Well-known restaurateur Alfred Lai and his staff at the Imperial Peking Harbourside have taken Chinese cuisine into a completely new arena. This is no ordinary "Chinese restaurant" but an elegant, modern eatery specialising in the most contemporary styles of cooking. The emphasis is on interesting seafoods, and they can't get any fresher than from one of the Imperial Peking's tanks of live lobsters, mud crabs, abalone and fish. One of our special favourites is "Drunken Lobster" which is served with a touch of Chinese vinegar sauce. The Imperial Peking also does scampi in wine sauce in a very interesting manner, but if you want to look beyond the seafood try the barbequed crocodile - it's extremely lean and virtually fat-free. The Imperial Peking Harbourside restaurant is situated in a beautifully-restored sandstone bond store on the water's edge at Circular Quay. Open for lunch and dinner 7 days. The address is 15 Circular Quay West, and the phone numbers for reservations are 9247-7073 or 9223-1128.

At the Harbour Bridge end of Kent Street, near the picturesque Garrison Church, you'll find a quaint, family-owned seafood restaurant called Fish at The Rocks. This is where the locals go when they want good, fresh seafood. The atmosphere isn't too "touristy", the service is warm and friendly and the seafood is second to none. There is an extensive a la carte menu of deep sea, estuary and tropical fish - cooked either in the lightest beer batter or BBQ'd to perfection - plus an interesting blackboard of delicious daily specials. Fish at The Rocks is at 29 Kent Street. They're open for lunch Monday to Friday and dinner 7 nights. Reservations 9252 4614.

It's Oktoberfest all year round at the Lowenbrau Kellar, a 200 year-old convict-built cellar right in the heart of The Rocks on the corner or Argyle and Playfair Streets. The menu includes traditional Bavarian delicacies such as pork knuckle, schnitzels, spatzle and of course mouth watering strudels. As well as that, the Lowenbrau has seven award-winning premium Munich beers on tap, all served in authentic steins by waiters dresses in traditional lederhosen and dirndls. And they've just opened a very smart new Uberbar on top of the original restaurant. The Lowenbrau Keller, Brasserie and Bar are open all day from 9am till late, 7 days a week. Phone 9247-7785.