China City

Tucked away under the Chifley Hotel with no street frontage, China City is well worth seeking out. In fact some might argue it does the best yum cha in town. Certainly the dim sum are well made and fresh, and the range as good as any of its competition. What is an absolute is that owner-chef Mark Mai has an extraordinary talent for being able to produce both traditional Chinese fare and some stunning contemporary plates. The dominant theme is seafood and the live tanks have unusually alert inhabitants - a sure sign of fast rotation. The menu is broad, encompassing the likes of a fabulously fiery Sichuan chicken hotpot, stir-fried mud crab and a luxurious braised whole abalone, to high-grade wagyu fillets rolled in pepper and seared over a hot grill with sweet snowpeas and slithers of shallot. It's a stunning rendition of wagyu. Service can range from sublime to rushed (particularly during weekend yum cha) but the owner always makes time to visit each table.