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The wild barramundi noodles aren’t advertised, but the Drum keeps a few portions on standby for those in the know – and after half a century, there are many. Those diners understand the downright delicious results of slicing fish into strands, then stir-frying them with garlic shoots and shiitake until bouncy.

Menu mainstay Peking duck is as exacting in its portions as its preparation, with supple flesh and skin that shatters like praline. Wisps of hand-picked mud crab are worked through a luxurious turmeric sauce and cooked in the hollow of the crustacean’s shell.

The carpet is blood-red and the tables are set leagues apart, giving politicians, lobbyists and glamorous couples of all ages privacy, and leaving room for every other dish to be tossed, carved or bruleed tableside by a professional in a waistcoat and bow-tie.