Grand hotel lobby dining at Luke's Kitchen on Pitt Street

Luxury means different things to different people, but in restaurant circles it's usually high-status items such as caviar, lobster and truffles that earn the tag.

I'm not so sure. Sometimes, it's about the give of a cushioned banquette, the patina of the table, the weight of a linen napkin on your knee, the tinkle of glass on the martini trolley. The way a considered environment can add to your sense of wellbeing.

At Luke's Kitchen, a casual name for quite an opulent restaurant that runs alongside the splendid art deco lobby of the Kimpton Margot hotel, the tables for four and six are luxuriously spacious, and the lighting could give a masterclass in setting a mood while still allowing you to read a menu.

Plus, you can order 30 grams of oscietra caviar with sour cream and potato gaufrette for $250. Champagne? Call for the champagne cart. Ditto, the caviar and vodka trolley. If you want to shave truffles all over your food, just add $20 to your bill for every five grams.

Luke Mangan has done it all, from cookbooks to cruise restaurants and airlines, but he's always created environments in which to have a good time. Now, it's a grand 1930s hotel restaurant, pitched for business lunches and glitzy dinners, with bottomless brunches on Saturdays.

His talents – and those of head chef and long-time collaborator M.J. Olguera, who started with Mangan at Bistro Lulu in Paddington in 2004, seem well-suited to the grand hotel life.

Here, the luxuries are played on shuffle across the broad menu with Mangan's own modern Australian hits. Skull Island prawns with nam jim and coconut mix it with Peking duck pancakes with hoisin sauce, spiced lamb rump, and Riverina grass-fed rib-eye for two to share.

The garlic bread ($8) is kerfuffle-worthy, being not "garlic bread" but a laminated cronut of caramelised onion jam, curry-spiced garlic butter and Heidi gruyere cheese; sweet, savoury, crisp, soft. For a moment, I wonder what it would be like with 20 grams of truffle shaved on top, but the madness quickly passes.

Prawn toast ($18) is difficult to resist, the bread golden and crisp, the sweet prawn mousse jade-green with herbs, a little corn salsa on top for freshness.

It's Mangan, so there are classics harking back to his days as an eager commis in the kitchen of England's three Michelin-starred Waterside Inn. Proper food, a bit Frenchy. A pork terrine ($29) is gutsy and satisfying, melding pig's head, neck and belly into a smooth unit, ready to smash onto grill-marked sourdough.

Olguera teams a lacquered duck for two ($180) with crunchy little salt-and-pepper rice cakes and a coconut curry sauce; a nice move. Roast spatchcock ($41) is jointed and sent out with a citrusy salad of fennel, currants and mandarin on a puddle of fennel puree. I feel I've had this before, years ago; yet it's right for now.

The comfort-food drum beats strongest with slow-cooked beef cheeks in a rich red wine sauce ($46), laced with chickpeas and bolstered by Mangan's pillowy, creamy pomme puree. A spicy, fleshy 2020 Bondar Junto GSM from McLaren Vale ($83) virtually jumps straight in.

Dessert can go luxe – rum baba – but a pretty little meringue roulade ($21) balanced with rich lemon curd is a hit. More so, for me, than the enduring licorice parfait that has been the chef's signature since 1995. Nice, but I think we can all move on now.

Overall, it's the mix of old-school glamour and the free-flowing, no-rules approach to hospitality that makes Luke's Kitchen of interest; a fresh but familiar face in a part of the city that's getting more and more attention.

It's not so much the tableside trolleys and truffles that deliver the luxury, although they do add energy and a bit of fun. It's more about the craft and the comfort that keeps their little wheels turning; that's the real luxury here.

The low-down

Luke's Kitchen

Vibe Grand hotel lobby dining, high on comfort

Go-to dish Garlic bread with caramelised onions, curry butter, gruyere, $8

Drinks Bespoke cocktails from Wilmot Bar, plenty of wines by the glass, and a reassuring wine list strong on classic labels

Terry Durack is chief restaurant critic for The Sydney Morning Herald and senior reviewer for the Good Food Guide.