A CHANCE conversation with a Poppleton resident alerted us to the lunchtime special at this Chinese restaurant, which is served from midday to 2pm, Monday to Friday.

Chinese food is, maybe, not to everyone's liking. For us it is an occasional treat. The Millfield roundabout on York's ring road has become the gateway to a number of potential snack spots. Maxis restaurant is perhaps better known for its extensive evening menu. But the lunchtime special turned out to be a winner.

When you enter, there is no doubt what kind of place this is. Chinese tiles on the ceiling, elaborate oriental relief murals and attentive staff. All the tables were pre-set with linen napkins, bowls, china spoons and chopsticks on a green cloth.

The menu is limited and described as three-course. That depends on how you count! Soup, main course plus rice, tea or coffee, and all for £6.50.

Ann chose crab meat and sweetcorn soup. For me it was the chicken and sweetcorn variety. Never have we been served soup at such a high temperature. There was also no doubt as to what we were eating. Each soup was strongly flavoured and delicious.

Choosing from the ten main courses was difficult. Sweet and sour mixed vegetables; chicken in sweet and sour sauce; beef with mushrooms; szechuan aubergines; szechuan beef; curried chicken and so on.

Had we got our act together we should have ordered two dishes that we both liked and shared them. As it was we went our own way.

Ann selected mixed vegetables with cashew nuts. "Absolutely delicious" was the verdict as she worked through bean shoots, mushrooms, carrots, mangetout, broccoli, choi and fennel. There were probably others that we could not identify. Ann struggled to clear the plate, but the bowl of boiled rice defeated her.

My pork with black bean sauce and fried rice was equally good. The helping was generous, with plenty of meat. What more can I say?

We ended our snack (better described as lunch) with a large pot of Chinese tea, overhearing snatches of conversation from a neighbouring table.

Constitutional monarchy and inter-planetary travel seemed topics far removed from the oriental atmosphere, but so was the background music which was definitely from the West.

And lest you ask, we did not use the chopsticks!

Updated: 09:53 Saturday, April 03, 2004