The crowded room is filled with anticipation: the standing, anxious for a table; the seated, eyeing mega-sized mud crabs and lobsters.

Yummy Seafood’s live offerings look healthy in their clean, bright tanks, and although the room is feeling a little overripe after 18 years in the business of feeding extended families, there is a buzz about the food. Expect to wait on a weekend, with or without a booking.

Coral trout steamed with ginger and shallots is terrifically succulent with barely opaque flesh, and you should always say “yes” to the option of accompanying your pipis with vermicelli. What else to soak up the moreish XO sauce? The perfect doneness of Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce speaks of care in the kitchen, and while the crispy skin chicken could be juicier, this remains one of Sydney’s tastiest all-occasion (late) nights out. The congee is darn good, too.