King Clarence

A hundred seats deep in the CBD, this Clarence Street room takes the cooking of China, Korea and Japan and runs it through a single custom grill, letting smoke and char pull the disparate threads together. The kitchen, led by Khanh Nguyen, has fun with the format without tipping into gimmick: a fish finger bao dressed with pickled chilli and salmon caviar, a pork-free mapo tofu enriched with bone marrow and prawns, wild-caught barramundi lacquered in tomato ssamjang. A live tank keeps the seafood honest. The setting leans nocturnal, with sleek lines, a flash of neon, house DJs from Wednesday through Saturday and mid-tempo electronics under the chatter, so a business lunch and a late, loud dinner can share the same address and feel like different places. The drinks match the ambition, with a wine list that runs from riesling and chardonnay to grower Champagne and a wide by-the-glass reach. Two hats from the Good Food Guide confirm the kitchen is more than theatre. For the city end of town, it is a rare thing: a genuinely modern pan-Asian dining room built for occasion rather than convenience, and confident enough to keep the volume up.