Malbec is not here to be overthought. It wants fire, salt and something politely and properly charred. Ideally steak. Preferably outside. It is generous, unfussy and reliably a good time,

Lunch moves at its own pace, not slow for effect, just steady. Dishes land clean and exacting, vegetables leading more often than not, treated with the kind of reverence usually reserved for proteins.

From Ningxia, along the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains where vineyards cling to the edge of desert and altitude does as much work as ambition, this is a Chardonnay that feels both fluent and slightly out of step, in the best possible way.

The best regional wine lists in Australia aren’t trying to compete with the cities. They’re doing something else.Tighter. More local. More personal.

25hours Hotel The Olympia doesn’t try to recreate that exactly, but it does something close enough to matter, tapping into that same looseness and giving it structure again.

The menu reads familiar at first. Dumplings, barbecue, seafood, fried rice, the kind of ordering muscle memory Sydney diners know well, but it doesn’t lean on nostalgia in the way you expect.

It’s got the look of a New York chophouse and the confidence of a footy player in a suit jacket and tie.

Utterly light, bright and crucially, only 8% ABV. Which means Aunt Joan can stay merry, engaged and upright well past the prawns.