Is there a Chinese restaurant in the history of Sydney that has installed so many fish tanks and stocked none of them with live seafood? The live tanks here are tucked away in the kitchen of this basement restaurant from Dan Pepperell, Mikey Clift and Andy Tyson, while the dining room, moody with snaking black and red carpet and a soundtrack of Cantonese-language pop covers, is flush with tropical aquarium fish.

It’s not the only striking thing about the place either. Preserved cabbage in chilli paste and black fungus pickled in black vinegar hum with flavour, while pigeon braised in masterstock and fried until golden is plated to season with five-spice salt.

Dumplings are yet to hit their mark, but you can’t deny the tongue-tingling appeal of poached strange-flavour chicken, or the thrill of Ningxia amber wine, baller Coravin pours and sesame sazeracs for drinks. Immersive, impressive and an instant hit.

Good to know: If the seasonal fruit for dessert seems a little steep, know that the sweet sticky rice, channelling sticky date pudding, is out of this world

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.