Yming Restaurant

The frantic bustle of Chinatown is close by this smart Soho Chinese, but Christine Yau's operation runs on helpful and friendly service that is a welcome change from the infamously curt treatment meted out to diners across the other side of Shaftesbury Avenue. The setting is neat and clean, and the Cantonese and regional Chinese cooking reliably good, with a biblical carte from which to make your selection. Big mouth-filling flavours are driven by fresh, top-quality ingredients, while modern health-oriented sensibilities are assuaged by the use of leaner cuts and light oils. Authentic regional dishes start out with Beijing-style spare ribs spiced with cumin, black pepper, fennel seeds, garlic and fiery chillies, then move on to Shanghai with a 'treasure hunt' of pork, chicken, prawns and air-dried sausage. Elsewhere there's anise-flavoured gansu duck, or Tibetan garlic lamb.