THE 88 Restaurant in Mill Hill has got to be the Borough of Barnet's answer to eating out at one of the best places central London's Chinatown has to offer.

Named after the number in Mill Hill Broadway where it can be found, this restaurant housed in what was formerly a charity shop is superbly decorated, with a tasteful pine and rustic-coloured plush interior and superbly arranged spotlit tables, which complements the food perfectly.

Although there is a large selection of mouthwatering delights, from beef and mushroom in oyster sauce to Szechuan spicy aubergine, at 88 Restaurant, the chef's culinary expertise is so diverse you are also free to ask for any dish you like even if it does not appear on the menu.

If, however, you like everything on the menu but can't decide what to order, you can choose anything from the special menu and order second helpings, if you are still hungry, for a single price.

My partner and I chose crunchy vegetable spring rolls, seaweed and fried phoenix prawns, tender deep fried scallop, succulent salt and pepper squid, and aromatic duck with pancakes for the hors d'oeuvres. But we were spoiled for choice and could have had so much more, including grilled vegetable dumpling and satay lamb.

When our main course arrived, we were delighted with the lemon chicken, a combination of a sweet and sour taste sensation conjured up as one of the chef's secret recipes; mouthwatering wafer-thin, stir-fried prawn cake, with Chinese seasonal vegetables, and tender Thai-style stir-fried squid, with mange tout in tom yam sauce, with fluffy steamed rice. Some of these dishes were not on the menu yet this did not trouble the staff.

Other exciting dishes on offer included roast pork char siu, chicken with ginger and pineapple, deep fried shredded beef in chilli sauce, tender fillet steak in black bean sauce, and crispy bean curd in oyster sauce.

By this time we were extremely full, but could not resist the special deep fried Chinese bun, another dish not included on the menu, which tasted absolutely fantastic, although we had come to expect nothing less by this stage.

Whatever your tastes, 88 Restaurant is a definite must on your dining-out list. - SM

88 Restaurant, Mill Hill Broadway, Mill Hill

Telephone: 020 8959 8118

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

December 19, 2001 14:30