Master - Surry Hills

With kids in tow we booked an early sitting. We were worried going to a potential - non kid friendly venue. However the staff were fantastic and accommodating for our large family. The food was SO good. Even the littlest loved it - especially the milk congee with dragonfruit dessert.

Let's start with the good. The scallop silk was delicious and so was the shezuan prawns that we had. And like everyone says the burned cabbage was really good too. The perch however, which came recommended by the waitress, was super bland and tasted like nothing. Now the bad....the service was shocking. I would give a terrible rating for that. Not only was the waitress super impatient and ripped our plates away from under us twice whilst one of us was still chewing food but she also was snappy with us. Add to that that our first course come to the table maybe two minutes after we had placed our order and then within the next 7 minutes we had the next two courses on our table we felt like they couldn't get us out far enough. Not an enjoy full dining experience at all. Would the food and the timing of the food have been mindblowingly amazing maybe you could forgive bad service but seeing it all as a whole I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. Shame really but also issues that could potentially be easily fixed.

The food and service was outstanding. The food is very adventurous and it works. My favourite was the watermelon, then the scallops. I enjoyed everything that we ordered. Thank you for a great night.

The flavours presented were great , broken down simple Chinese. A talking point but we found it very difficult to talk about it as a group. Why? Why Why?. Well the music was so loud, and of the thrash genre. The first waitress i asked to turn it down just laughed. The second took it more seriously. I think by the time we had our dessert the music was turned down. We were almost in a private room. There was one speaker that could have easily been turned down. It was like eating in a Berlin thrash hall. Seriously we pay good money, people ambiance is really important. I want to share and talk about what i'm consuming. Not mime words to my friends across the table. I was very excited to eat in this space. Having lived locally for years i have seen it transform into many a varied interesting restaurant. When i arrived i was greeted by many smiling floor staff. Always good to see. The vegetarian diner was sadly made to feel bad for wanting more vegetarian options. She had looked at the internet menu, and when asked for something she had seen on that was told the Chef wasn't cooking that. Sorry but if it is listed on the menu I'm not sure why it is not offered. The pork neck was amazing, it was number one. The entrees and mains were delicious. Sorry but the onion dessert was a roast dinner... 4 hours later onion burps. And i love roast onion. The cucumber foam was beautiful, but in my day it would have come out as a cleansing sorbet , after the main. I think it weighed less than a gram and cost more than an ounce of gold. So i'm torn. Some fantastic staff. Someone's music style dominating and dedicated to ruining the ambiance.. Great deconstructed Chinese mains and entrees, bomb on the dessert .

I usually stay away from Asian fusion unless it's totally highly recommended or damn good company.