Fengyi

These notes are from a very enjoyable evening spent tasting a selection of the better Chinese wines available here in Beijing. It was held under the auspices of Jim ‘Beijing’ Boyce (Beijing Bloyce Blog) , who regularly blogs on drinking, bars and wine in the Chinese capital. No one directly connected with the sales of these wines was present and both flights 2 and 3 were presented blind. The marks are really generous - we started off with bounds of enthusiasm(!) and tried to be reasonably upbeat.... 1st Flight of 2 whites Grace (Shanxi) Chardonnay 2005 A medium straw-gold with nose of candied lemon and slightly green apple-ly. Some light citrus on palate with medium alcohol, ripeness and fairly good balance. 15/20 60RMB Catai (Shangdong) Chardonnay 2005 Light straw gold with disappointing nose. Little fruit (fruit-scalped?). Pronounced bitterness on palate with not very attractive flavours. 10/20 36RMB 2nd Flight of 3 reds Catai (Shandong) Cab Sauv 2005 Medium ruby with tawny glints. Bright berry with confected red fruits. Smooth tannins with medium alcohol and body. Thin and not very inspiring. 13/20 36RMB Catai Merlot 2004 Medium garnet colour with an oaky green nose. Some ripe-ish dark fruit and slight burnt notes. Palate was pleasant with medium alcohol, body and tannins but the fruit didn’t really come through as much as it should. Did fall apart by the end of the tasting when we re-visited it. 15/20 36 RMB Grace Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Medium bricky red with dusty berries smell. Medium alcohol and body with some tannins present but not pronounced. The palate was quite ‘hollow’ and unsatisfying somehow (typical of unblended Cabernet?) 13/20 60RMB 3rd Flight of 4 reds (including a ringer) Grace Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 Tasya’s Reserve Medium ruby with a bright, confected berry nose. Quite green with slight black currant notes. Medium bodied and medium alcohol with slightly stalky yet attractive tannins. Seemed like a nice quality Loire Cab Franc. 15/20 188RMB Catai Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 Medium ruby with browning glints. Slightly strange but (over time) attractive nose with Bovril and meaty dark berries. Medium tannins, with structure and acid a bit out of whack to feel balanced. It was, strangely enough, in a Burgundy shaped bottle…. 13/20 236 RMB Bodega Langes Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 This wine is the pet project of the Swarovski crystal people – and probably would be better off sealed in a crystal bottle without opening it…. Medium garnet colour with the most odd burnt coffee (like Starbucks dark roast) nose. Very woody and tarry with very little fruit. The palate was quite nastily aggressive with unyielding tannins and acidity. This wine is matured in Chinese Oak from the North Korean border. The novelty value does not outweigh the basic fact that the wine they put into the barrels is not sufficiently high quality and the oak itself has a highly bizarre taste. 9/20 About $50 USD(!) Penfolds Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz 2003 The Ringer. The nose seemed very, very alcoholic after all the Chinese reds and the fruit was completely different with jammy, hot notes. Good balance though (especially after the Langes). 15/20 (in line with the other scoring) 128 RMB 4th flight of fun Grace Cab Franc 2003 Tasya’s Reserve This, with the Grace Chardonnay, was one of my favourites of a not-great evening. It had a nice stalky-red fruit nose with smooth low-level tannins and good acid. It was very nice with the mild hard cheeses that were served as well -though maybe they just helped the wine along!! 16/20 198RMB Changyu Sparkling Cider NV Nice fine bubbles with a slightly artificial red-apply nose. Good acidity though a bit thin. Medium sweet on the palate but fairly well balanced. Light in alcohol. Great QPR with a magnum selling for less than 2 GB pounds! a firm 20/20 for value - about 14/20 for taste! 26RMB for a princely 1.5 L In all, quite a disappointing evening. We had hoped to find some promising wines, but none of them really shone or were particularly memorable. We tried to be kind with the marking, but the main point that came to be discussed is why the average quality of Chinese wine is so low. Some of the points that surfaced during a very fun evening were the market being not discerning or mature enough, the lack of ‘boutique’ wineries with hands-on owners really impassioned about wine-making, the wine-making style which seems to produce wines that all tasted old before their time and the lack of concentration or extraction.

