A man is intensive care after being king hit at a fast food restaurant in another violent incident in Sydney.

The 38-year-old man is in a critical but stable condition in St Vincent’s Hospital.

Police said he had been involved in a verbal argument with another man at the restaurant in Oxford St, Surry Hills and as he was leaving, the other man punched him to the side of the head, causing him to fall to the ground.

The alleged attacker then fled in a taxi.

Detectives from Surry Hills Local Area Command are investigating and are appealing for anyone who witnessed the incident, but has not yet provided a statement, to come forward.

Emergency service workers and doctors are demanding NSW government action to stop the carnage caused by alcohol-fuelled violence.

Inner Sydney has earned a reputation for drunken violence.