The Dinner Detective dines at: The Lotus Dim Sum bar

The Dinner Detective dines at: The Lotus Dim Sum bar

The Dinner Detective
14/ 7/2005

UNLIKE reviewers on some other newspapers the Dinner Detective always pays for the meal, which means the standard of food and service is the same as our readers can expect to receive.

SITTING in the shadow of St Ann's Church in the middle of Manchester on a summer's evening is the perfect way to enjoy food fit for an emperor.

The Lotus Dim Sum bar and restaurant, which has doors onto King Street and St Ann's Square, is a new restaurant from China Town's Yang Sing that provides a fresh and unusual eating experience.

Rather than the traditional three-course meal, diners choose from a range of Cantonese deep-fried, pan-fried and steamed delicacies. The concept was originally created for the Imperial Court of the Sung Dynasty nearly 1,000 years ago and was reserved for the emperor, his courtesans and the very rich.

It spread to Chinese provinces on the way to Canton when the emperor fled from the Mongols, and became inextricably linked to the Chinese custom of drinking tea "Yum Cha" when it was first served to traders using the tea houses along the Silk Road.

We book a table for two at 7pm on a Monday night but realise when we arrive that we needn't have bothered because it's early and there are plenty of empty tables.

We enter the restaurant through the King Street door, which is two floors of glass, and the interior décor is sleek and stylish with polished wood, white stools, a wooden floor, and east-meets-west decorations - quite lavish but efficient at the same time.

But it's still about 25C outside so we ask for a table in the square. There will also soon be a funky roof terrace opening at the restaurant.

The waitress explains the initially rather tricky ordering process. The menu is divided into four sections with boxes to tick next to each item. There are two dim sum sections, the deep fried/pan fried and the steamed; there's the semi-main course section; and there's also two types of sweet dim sum available.

The dim sum is £1 per portion, but you must order two portions per serving which seems a bit odd, but it all sounds delicious. I've always liked the little bits that accompany a meal more than the main course so this is the perfect opportunity to indulge my tastes without being considered greedy.

There's the likes of cuttlefish fish cake with lime leaves, pan-fried pork dumpling, fried Fun Kuo (prawn parcel), and beef dumpling with ginger and spring onion on the dim sum menu, which has 23 items to choose from.

There are also red and white wines available, ranging in price from £13.95 to £24.95 for bottles and also available by the glass.

But it's a summer's evening and we decide that Tiger Beer, which is brewed in Asia, might be a lighter accompaniment for our meal. It is lighter, but it's also reasonably expensive. Four smallish bottles cost £11.20 altogether.

Dim Sum means "to touch the heart" or "to order to one's heart's content", and we take that advice. We're ordering from the evening menu, which you wouldn't really find in Hong Kong or Canton. Over there dim sum is usually served as breakfast or afternoon tea.

We begin with pan-fried pork dumplings (£2), prawn dumplings (£2) chicken Sui Mai (£2), spring onion pancakes (£2). The dishes come one after another, so by the time we've demolished the tasty prawn dumplings the other dishes are on the table. Eating like this allows you to savour the taste more, and makes each item distinct and enjoyable in its own right. It's all very tasty.

For the semi-main courses we order crispy spare ribs with a hint of lemon (£5.90 per portion of four pieces), asparagus in Sizuan sauce (£6) and soft noodles (£4). The service up to this point has been fantastic, with the waitress even advising us that we won't need two plates of noodles because they're rather large. After the mains, which are again delicious (especially the ribs), the waitress forgets to bring the two sweet dim sum, but apologises and quickly brings us a complementary plate of fresh strawberries.

For dessert we have some sweet dim sum, bunny-shaped coconut marshmallow (£2) and coconut tart (£2), which are a bit too sweet for my taste but altogether the meal is one of the most enjoyable I've had for a long time. Definitely fit for an emperor.

What's on the menu?

Starters Choice of deep fried, pan fried and steamed dim sum - all £1 per piece (with a min of two pieces per order)
Semi mains: Most expensive - aromatic crispy duck (£8.80 per half duck), cheapest - chicken and sweetcorn soup £2.50 per bowl
Parking On street
No separate children's menu


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