Just to continue OT - you can't buy chickens here at our local market *without* getting not just the head, but the feet and quite a healthy lot of the 'inside bits' too!!! I was a bit surprised the first time I bought one and discovered bits I couldn't identify on the inside when I ....er....put my hand up its bum (for lack of a more delicate way of saying that...). It even included the washed out ..errr.. anus attached. Well, waste not, want not! With regard to the food here in Beijing - it is different - but yummy! But I don't think a lot of people outside China would recognize it was the Chinese they know (i.e. quite of lot of it involves lamb kebabs and lots of pancakes and bread). When I was in Sichuan (with my Chinese mum), she didn't recognize the dandan noodles OR the yuxiang (fish-fragrent) eggplant because she'd never had the real sichuan versions!!

(off topic) If you decide to go to Beijing zoo area- the aquarium is brilliant and perfect to bring kids to! My 4 year old niece loved it (as did her parents!). For food - the world's your oyster in Beijing - and for "nakedsushi" here's a review for one of the good veggie restaurants here: Pure Lotus Pure Lotus’ ambience, mission statement, and mock-meat dishes make it the best vegetarian restaurant in Beijing,” says one reader about this unique eatery run by Buddhist monks. “My friends and I often go there and order a self-created fat-free menu. Even with its higher prices, I can’t resist.” Recommended dishes include the tieban heijiao (iron skillet black peppers), vegetarian hand rolls and pumpkin soup – a truly purifying experience! 1) Daily Daily 11am-11pm. Inside Zhongguo Wenlianyuan, 10 Nongzhanguan Nanlu, Chaoyang District. (6592 3627, 8703 6668, 6437 6288) 2) Daily 9.30am-10pm. 3/F, Holiday Inn Lido, Jiangtai Road. (6437 6688 ext 3812)

Go to Loft for the One-Thread Noodles (一线面 or something like that). It is a totally amazing dish! Just one loooooooooooooong noodle that has a lovely texture and taste - I went last week and I'm goign back to experiment with a different sauce for it (we chose the preserved veg one - I want to try it with the aubergine one next time!). The other noodles were also stellar - though the cat's ear noodles weren't as small and as delicate as I've had before. There seems to be more and more branches of it - but we went to the one on Da Wang Lu. I've also had a good roast duck (far better than Quanjude) at the BianYi Fang Roast duck restaurant and it was 88RMB- though the pancakes were not so good. They were a bit under-steamed. Win some, lose some, I guess.... I don't like Liqun that much (but I guess people go there for the hutong atmosphere as well as the duck). There's a few great snacking places near the Yonghe Gong (Lama Palace) as well)..(old Beijing snacks and all that). I need to go there soon to pick up some paperwork at the Police station, so will try and do some exploring!

Hi! I dont' think there's many traditional markets around the Kerry centre. But you should be able to pick up tea, peppercorns,etc.. even in the supermarket in the Kerry centre or walk to the Guomao and there's a supermarket in the basement there. However, if you hop the subway at Jiangguomen and take the circle line to Chongwenmen (where I am living at the moment), there is a lovely traditional market (the Chongwenmen cai shichang) where I do most of my shopping. It's just south of the subway station. It's really lively (though a bit more expensive than the more suburban markets due to the central location) and has some seriously beautiful produce (even an organic fruit stall!). The fish are terrific and the veg to die for!!! You can also go to the produce market at Hongqiao for some serious foodie gazing..... I would love to post some pictures of the market - but at the moment, my internet access is limited and I haven't got all my stuff together yet (have spent the last two months co-ordinating our move to Beijing and all the nonsense associated with that!). Have you been to a branch of Huntun Hou? Their wontons (Northern style) are seriously nice!! Also, just ask someone where a 'Jiaozi Wang' (Jiaozi King) restaurant is - there should be some around!! Next time I'm in the CBD I will look about and try and find something to post for you PS Sometimes they only give you the dumpling water (aka soup) if you ask for it....

