Wedged between a real estate agency and beauty parlour,S'more bills itself as a neighbourhood bistro and it certainly looks the part:napkins are blue linen,the furniture is modest,and the lighting low and warm. However,unlike any other local bistro,you can also order a rib-eye from Gina Rinehart's cattle herd for $280.

The menu reads like Hannibal Lecter's last-meal wish list,minus the body parts. There are oysters,truffles,wagyu,live lobsters and $200 tins of Siberian caviar with condiments. A short wine list has plenty of solid options for about $14 a glass,but there's also a 2001 Chateau Pavie for any Bordeaux buffs willing to drop $2950.

Indulgence has become something of a trademark for Young,or"Big Sam"as he's better known on social media. The former head chef of Potts Point's Lotus navigated the pandemic with aplomb by hosting private dinners built on eye-wateringly expensive produce;his Instagram account is a wall of luxury seafood. S'more is his first solo restaurant and a collaboration with long-time partner and talented chef Grace Chen.

We need a law to impose a lifetime restaurant ban on any diner using a camera flash inside one.

The lightest thing is a raw scallop ($9) jacked up with Korean chilli. Pitch-perfect steamed coral trout ($48) bathed in tomato dashi places second in the healthy-eating stakes,while coconut sorbet ($9) brings up the rear. But mostly we're in big,buttery,heart-pounding territory flavoured by ferocious amounts of umami and Cantonese inspiration. 

Fluffy,deep-fried potato cakes ($7 each) are filled with molten duck-egg yolk and I notice some customers topping these with caviar,too. I notice because they're using a flash to photograph their food,and themselves,every five minutes. I'll say it again:we need a law to impose a lifetime restaurant ban on any diner using a camera flash inside one.

The best thing we eat is also the best value:gloriously juicy roast chicken ($58),brined,glazed and twice-cooked for crisp,burnished skin that's almost sharp enough to shave with. It's sliced over parsnip puree and a deeply savoury pepper gravy with enough body to be a meal in itself.

Pleasingly crisp-bottomed claypot fried rice ($28) is loaded with Chinese lap cheong sausage,while a $58 linguine approaches PT (peak truffle) with a truffled fried egg,truffle butter sauce and a generous table-side shaving of fresh black Perigord. It's obscenely rich and velvety and very much designed to share. 

A couple could leave happy and full by only ordering the chook and the rice,but I can also vouch for the cheaper steak,a dry-aged sirloin that's all gnarly charred edges and direct flavour. (NB:it still costs $78 for 450 grams.)

You probably shouldn't miss dessert either,especially a pudding that walks the line between panna cotta and creme caramel ($12),while humming with coffee and tea in a nod to the milky yuen yeung drink native to Hong Kong cafes. It's a signature creation from Chen,who helms the kitchen while Young chats with customers and pours post-meal whiskies.

It's easy to be cynical about prices here,particularly when a plum margarita is $22 and unbalanced,and a leaf salad ($12) is overdressed. But I don't get the sense that S'more is a cash grab either,unlike the rash of CBD restaurants with luxury-forward menus.

Indeed,some guests seem more interested in photographing their food than eating it,but Chen and Young are genuinely passionate about great produce and showing customers a fun time. Serve the vodka before the caviar and that's a template for my last meal,too.

Vibe:Splashy produce party in the suburbs

Go-to dish: Roasted chicken,parsnip and black pepper sauce

Drinks:Considered French and Australian wines across all price points,house cocktails and a fancy spirits cart

Cost:About $150 for two,excluding drinks

This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine