Waitan - Sydney

Didn't know what to think with the mixed reviews but we bought a Groupon voucher to try anyway for the all you can eat buffet. Dined there yesterday (Sunday 13th Nov) for lunch. Cold, fresh and tasty prawns, fried prawns, chilli fish, crab cooked two ways, wagyu beef, Peking duck, crispy skin duck, steamed dumplings and about 60 dishes in all and at no time were the serving platters empty for more than five minutes most were topped up before they ran out. The place was full so they really did excel at keeping up. Amazing flavours too. Highly recommended. Photo 1 shows some of the 60+ dishes octopus down the bottom, next to it Peking duck pancakes and to the left wagyu beef. Photo 2 shows the cold king prawns and photo 3 shows chilli fish on the left, crab with one sauce on the right, somewhat obscured are the cold prawns and two more closed servers, one with fried prawns the other with a second crab dish. Note also in this photo how full the restaurant was and how full the serving bowls/trays were.

They served decent Peking ducks. Can tell some unique and pleasant fragrance (fruity woody) 'infused ' into the duck, probably due to the special kind of wood they use during the preparing process (not quite sure). Anyway just enjoy it, it 's Peking duck and it 's yum.

Waitan is another restaurant that has been on my list ever since I decided to enter the blogosphere. Mostly because I read a tonne of media coverage regarding their opening featuring models, Lamborghinis and chefs flown out just to be there. I mean, come on.<br/ <br/ Hot girls, hot cars and hot food is basically my life in seven words.

The unique twist to this dish however is that the pancakes are served on a purpose-made tray with a heat pack and boiling water to keep the pancakes hot and moist which I thought was a really nice touch to a dish that normally turns cold quickly.

This place really deserves a 5. The food is fantastic, I got Peking Duck (1/2 duck), Wagyu Beef fried rice, Stir fried beans and San Choy Bao.The Wagyu Beef fried rice is amazing, the beef is really finely diced almost infused with the rice and there's little rice bubble pops on top that gives it this amazing texture. Furthermore, the service and ambience of the place is great. They are almost over staffed so the waiters are really attentive. Definitely will keep going back!