Phoenix Chinese Restaurant, 79 Gillygate, York

IF, like me, you are a fan of Chinese cuisine, you really can't do much better than the Phoenix Restaurant in Gillygate.

We visited on a balmy Saturday evening after I'd been at work and my brother, Gav, and his girlfriend, Jen, had spent a tiring day house-hunting in our fair city.

I'm fortunate in that I live close to the city centre so - much to everyone's relief - it was but a short walk to the Phoenix at the junction of Gillygate and Lord Mayor's Walk.

It has to be said I had often walked past the purple and orange front of this oriental eatery before and been more interested in the odd choice of dazzling paintwork than in stopping to give the menu a second glance.

This time around it was hunger that drove me on past the menu outside and in to the equally brightly-decorated interior.

No sooner were we inside than we were shown to our table right in the window. We looked out at passers-by and hoped, like the heathens we are, that chopsticks weren't going to be the only cutlery provided.

I don't know if the hunger was etched on my face or it was my sibling's constant complaints about walking miles in search of the perfect pad, but the waiter was at our side in moments for our drinks order.

He deposited a huge bowl of prawn crackers to ease those grumbling stomachs and we settled down.

We opted for a bottle of house red at £12 from the drinks menu to toast the pending move - to the sound of Danny Boy on the pan pipes.

This might not be everyone's cup of tea, but strangely it seemed to complement the rather odd dcor which was a mix of traditional Chinese restaurant and the ever-present Ikea.

A brief moment away from the table and our starters had arrived and we very soon realised we were wise not to opt for the second bowl of prawn crackers when offered.

Ever the traditionalist, I had gone for chicken and sweetcorn soup (£2.20) while Gav had the shredded duck and Chinese mushroom variety (£2.20) and Jen the prawn balls (£4.80).

Our soups were delicious - brimful of fresh ingredients and meat, bobbing in a clear broth. Jen had six prawn balls which were piping hot and a meal in themselves; she requested a little help polishing them off.

Our hunger well and truly on the run, we took our time selecting a main course of king prawn curry (£8), crispy spicy beef (£6.50) and roast duck in plum sauce (£7.50). We also ordered a giant portion of fried noodles for us to share (£7).

The waiters were extremely attentive, despite the restaurant being reasonably busy, and our food arrived in no time.

We decided to dive in and try a bit of what everyone had ordered.

I adore seafood and was delighted to find the prawns cooked to perfection and the curry wasn't so hot as to leave my taste buds overwhelmed when it came to the other dishes. The duck was melt-in-the-mouth tender and the beef had a good mix of flavours. We were all delighted with our choices.

After ordering a jug of water to help aid the old digestion we felt brave enough to chance a dessert.

Both my brother and I have a sweet tooth and we felt the dessert menu let the restaurant down. It featured a bog-standard list of frozen desserts, of which Gav picked the chocolate bombe to share with Jen and I went for the chocolate cake, all of which came to £7.50.

In summary I would have no hesitation in recommending The Pheonix - food, service and the atmosphere - eclectic dcor notwithstanding - were all superb. Our bill came to £57.70.

Phoenix Chinese Restaurant, 79 Gillygate, York. Tel: 01904 628069

Haydn visited the on Saturday, August 20, 2005.

Updated: 11:14 Saturday, August 27, 2005