If you’re wondering where everyone is on a Friday afternoon, they’re here.
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they → wonder → afternoon
Or at least, it seems that way at the newest offering from Artemus – the gang behind other Manly Wharf venues Felons Brewery and Felons Seafood.
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it → seem → venues
This is the third Sydney venue for the Brisbane real estate and hospitality company, and it’s definitely its strongest.
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it → ’ → company
The chef spent the past seven years running the original Stanley in Brisbane before moving his family to Sydney to take a second bite of the cherry in early September.
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chef → spend → September
The look is grand Hong Kong, mixing plush late-’70s styling and chinoiserie with the approachability of Manly.
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look → mix → Manly
Sit outside on the deck and watch the ferries come in while splitting a dim sum platter (make sure to try the luxurious scallop siu mai with gossamer-thin skins) and a cold beer (Felons lager is on tap here, naturally).
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lager → sit → tap
Inside, it’s absolutely packed – I don’t see an empty seat, or glass, in the house.
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I → ’ → house
The room is filled with energy and the sounds of people here for a good time, where chat mingles with the clatter of food being served.
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chat → fill → food
The persistent smell of toasted spices floats through the air, largely thanks to the fried cumin lamb ribs that hit a neighbouring table.
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that → toast → table
I immediately regret not ordering them.
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I → regret → them
An opportunity to spend big in a relaxed, open-ended way that might start with a lychee martini (so fun, so daggy, so delicious) and a round of Moreton Bay bug spring rolls (is this the snack of 2026?) before settling in with something from the live tanks.
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this → spend → tanks
Service across the board is friendly and attentive but the wine service, led by sommelier Christian Blair, is a cut above.
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service → lead → Blair
I ask for something that can take me from a duck pancake to a steamed crab leg.
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that → ask → leg
Without missing a beat, Blair suggests a textural mix of chardonnay, marsanne and roussanne from central Victorian producer, Changing Winds.
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Blair → miss → producer
Wildly, it works.
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it → work → ?
If you decide to order Peking duck for the table, know that it takes a minimum of five days of work for it to arrive there.
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it → decide → work
It’s so special, the duck is prepared in its very own kitchen.
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duck → ’ → kitchen
It requires 24 hours of brining and a massage session, then a few days of drying out in the coolroom, getting fanned while hanging on custom racks.
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It’s this process that makes for the extra-crisp skin when it’s roasted.
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it → ’ → skin
It’s high maintenance, but worth the effort for the right type of person.
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It → ’ → person
Juicy meat is covered in crisp, burnished and beautifully roasted skin, ready to be enveloped in a soft pancake with perfectly uniform spindles of green onion and cucumber, and a little hoisin.
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meat → cover → onion
Order a whole duck two ways (pancakes and sang choy bao) or try the pancakes alone, if you’re hitting the tanks.
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you → order → tanks
Choose your weapon when it comes to how you like your live seafood cooked: wok-tossed, deep-fried or steamed.
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seafood → choose → weapon
A West Australian snow crab, steamed and dressed in soy and ginger, lands at the table with its claws crossed, like it’s waiting patiently to be eaten.
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it → steam → table
The meat is so incredibly delicate and flaky, so light on the tongue, it seems a crime to order anything else that might interrupt the experience.
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that → seem → experience
But look, there’s also sweet-and-sour pork and pineapple (as bombastic and sticky as the crab is light, gentle and elegant) and eggy fried rice.
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crab → look → ?
There are plenty of reasons to be charmed here, but a bottle of soy sauce is what ultimately steals my heart.
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what → be → heart
Turns out it’s an ode to Louis Tikaram’s Fijian-Chinese grandmother, who would only use that soy sauce in her kitchen.
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who → turn → kitchen
“She taught me how to cook from an early age,” he told me, “so I guess that one’s for her.”
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one → teach → her
The low-down
Atmosphere: A bustling, supercharged dining room filled with a bustling, supercharged crowd
Go-to dishes: Sweet-and-sour pork ($42); dim sum platter ($44); Peking duck pancakes ($66); snow crab with ginger and shallot ($280); lime sago pudding ($40)
Drinks: A fun mix of easy-drinking cocktails, Felons beers and a wine list to get seriously lost in
Cost: About $240 for two, excluding drinks (and live seafood)
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently.
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reviews → fill → drinks
A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
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restaurant → pay → Guide
The Aporia