Ah hah! I've just tasted a LOT of Bs....went to a tasting at the Produttori del Barbaresco a couple of days ago There (after a fascinating tour of the winery - I didn't know that they did *everything* like malo, cold stabilization, etc.. in tank before putting the wine in botti) we tasted: 2004 Langhe Nebbiolo Fresh, young, vibrant with high acidity - great young punchy food wine. Needs food!! 2003 Barbaresco No single vineyard Barbaresco was produced this year (they picked as early as Sept 20th!) so all the Produttori's wine went into the Barbaresco standard. Very spicey, much richer with a lot of powerful red fruit on the nose. Good acidity but not huge in structure. 2002 Barbaresco Again, no single vineyard wine was produced in this year. Lots of lovely floral and vegtal notes. Much closer to 'trad' Barbaresco than 2003. Very bright with fresh acidity and a surprising amount of class. A good example of a traditional Nebbiolo. 2001 Barbaresco Really lovely. Nose of tar, roses, complexity. Tannins much riper and smoother than in 2002 with clear and fresh acidity. 2001 Paje Barbaresco More closed on the nose - the producer agreed that decanting would be good. Lots of violet notes, though. Palate was lovely - chewy full tannins with suppleness, high acidity and liquorice notes. Wine of the tasting - but won't be released until next year!! 2000 Pora Barbaresco More open than the above. Less acidity than Paje (sandier soil in Pora we were told). more red fruit on the nose than violets- good tannins on palate. 2000 Rio Sordo Barbaresco Very kirschy nose with nice florality. good tannins, less acidity (but stil quite strong). Resonably approachable, even at this young age. 1999 Rio Sordo Barbaresco From a vintage closer in nature to the 2001 than 2000. Lovely notes of tar and roses. Palate with strong yet balanced structure. Great acidity. Will repay lots of cellaring- right now stil vigourous and young. I hope that's enough Bs for now. It was a great tasting. I thought that tasting just Barbaresco would be incredibly tiring on the palate but the wines were all so elegant that, though powerful, they were not tiring or distracting. Just very very delicious!!

We've just come back from a couple of days in Piemonte which again reminded me of what an incredible place for food and drink that this is!!! Since we were driving a right-hand drive car (which provided more than a few hours of amusement/fear on the smaller roads -particularly the Grand St. Bernard pass on the way back...), it was good to solve the problem of driving after dinner with staying at the Vecchia Tre Stelle just outside of Barbaresco for D&B&B for one night. Wonderful restaurant with a good wine list and it was truly lovely to be able just to stagger upstairs after dinner. But we also went to the Trattoria della Posta (which was AMAZING - thank you to everyone who wrote on this restaurant..it truly lived up to expectations), following very much the advice of: with this, I managed the drive back after dinner from the Trattoria to outside of Barolo (where we were staying) after a Nebbiolo Langhe (can't afford the 'brand names') and a Moscato d'Asti, even on the 'wrong side' of the road, just fine! Have a lovely trip - I wish we had stayed longer but at least we've a car full of gorgeous Piemontese wine hmmm- and we brought Torrone back too!

We faced a similar problem to yours on our last visit there - we stayed at a lovely (and cheap!) farmhouse on the outskirts of Barolo but did have to drive everywhere for dinner. Generally, I bit the bullet and drove back after having some wine at a leisurely pace over the course of the dinner. We certainly couldn't afford the prices of taxis back and forth for dinner as we'd heard that it can add up to an appreciable amount of the bill for the night! Barolo is quite walkable (unless, like us, you stay about 2 miles out of it!!) so if you find anywhere to stay in town, it should be easy enough to stagger back after dinner. I was also impressed with the options in La Morra - next time we go (this September) I am voting for staying here as there seemed to be a lot of places to stay and to eat at. The hotel Corte Gondina seems to get good reviews and you might want to check out the list of other hotels on Tripadvisor for Piedmont although you do have to wade through all the Turin places.... Good luck! I hope you have a lovely trip!

Sorry to cause even more thread drift, but hasn't Jancis Robinson just hired Linda Murphy to cover American wines? And indeed, the subject of palates did come up and she was asked about it by a couple of people. She answered: "But as for how our palates compare, yes I have indeed tasted with both Julia and Linda and compared notes so that I did ensure that we like the same characteristics in wine – balance, refreshment, ability to develop in glass and bottle, integrity and interest." (quoted from "your Turn" on the Purple Pages 25 Aug). So, it seems more than possible that Jancis Robinson would want someone with a 'similar palate' to hers representing her. Therefore (to try and bring this back to the original topic), as Rovani and Thomases are both leaving, it might probably be of some concern to Robert Parker that he find replacements who have a palate akin to his, if he has a similar approach to his wine-tasting publishing as Jancis Robinson. But seeing as I have never gotten hold of a copy of Wine Advocate myself for careful study...it's all a pretty closed book to me. I do read the eBob board at times, but find it all quite too much to take in properly!

