Maxi's, Ings Lane, Nether Poppleton, York

This may seem an odd thing to say. But the next time you go to Maxi's Chinese restaurant at Nether Poppleton, try asking for the Chinese menu.

Maxi's has two menus. One is the perfectly acceptable one, written in English, normally presented to diners on arrival. It contains the full range of dishes you'd expect to find at a top-class Chinese restaurant - and more. How many local Chinese restaurants do you know, for example, that offer shark's-fin and crab-meat soup, or a whole range of bird's nest dishes?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this menu - and if you choose from it, you will be able to enjoy an excellent meal.

The other menu is written in Chinese - and it is aimed at Chinese people with un-reconstructed Chinese taste-buds. Try this menu and you will enjoy the true, authentic taste of Chinese food, rather than food made-over for an English palate.

It is unforgettable.

I only discovered this because my wife is Chinese. We went for a meal with two Chinese friends, and were offered a look at the Chinese menu. It was a revelation: the most authentic Chinese food we've found in York.

The good news is that you don't need to have a Chinese friend with you to enjoy this true taste of China. The menu may be written in seemingly-unintelligible characters: but there is, handwritten beneath each dish, an English translation.

Lili and I arrived at Maxi's for our latest exploration of this menu at 7.30pm on a Friday evening. The place was heaving: family parties with young children; couples; large groups having a great time.

It was, we learned, disco night - although since that didn't start until 9pm it didn't explain the sheer number of people there. The quality of the food at Maxi's presumably had a lot to do with that.

We were shown to a large corner table for two. The interior is huge, so even though it was packed, we didn't feel cramped or crowded.

After requesting the Chinese menu, we settled down to study it. The dim sum - a range of delicious individual dishes like a Chinese version of tapas - weren't served after 6pm, our waitress explained apologetically. But that still left us with plenty to get our teeth into.

For starters, we decided to share a steaming bowl of "salty egg and pork vegetable soup". This was £3.30 each, but is such a complex soup to prepare you have to order for at least two people.

The soup arrived in a steaming tureen, accompanied by a separate plate full of tender pork, salted duck egg, crispy pak choi, sliced carrot and Chinese mushroom. It was an outstanding dish, the thin soup rich and fragrant, the pork unbelievably tender and tasty. The salted eggs added a lovely, piquant flavour. A visit to Maxi's was worth it for this soup alone, we agreed.

There was much more to come, however. Our eyes bigger than our stomachs, we had ordered four dishes for our main course. These were: whole steamed sea bass (£14); yam and meat hotpot (£7.50); stir-fried minced pork with fine beans (£7.50); and - a real Chinese delicacy this - pork stomach stew (£7.50). We also ordered boiled rice for two.

It was gastronomic delight piled on gastronomic delight. The sea bass arrived bubbling in a fish-shaped dish over a clear blue flame and smothered with finely-sliced vegetables. It was beautifully cooked, the flesh tender and white, the sauce was slightly fruity.

The pork and beans were also good - fresh, hot and very tasty, with a hint of spiciness from the sliced red pepper. But what had me really sighing with ecstasy was the yam and meat hotpot. I've always been a sucker for yam - it's a lovely, bready, fibrous vegetable a little like a well-cooked potato. This dish consisted of thick slices of yam arranged alternately, sandwich-style, with slices of thick pork. Beneath the layers of pork and yam were fresh green pak choi, and the whole was served smothered in a rich bean sauce in a clay pot. Delicious.

The pork stomach stew - yes, it is a stew made from pig's intestines - had an authentic tang that I remember well from my days in China (you never forget your first taste of fresh pig's intestine). It was quite spicy, and served with a range of fresh and sour Chinese leaf vegetables. One for Lili's palate, more than mine.

We feasted; we gorged; but we could still only manage about half of what we had ordered. The rest our waitress was happy to pack up for us to take away with us. It made a second delicious meal the following day.

For all of this food - plus a pint of ice-cold Kronenberg and a coffee for me - we paid just under £55. Maxi's isn't the cheapest of Chinese restaurants, then. But the sheer range, quality and authenticity of the food makes it worth every penny.

Food: fantastic

Service: rough and ready

Value: good

Ambience: fun

Disabled access: yes

Maxi's, Ings Lane, Nether Poppleton, York. Tel 01904 783898.

Steve and Lili visited Maxi's on Friday June 10

Updated: 11:45 Saturday, June 18, 2005