter facing the kitchen.

It's louder downstairs, because that's how the kitchen likes its Kanye West and Kelis – loud.  Increasingly, dining out is becoming an exercise in stopping yourself yelling out "Turn that bloody music down", and its natural follow-up, "and clean up your bedroom while you're at it".

The shortish menu is a showcase for brining and sous-vide techniques, punchy flavours, textural contrasts, and balancing acts of white soy and rice vinegar. Some dishes are cooling, such as the scallop silk ($4), and grilled rounds of cucumber piled into a bowl on top of lime creme fraiche and topped with loads of sparky orange trout roe ($14). Cream? In the non-dairy Asian template? I find it a step too far, but the trout roe/cucumber combo really pops. Another cooling dish of "cold-cut chicken" ($18) is a mash-up of Cantonese white-cut chicken and Shanghainese​ drunken chicken; the relaxed, velvety slices of Holmbrae​ chicken breast jumping with a gutsy mix of white soy, black rice vinegar and sesame oil.

Then there's "burnt cabbage" ($18), which is, in fact, a chunk of genuinely fire-damaged, charred and roasted cabbage. Doused with butter and fish sauce, it's both stewy and smoky; the effect not unlike barbecued sauerkraut.  This will be one of those dishes you either get, don't get, or, like me, remain in the box ticked "unsure".

The cooking is intelligent, and flavours are distinct. Whole steamed snapper ($34), is flavoured with pickled chilli and ginger oil, the kitchen using salted black beans as seasoning in the way an Italian chef would use capers. A Singaporean-inspired dish of cracked blue swimmer crab in a massively buttery, mildly peppery sauce is another winner, with a sliding price scale depending on the crabs available – from $42 for blueys, to $80 for spanners, and $140 for muddies.

A tight, 20-bottle wine list leans heavily towards the natural, including a bloody beautiful beaujolais ($77) from biodynamic winemaker Michel Guignier​, with the silly name of "Oh...!"

Dessert is a roasted potato ($10). Well, it looks like a roasted potato, but instead, it's a finely battered fried orb of creamy, sweet-savoury, potato-skin ice-cream, on a bed of muscovado crumble. It's intriguing; simultaneously weird and wonderful.

Service is rough around the edges, but this is seriously good cooking that isn't overly serious. And how exciting to be in on the start of a terrific new, cut-through voice in the local modern Asian dining scene. It is, I'd have to say, masterly.

THE LOWDOWN
Best bit: Chinese food but not as you know it.
Worst bit: Turn the bloody music down!
Go-to dish: Cold-cut chicken, white soy, Sichuan spices $18.

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.