The two-way shock reminds me of when my (Chinese) grandmother inadvertently ordered an espresso in the Hotel Ciprani in the 60s on her first trip to Italy... She spent a surreptitious 10 minutes finding a potted plant into which she could empty her cup. She said it was the most disgusting thing she had tasted in her life and she found it completely unbelievable that people could ingest such a thing (and she never forgot it - even 40+years later). And this came from a woman who ate sharkfin or birdsnest nearly everyday of her life!!!! After many years of being ‘terribly polite’ (well, trying to be!! ), I finally gave up and…. When at my (English) in-laws for Sunday lunch, upon being asked which bit of roast beef I would prefer, I finally said “I would actually love those bits of gristle and fat discarded on the carving board.” It was Heaven though I think the cat was slightly put out that I got all his bits! The love of gristle/texture thing is definitely something divides people from various eating cultures... But then again, I will eat Epoisses or Munster (super-ripe of course) -and rice pudding!- any day over Durian or stinky tofu...........

I was always brought up with pancake (bao bing) with Peking roast duck and mantou with xiangsu ya (fragrent crispy duck). Maybe because of the differing grease levels that Kent mentioned?!?! hhmmmm.....xiangsu ya.....need to make some NOW!

Sorry for the repeated posting, but I have to add that the food I had on the Victoria Cruises trip down the Yangtze (Three Gorges) which was 'chinglish' food aimed at the (mainly) American passengers was truely some of the worst I have ever had in China. It was slightly ironic, because I had hope hopes of it - since the boat was a 5 star boat- and the food turned MUCH MUCH worse than I had the last time I went down the Yangtze-which was on a crowded, rusty, 'Chinese-only' hulk of a boat....but BOY! the sichuan cooking on board that boat was to die for! It got so bad that, by the third day, we brought it up with the waitresses assigned to our table and they confided that most of the passengers wouldn't touch the 'proper' Sichuan food when it came out so the menus had been modified over time to conform to that. At any rate - the food was appalling. The 'Chinese Banquet' (so-called) served to us included mashed potatoes even! It was on the level of the worst tourist food - but with Smash It is such a shame that this was the type of food that the tourists were gobbling up (and they were!).....and sad.....

I find this question fascinating, not least because I have a large multi-cultural family whose taste buds and food atitudes seem to run the whole gamut!! I had the experience this summer of organizing a banquet at Fangshan restaurant(the Imperial cuisine restaurant in Beihai park in Beijing) for a relative's 85th birthday. The 30+ crowd consisted of people ranging from some 'backwoodsy-types' from Dongbei who'd never been to Beijing before, through some real 'Lao Beijingren' (Beijing Old-timers), to Laowai (i.e. non-Chinese) who'd never been to China before and who were 'steak 'n' potato' sorts. ACK! We had a meeting with one of the managers to discuss it - and some really interesting points emerged during our (very frank) discussion. Since Fangshan is quite the tourist place and also the place for Beijingers to show off to out of towners, the manager had seen all sorts. The one firm conclusion was that non-Chinese customers were far cheaper to feed because of the differences in taste-values and restaurant-culture. Because of texture issues, a lot of high-end food appears not to be palatable to certain NA or European palates. The manager told us of banquets where over half the sea-cucumber came back uneaten or abalone was untouched (which seemed to hurt his soul!). On the other hand, lots of Chinese would distain such food as 'gu lao rou' (s+s pork) which were of appeal to non-Chinese. The manager solved the problem by serving different menus to different tables. The menu for the 'NA/Europe table' came out 1/3 the price of the 'Chinese' tables!!! (150rmb each as opposed to 450rmb!!). But each group was happy in the end with their selection (I'm sorry to say I didn't keep the menus ) on the whole - even the non-foodies! But the whole process took about 1 1/2 hours of discussion to keep everyone's taste buds happy!! Which I thought was a bit ridiculous really.... it would have been nice to have people there who, like eGulleteers, would have appreciated the really 'Chinese-style' delicacies which were coming out!! So I can really understand and admire your patience, jokhm!! I was exhausted by the process!! But to prove it was all happy: here's a picture of my 'yilao' (i.e. older generation female relative) opening the HUGE peach baozi holder:

We popped into the Loch Fyne in Elton (to pick up some smoked fish) and I wasn't too impressed by them - they had out-of-date packets for sale and it all seemed a bit disorganized (they appeared to be renovating). Maybe the restaurant is still as good (but I must say that the branch in Cambridge doesn't blow me away either). If you are in a car, I can really recommend the Falcon at Fotheringhay (sp.?). We were there for lunch a week ago and it was excellent - service, food (though servings are on the small side) and ambience (we sat in the pub area). It came to about £40 for two including drinks and desserts. Also, a great favourite of our is the Bell at Stilton - just a hop skip and jump down the A1 from Peterborough. Of course, the stilton is great (from Long Clawson)- especially with the plum bread. Some main courses can be hit and miss (the simpler ones are the best e.g. the Gloucester old spot sausages). Overall we've had some very nice dishes here (puddings are particuarly good) and the prices are not too bad. It's nice to sit in the 'village bar' and imagine the people from the 18th C eating Stilton there (though they were probably too posh to be in the village bar- private dining rooms for them!)

