China Doll

On a beautiful Sydney evening, we sat outside on the wharf. The set price sampler was delicious, but a lot of food! Service was very erratic, at times too fast and at other times we were left waiting. People watching was excellent and I certainly recommend China Doll for a memorable evening.

Booked months in advance for a special night & was seated directly under industrial strength aircon which rendered our table unable to focus on our meal, too cold to enjoy a drink & wearing a leather jacket on a sultry-​December night in Sydney. Why? Because the kitchen needs aircon… I suggest you aircon the kitchen & allow your guests the comfort of a temperate room. Bitterly, bitterly disappointing for a restaurant of this calibre. The evening was a waste of money. We couldn’t wait to leave to warm up.

Great place to go when celebrating something exiting. Awesome view and great service.
The food is good but not my favourite Asian food Sydney has to offer.
The prawn and bean dumplings were one of my favourite dishes. Along with the Shandong chicken. The pork belly was good but have to say you can’t beat the pork belly at Jimmy Liks.
Overall great atmosphere and good food. Will return again.

Dined here tonight with a group of friends so we tried a variety of dishes.
The restaurant has an intimate atmosphere in a great location by the wharf. It’s also fairly well known so there is some expectation of living up to a good reputation.
The food was average and nothing special. It is modern asian without a twist and lacking something.
Dumplings and wontons were fine but are better at yum cha and ¼ the price.
Penang beef shin curry — too salty and can find much better penang curry at an indian restaurant
Salt and pepper prawn with garlic and chilli — the batter wasn’t crispy and couldn’t taste garlic
Tea smoked duck — can find better in chinatown
Crispy pork belly in chilli caramel — wonderful dish! Tender but delicately crispy on the outside
Overall food was ok. I have nothing against modern asian food but given the price it should be cooked to perfection with a special touch or else you’re better going to an authentic asian restaurant for half the cost and better food.

Dined Jan 1, 2015 — 5 people.
China Doll has a nice, intimate environment. But could fit a group. There are many tables, some sort of close together. Wait staff is nice enough, but seems like there’s a lot of people serving you at one time, so it’s hard to tell who to ask for things from when you need it. I think there may have been hangovers throughout on this visit, however.
Food is very good.
Portions are gourmet.
Ordered a (sweet and sour?) duck dish, some pieces were on the bone, which is very complex to eat politely with chopsticks. They were out of the first two types of beer we ordered which might be kind of a big deal usually, except it was New Year’s day, so no surprise there– however, i wish the waiter would have known what they had left and told us what was available, instead of making us guess. Had some other dishes that were presented well and all tasted good. Just wish there was a little more of each one.
In terms of take away, they «can only do certain dishes for takeaway» because of the options they have to package it — and not just for soup either. Again, it was a guessing game as to what could be ordered ‘to go’ instead of– «here’s the take away menu», or «I think we can accommodate x, y, or z.»
Considering the area, pricing is appropriate. For anywhere else, moderate to high.
If you come on a Friday or Saturday evening, make a reservation — always seems to get busy fast.

Tourist? First time in Sydney? Or just looking for a place that serves phenom food in an incredible location? Yeah. This is definitely the place!
We were seated on the 2^nd floor by a window… shuttered to protect us from the setting of the sun. The wait staff… the model for all wait staff everywhere. I have to say the place didn’t seem all that large to me, more intimate and friendly… and could be romantic with the right person. Having said that, the main floor offered searing on the wharf, a bit more casual and low-​level noise.
This is my daughter and son-in-law’s favorite place and with good reason. My younger daughter is here for the first time, in Sydney. Perfect weather, great service, impeccable food.
It’s easy to over-​order but then again, leftovers? Always a good thing with food of this caliber. We had several starters, all incredible perfectly served. And by that I mean, the hot food was right off the flame and the cold food perfectly chilled. Everyone loved the Curry Beef Shin and the Beef Short Rib. If you’re not drooling just from the name, you aren’t alive. The Fried Rice was perfect, too.
I highly recommend China Doll, for a romantic night out, with family (though I would suggest leaving very young kids at home), friends visiting from out of town or out of the country.

Very effiecient service and delicious food in a setting that is beautiful. Located on a wharf next to 6 other happening restauraunts, we chose this spot because it was crowded and we love chinese food! We were not disappointed in teh wine or the food. Great lettuce wraps theough they are called Bau or something like that. Dumplings delicious, the shrimp had a vinegar sause (skip it) and the pork had an incredible spicy sauce, YES PLEASE.
would eat here again.

This is a great place with friends or clients. Service is amazing and have never been disappointed by the food. Since Unilocal is not widely used in Australia hence probably why the ratings are so low.

I have been to many restaurants throughout the world and this restaurant was by far a standout.
We ordered the $ 59 pp banquet and also added on the duck pancakes. Every part of the meal that came out was just divine.
The portion sizes were perfect and left you excited for the next serving.
Service was phenomenal. The waiter knew everything about the menu and knew what wine complimented each dish. Cocktails are so delicious aswell!
The price is on the more expensive size but it’s definitely worth every cent.
Stand out dish was the pork belly and duck pancakes. Do not leave without trying them!
I highly recommend China Doll and I will certainly be going back again.

