HAOZHAN ££

8 Gerrard Street W1 (020-7434 3838), open Mon-Sun noon-11.30pm

This smart Chinatown newcomer, neatly decorated with black-topped tables, mirrored walls and bold blocks of colour, is a welcome addition to Gerrard Street.

The short menu offers a focused list of dishes with an emphasis on the luxurious (champagne cod) and the unusual (Marmite prawns), plus a noticeable Chinese-Malay element. Presentation is a cut above average: Singapore noodles arrive in a bamboo dish, while steamed sea bass with pickled vegetables is a dainty arrangement of filleted fish carefully laid over sliced asparagus spears. The polite, friendly service adds to a pleasant, calm and civilised dining experience that contrasts with the bustle of most Chinatown restaurants, and makes this a good place for lunchtime meetings.

Multimedia

• Chinese New Year food slideshow

BACKGROUND

• Ching-He Huang: the new Chinese takeaway

• Mmmm . . . smell that soy sauce, ginger and coconut

• China in Britain

BACKGROUND

• Hot-and-Sour Scallop Soup

• Five-Spice Roast Pork with Bok Choy

• Salt-and-Pepper Squid with Sweet Chilli Sauce

• Five Spice and Lemon-Infused Goose

• Steamed tofu with prawns and mangetout

Related Internet Links

• Real Food Directory

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Read Giles Coren's review of Haozhan

CHINA GARDEN ££

88-91 Preston Street, Brighton, East Sussex (01273 325124), open Mon-Sun noon-11.30pm

A veritable Brightonian institution, this vast seafront restaurant manages the impressive trick of pleasing two completely different palates. By day it is filled with Chinese families lunching at length on its excellent dim sum, with desserts to match, while by night businessmen and couples dine on well-made and expensive classics such as squid with garlic and chilli and chicken in black bean sauce.

BAR SHU ££

28 Frith Street, W1 (020-7287 6688), open Mon-Sun noon-11.30pm

Just a few steps from Chinatown but a million miles away in spirit, Bar Shu offers Londoners a rare, full-bodied, no-holds-barred taste of Szechuan cooking. The hot and spicy cuisine includes gung bao chicken (a homely dish of stir-fried chicken, peanuts and dried chillis), dry-braised sea bass or a ferociously fiery hotpot. The setting is appropriately dramatic, adorned with huge opera masks and intricately carved screens.

HAKKASAN £££

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