If you're in Xi'an at the moment, do try and eat some Biang2biang2mian4. It is not only delicious but is written in one of the coolest characters that I have ever seen!!! I guess it's easiest to explain by quoting an e-mail sent to me by a Xi'an friend before I went there for my most recent trip:

Also, if you can find any empty whiskey/whisky canisters lying about (any whisky-loving friends that you're visiting?!?), they make great protector-holders for wine in check-in baggage, if you can't get hold of styrofoam containers. We usually wrap the bottle once in bubble wrap then slip it into the canister. Haven't had a breakage yet! (The sock trick has always worked for me, too - as long as it's surrounded by clothes.) Good luck with your trip!

Sorry if I'm being really silly, but doesn't the name card say 南来顺? and the address is Nanlaiyuan street 南莱园街？ EDIT: eek! it suddenly struck me that the second character is 菜 cai4!! I was squinting at the character so long and hard my eyes went cross-ways!!! I did think that the first lai2 was indeed different and had no 'cao 艹' radical -and [Direction] 来顺 is such a common expression in restaurant names anyway. EDIT: so my first definition was complete rubbish and the name of the street is just South Vegetable Garden Road. I've just googled it for you, in fact....and Nanlaishun 南来顺 *is* the name of a Halal restaurant on the street. and the description is here: Nan Lai Shun Restaurant It dates back to 1937 when a Mr. Shi Kunsheng opened it (in another location evidently -probably demolished in a hutong demolition) I know lamb/mutton is not a Southern dish - but I reckon they have it on the menu to please people (you know how much lamb is loved in the North! ) or the 'south' might just indicate barely 'south'!!! They do serve jielan (gailan) though - which is such a southern vegetable! And hot and sour soup is from Sichuan...... Heck! who can figure out the mind of Beijing restaurant owners, though?!?! Sometimes the restaurant definitions all seem a bit 乱七八糟 (i.e. at sixes and sevens) to me! EDIT: The article goes on to describe the cuisine - and it does appear to be 'Muslim' (in as much as that's a unified cuisine....!!). I wonder why Mr Shi called it that.....?!?

If you're in Beijing, you could stop by 1001 nights restaurant in Chaoyang - they must be able to get their hands on as many chickpeas as they need! Maybe you could strike a deal to score some! Edited to add: have you tried a big Jenny Lou's? I'm certain they would have them. They carry quite a few Middle-Eastern things, IIRC....

I, unlike you, have been totally useless at posting about my more recent trip to china (though I have managed to put some images on e-Gullet) - I am so impressed with your speed and dedication!!! I take it, from your pictures, that you are in Beijing at the moment and I am not sure when you are going to Xi'an -but I have a recommendation for great fun in Xi'an (beyond the usual muslim area)..... it's called Jiefang (i.e. liberation) Jiaozi zhuang (or may be guan, or fang or...). Some of the best jiaozi (particuarly the skins) I've ever had. The steamed ones are lovely too. It's just off Jiefang Lu and everyone knows about it (I just asked someone on the street). I can get the exact address if you need it. It came recommended by two Xi'anites that I know and was well worth it (we had dinner for 8 people for 120RMB! Makes Beijing looks like rip=off central! ) Anyhow, your card says Nan3lai2shun4 and it means that it is a restaurant specialising in dishes from the South of China. You can go to Donglaishun places and they will have stuff like Shandong food. Beilaishun restaurants will have mongolian hotpot and things like that. It's in the Xuanwu district (to the West of the Forbidden city). and it's number 12 on Nanlaiyuan street. The menu is: 1. Zhenzhu fish (pearl fish) 2. Mineral Water 3. Vegetarian 'shao' (roasted) four treasures 4. Dry-fried beans 5. "Oil-abundant" gailan (sorry - bad translation......but I tried!) 6. Hot and sour soup 7. a half-portion of roasted lamb/mutton leg 8. Jasmine tea It's a bit strange that it's a Nanlaishun and kosher - there's much more Muslim food from the west and North. If you do like Kosher food - go to Kaorouji (touristy I know but fun). book a table on the second floor overlooking the lake. eat the stir-fired lamb/mutton with the sesame shao bing. Yum! Do not be talked into ordering camel. Not yum! Then walk it all off with a stroll southward by the bars of Houhai - and, if you're like me, stop off at one, drink several beers, smoke an apple or strawberry hookah while overlooking the lake and then end the evening by walking down to Lotus lane main entrance and getting a massage from the illegal operators (be careful to get the areas that you want to pay for cause they'll start on your legs, arms, etc.. without saying the additional price!), and watch the ballroom/country/line-dancing for a bit. My idea of bliss! Have a great time

