Taiwanese New Year: Phoenix Palace - Marylebone, Tuesday 8th February, 2011

This post could be entitled 'Chinese New Year', but anyone who knows me well knows that I am predisposed to label it as I have. My Taiwanese connections are strong and there are fewer worse faux pas you can make than assuming anyone oriental is Chinese.

Inter-country rivalry is something that has always fascinated me. Being the rugby fan that I am, I have a once-yearly showing of primal, chest-beating, nationalist pride with the coming of the Six Nations. Wouldn't you know it, the Six Nations runs right about the time of Asian new year. In fact, the preceding Saturday had seen England kick off their campaign with a victory in Wales. Given that a Welshman was amongst our attendees here, I was in the mood to differentiate nationalities. As such, Taiwanese New Year it was.

As a party of nine, we decided to celebrate the occasion at a venue well-suited to the group's size. We settled on Phoenix Palace, a well-renowned Chinese place near Baker Street. It's absolutely the right place to take a big group: tables of all sizes all over the place. It's the kind of place that you might not want to go if there are two of you; the greater the numbers, the better your chance of getting noticed.

There were many predictable negotiations on what we were going to order. Some wanted seafood, some wanted dishes we could share, Mike wanted meat and lots of it. I was happy to let the other half flaunt her expertise on both organisation and knowledge of oriental food. We got the order in and were presented with a huge array of diverse Chinese dishes.

We had a traditional Beijing roast duck to start. Ask more or less any English advocate of Chinese food which dish they like best and the odds are it'll be this one. Of course, the standard answer will be something along the lines of "that crispy duck with pancakes" but this is what it's actually called. And, in the true style of "that crispy duck with pancakes", this stuff was moreish, sweet and satisfying. It's essentially comfort food, but it's great to be sharing this kind of stuff with friends on a winter's night.

Sharing was certainly the name of the game this evening. Some people have reservations about sharing food but I have no time for this. One of the wonderful things about eating with open-minded friends is that you can get your fingers grubby, trust their hygiene and relish in the special atmosphere of communally enjoying a great time. Anyway, if you're that worried about hygiene, you shouldn't be eating in mid-price restaurants.

The cavalcade of dishes that followed was breathtaking, mainly for the fact that we had ordered so bloody much. To start with, some sweet & sour pork wasn't the usual pot of glazed gristle and sugar you get in your average takeaway... But it wasn't a million miles from that because that's more or less what sweet & sour dishes are. On the side, some mini pak choi (Chinese cabbage, essentially) was served with garlic, along with that semi-stewed, semi-overcooked feel you always get with Chinese veg.

Some stir-fried beef with mango was a new one on me (left). When you think of stir-fried beef, you conjure an image of either shredded or hopelessly overcooked meat swamped in thick, salty sauce. This was vastly different: a light, almost unique take on modern Chinese food, and one I did not expect: I would never have paired beef with mango.

Next up was an assortment of perfectly fried chicken. Wings, legs and thick meat all cooked to within a crispy skin of excellence. And served with prawn crackers, as if to remind us where our heritage in Chinese food comes from. Another new dish for me was some ostrich (right). I'd never eaten it but the idea of ostrich served with port and shallots, flambéed for good measure was enticing. And not particularly Chinese either. Wherever they got their inspiration, it was worth it for the spectacle and the unlikely sensation of a gamy jolt to a meal you'd not normally expect to get one.

The centrepiece of the evening was a whole seabass (left). The other half described it as "stunning" and the rest of us agreed. Served in a typically Asian way - soya sauce, ginger, coriander, garlic, spring onion and white wine - and presented as only a big fish should be: on the bone, whole, we loved it. Impressively fresh, tender and delicately balanced flavours. A winner with a bowl of rice on the side.

(This might begin to sound greedy now, but remember there were nine of us...) We inhaled a round of battered oysters (not quite as good as The Harwood Arms a month or so earlier) which were fairly amazing. Mike's comment  that the best way to get him eating seafood - "covered in greasy batter" - was actually a comment full of praise, though my one-time contributor has a flair for disguising goodwill as criticism.

Two final meat dishes saw us off: the imaginative but not out-of-this-world lamb with honey and asparagus (this seriously veered away from the Chinese feel of the food for me) and a very well-executed rotisserie selection (the pork belly was the highlight) because we didn't feel as if we'd done ourselves justice with the nine dishes we'd eaten thus far (right).

Phoenix Palace was a pleasant meal which was well-thought out, impressively served and enjoyed by all who attended. It wasn't overly pricey, though I don't think any of us went home stuffed. In terms of a bright, fun night out it's got everything going for it: decorations and zany Asian-ness oozing out of the walls. Well-liked by locals and importantly by tourists, it will continue to stand as one of the better and more popular Chinese restaurants in London. Their menu has more interesting and informed dishes on it than most other Chinese places I can think of.

I would say it didn't have the touch of class we might reasonably have expected - their list of celebrity clientèle is long and illustrious - but it was a great evening out with friends. It's rare that you want any more from life than that.

Phoenix Palace