Busy, buzzy and nightclub cool, Lucy Liu is a place to see and be seen. It also happens to serve up one of the CBD’s best offerings of pan-Asian cuisine with on-theme cocktails and a tight curation of beers and wine well pitched to the food.

Border hop with kingfish sashimi, Korean fried chicken and beef short ribs in rendang curry, but top of your dance card should be pan-fried barramundi and scampi dumplings swimming in a sharp soup of vinegar, ginger and spring onions.

The pork hock won’t win any beauty contests, but is Lucy’s signature for good reason — marinated, braised then flash fried for fork-tender flesh and a gloriously crisp outer. Enjoy as you would Peking duck, with pancakes, apple kimchi salad and hoisin sauce.

Enter via a cobblestone lane and a dramatic red neon-lit hallway, and do sit at the bar overlooking the kitchen for dinner and a show.

Eager staff who don’t upsell work the room with ease and there’s toe-tapping tunes to relive your disco days.

Must eat dish: pork hock