CHINA CITY in Colindale is undoubtedly one of the best Chinese restaurants in the Borough of Barnet.

Not only does the restaurant promise the finest authentic Chinese cuisine, but it also delivers delicious, mouthwatering dishes to whet every diner's appetite.

The restaurant, on the first floor of Oriental City, is located next to busy Edgware Road, but don't let this put you off. The plush interior, with efficient double glazing, pulls you into a different world, and the tables are arranged in such a way that you can whisper sweet nothings to your partner or enjoy a large family or work get-together with some privacy, which is rare on the London restaurant scene.

The menu offers a huge selection of delights, from dim sum a favourite among the restaurant's discerning oriental clientele to a wide variety of fresh seafood and char siu pork, which is roasted daily.

If you find it difficult to choose from the extensive dishes on offer, you can always ask the friendly waiting staff which dishes they would recommend. The less adventurous can pick one of the set menus.

My partner and I chose tender steamed fresh scallops, crispy vegetarian spring rolls, mouthwatering paper-wrapped prawns, and succulent aromatic duck with pancakes for the hors d'oeuvres. We could have chosen so many more delicious offerings, including soft shell crab in kein do lemon sauce and yok sung meat wrapped in lettuce, but found, when we had finished this, that the next course would be difficult to contend with.

We enjoyed some refreshing Chinese tea before our main course arrived. This was a combination of crispy sweet and sour chicken, the tenderest fillet steak with Cantonese style and fluffy egg fried rice. The dishes came in double portions, at least compared to many other Chinese restaurants, and re-tantalised our tastebuds.

Other exciting dishes on offer included abalone with seasonal vegetables, kung po fried chicken in tangy spicy sauce, stewed beef flank, crisp belly pork, crab and glass noodle in hotpot and hot and sour Peking vegetables.

By this time we were so full that, for dessert, we chose a light but refreshing mixed fresh fruits platter made up of lychees, kiwi and orange, by-passing other taste sensations, including toffee banana and almond bean curd.

China City really is an amazing find and, once you've experienced its cuisine, you will realise what has been missing from many other Chinese restaurants and I guarantee you'll return for more. SM

China City, Edgware Road, Colindale

Telephone: 020 8201 3838

Reproduced from Limited Edition magazine, an exclusive guide to living in Hertfordshire, Middlesex and the London Borough of Barnet (01923 216295)

December 19, 2001 14:30