I've run into this situation on a few German rieslings before, particularly older ones. The cork on some bottles (from the 80s mainly) really reeked of TCA (and I don't normally ever smell the cork specifically so they must have been pretty pongey) when opened...leading to that 'uh-oh' sinking feeling in the pit of one's stomach. However, on tasting, they didn't have any cork taint (and I am pretty TCA sensitive) or scalping. I haven't noticed this so much on any reds that I can remember... I agree that it seems very peculiar.....

I asked my mum today about this and she did confirm that it is sorghum that you need as one of the grains (she listed them off, but I can't remember all of them...millet was definitely in there as well). Mind you, she might be referring to only the very Northern Chinese varient of it.... She says that the good sorghum should have a reddish tinge and that you can also use the boiled grains in a cold salad -kind of like couscous -(which was a dish apparently very popular in Manchuria in her childhood). I hope you can find it - my mum said that it's not easy to find in Canada (at least in Vancouver) and suggested that barley may be a possible substitute... perhaps. Hope this helps and here's wishing you luck with the recipe!

Hi! I'm sure someone knows more than me, but I would think that kaoliang is 高梁 (gao1liang) i.e. sorghum, rather than a type of rice. I'm afraid that I've only had it really in fermented form, so haven't ever bought it before. But I hope that helps in some way.... !

We went to Made in China as well on this trip - and I must say that I think I must have ordered wrongly as I thought that everything that arrived was vastly overpriced. My 4 year old niece was in a jiaozi mood and the price of the jiaozi nearly made me faint!!! I'm afraid that nothing in the lunch really stood out for me (though that may have been because we went for the Fragrent crispy duck rather than the roast duck....and we were rather heavy on the noodle and jiaozi front due to the familial requests..) and the bill still came to 1,500RMB! To be honest, the day before we'd had dinner in the food court in Oriental Plaza and I remember the food from that evening as being more memorable than the Made in China food!! We had some lovely biangbiang mian...and some darned good jianjiao/guotie/potstickers and 'meat on a stick' and it only cost us 200RMB for eight of us...... To be fair, though, the roast duck at Made In China did look very good and I'm sure that if I had picked dishes better, I wouldn't have felt so dissatisfied. I did think that some of the prices were just taking the piss though (like the shao bing!!! argh!)!

Six of my family went back to the CourtYard a week ago for a very enjoyable evening out (and a break from all the Chinese food we'd been eating!). The food was quite good, though I thought that the chef must have changed because some of the dishes that I had ordered before weren't executed quite as well -for example the steak tartare with red curry sauce was much better the last time I had been there (admittedly about a year before). Some dishes, like the duck breast with baba ganoush and red pepper sauce, were more successful than others like the vegetarian option my father had in which the salty duck egg croquettes were decidely lacking in 'salty-egginess'. Two people ordered the pork chop stuffed with 'Sichuan sausage stuffing' which got everyone's thumbs-up. And the desserts were as good as ever (but why oh why do they put bananas under the jasmine-tea chocolate genache tart?!?! It was much better without them...) and the service was excellent. We enjoyed wines from Grace Vineyard in Shanxi (the reserve Chardonnay, which had seen a nice bit of oak and had good acidity and the Tasya's Reserve Merlot, which was rather good value with very silky tannins and good fruit). I think that they should try and offer more Chinese wines on the list, but having said that, the wine list is very good for selection and range. As for the price, yes it is expensive (though still cheap by London standards!) but as we watched the swallows dipping in flight by the eastern moat of the Forbidden city and the setting sunlight making the tiled roofs glow and as we enjoyed the peaceful calm surroundings and good service (both such rarities in China!), my father said, "By God, it's really worth it, isn't it?"

You could try iMandarin (please note - I've no personal recommendation for this -it's just that in today's Shanghai Daily, they're advertising their cooking class: Cooking Class If I see anything else I will try and post it!