Succulent, fatty flesh and crisp skin swaddled in a warm pancake with salty-sweet hoisin has been the cornerstone of the Cantonese fine-diner for more than 40 years. Still as dramatic and authentic as it was in the ’80s, a few things are new.

That lobby lift is a touch faster, and a bar to sip and snack continues to draw new faces who cannot afford the time or price of the main event. Jason Lui (son of executive chef Anthony Lui) leads an army of switched-on waiters.

Call the shots like you’ve been coming for yonks or buckle in for a banquet which starts with cold appetisers, such as marinated jellyfish in a glistening sesame dressing, and works up to pot stickers, dumplings (three points to the puckering prawn har gao), fried rice or even the eye-wateringly expensive whole suckling pig.

The scotch century egg and the lamb spring rolls don’t quite hit the mark, while cluey Melbourne diners are far less forgiving about reheated deep-fried ice cream and faulty wine than their ancestors. However you choose to do the Drum, know that the long-time favourite plays to new- and old-world tastes. 

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