Great food, service and location. Highly recommend the banquet, everything is delicious, dumplings, chilli squids, duck and etc. Would definitely go back

Really fun place — excellent cocktails and desserts. Food was very good — recommend dumplings, shu mai, octopus, and prawns. Also the Chinese greens were fabulous! View is gorgeous of course. Nice times. Would come back here for drinks and dessert for sure.

Wow so much hype and conversation led me to book China Doll. I am really sorry but I think I arrived late or something.
Let’s start with the not so great… I feel like the restaurant is tired. Both in appearance and the style of service. All the waiters were wearing different clothing and were not focused on customer service. There is this thing happening in Sydney at the moment which is super relaxed yet super focused service. China Doll has not got the balance right. Even the bathroom was a mess! Although remedied through a free dessert the blue bandaid dropped on my table during service was not welcomed :/​
The brilliant part of China Doll was the good. Yummy Chinese I inspired cooking that left you wanting more! Seriously delicious. The view out to the bay was great especially on the sunny day we were enjoying.
I think the restaurant needs a revamp and a new service manager to get all the wait staff smiling, happy and focused on the customer and not their own conversations :)

There are fine views of the city and park, as well as the wharf if you can be seated outside. The staff that served us were quite friendly, attentive and patient as we spent some time going through the menu and wine list. The dumplings were among the best I’ve had in Sydney and the Bug sashimi was quite good as well. They were serving two duck dishes from the menu. We opted for the duck pancakes and also thought they were tasty as well. All in, we were pleased with the food, the staff and the ambiance and would certainly return.

The view, the food, the service all fantastic, the staff are amazing knowledgeable and friendly. I completely understand why people are regulars there.
Ask the staff to recommend a dish for you you won’t be disappointed, we had a whole barramundi, beautiful dumplings, a great spicy curry and scallops.

When i said «fillet» with a silent «t» the waitress said «You mean FILLET?» and she emphasised the T and i couldn’t help but say «for the uneducated, my way is the proper way!» But as a waitress, shouldn’t she know what I’m talking about??? She actually said that only hoity toity restaurants pronounce it that way. That surprised me to hear because China Doll is a hatted restaurant! and they charge hatted prices!
Anyway, lets talk about the food.
I was actually not blown away. The food was so-​so. But their peanut butter cake-​like dessert was AMAZING! At least it ended well.
The dress code is smart casual but i would say they’re leaning more towards dressy. I didn’t really see anyone in there casually dressed. But, they DO serve you if you’re not.

Finger wharf is a great spot on a sunny afternoon, especially when its a friday and you’re meant to be in the office but instead your off having a free lunch, I’ve enjoyed quite a few meals at Kingsleys just a little further down the wharf, its a old fav of mine…
I’d never been to China Doll before yesterday afternoon but was looking forward to it after hearing good feedback from friends of friends etc. who’d been.
The venues great, the foods pretty good we were locked into the set menu as a larger group, but that allowed us to try a wide variety. Great Pork Belly I really recommend ordering that dish!
The only problem with this place though is the waiting staff, they are all horrible.
To be fair the sommelier was cool, what a nice guy he was ! very knowledgeable and most attentive I ended up ordering all drinks through him be it cocktails beers etc.
I’m guessing they must have atrocious working conditions as they are collectively pissed off, they are obviously under the pump so maybe they’d had a colleague chuck a sicky but they didn’t appear understaffed at all and anyway it doesn’t warrant Attitude!
I was concerned our waitress was going to knife me I even ended up being super polite too her, to try and cancel the aggression. But all the thank yous and pleases in the world weren’t going to break the shell of this crab.
Talking of crabs do ya self a favor and skip this joint head on down to Kingsleys and get some crab you can eat.

It was at this restaurant where my girlfriends and I had a slightly awkward, highly mortifying, really funny (really funny only at the present time; for a long time it was just slightly awkward and highly mortifying and not funny at all no matter in which angle you looked at it) encounter with some guys two tables across on our left and where we eventually ran into the friendly lead singer from The Script (the encounter, in fact, was across the street, but China Doll was our starting point) so you would think that I would like this place.
But no, I don’t.
The food is a little bit Mr Chow in Los Angeles (food keeps coming to your table at this restaurant because there is inevitably going to be someone in your party who says, «Why don’t we … order almost everything on the menu»?) and whatever is on offer is offered in Gee Whiz! meat, vegetarian, dumplings, seafood, on-​the-​grill separate listings which inevitably means that you will eat a lot of appetizers to share and one main and by the end of the night you might realize, as I did, that the price of the hefty bill is uncomfortably aligned with the psychological price that you pay being frustrated at the inconsistency of the food. So you may be paying twice. Two times an expensive bill. So if you care to do the math (and if you’re only just out of high school I get that you won’t) your time here will be very expensive.
But there are pluses people. One plus: you may see a celebrity or, on an off day, a rich person or five. You might also enjoy this restaurant if you are single and pretty by your own standards and open to meeting single, handsome-​by-​their-​own-​standards guys (but do note, an exchange of eye contact will do; quiet down any crazy in your group who suggests sending a note over of any kind). Also, hopefully you’ll get sat on a table next to nice people. And if you really want my advice don’t go for healthy here — order what sounds good like the KFC-​like chicken pieces we ordered. Also, ideally, come with a skinny silhouette and a fat wallet.