Shang Palace is a Chinese delight

Dear eaters, it's the summer of China. Inspired by Jackie Chan, Kung-Fu-ing Pandas, a host of Imperial mummies and a little sporting event taking place sometime soon, I picked up my chopsticks and set off, yet again, in my unending quest for quality Chinese food in Dubai.

I was pretty surprised on my arrival in the UAE when an Indian friend told me the best place to get Chinese food was at an "Indian Chinese" place. I'm not a fan of fusion, but sometimes two nations get together and create something magical (Cuban Chinese food springs to mind, as does chicken tikka masala).

The "Manchurian" dishes that fall under the Indian-Chinese category don't really do it for me though, doused in syrupy stickiness as they tend to be.

You just end up with Chinese food syndrome -feeling like an overstuffed spring roll -deciding to gorge on quantity because of a lack of quality. (This, incidentally, is the case for lots of restaurants in the UAE, Chinese or not).

What I'm after is some of that flavourful simplicity you find in that one favourite restaurant we all have in some Chinatown somewhere -shiny, emerald greens, stir fried but keeping a hint of crunch and bitterness, fat, sloppy noodles in delicate soup with a couple of wontons on top -or even better, with some crisp barbequed duck, the grease melting into the soup.

I'm not saying you can't find wonderful Chinese food in this town, but it comes at a price, as I discovered at the Shangri-La's refined Shang Palace last week.

Fresh ingredients

Shang Palace is celebrating the advent of the Olympics with a special Imperial-inspired menu until the end of the month.

Note the "inspired": That's not just a cop-out, apparently. Imperial cuisine, the food of the Qing dynasty, was, at its heyday, for aristocrats only, and even today, the dishes are practically under trademark. So the Shang's meals are interpretations of the style.

What does this mean for us diners? It's fresh, handmade noodles, tangy marinated salads, sweet, stir-fried chicken, fish and lamb.

These dishes are marked by the chef's light hand with soy and sugar, leaving the freshness of the ingredients to speak for themselves. The fresh noodles have a lovely chewiness, and are bathed in spicy beef soup.

That richness contrasted superbly with our other choice of starter, the palate-cleaning marinated cucumber and pear in a sweet and sour sauce, which we happily crunched our way through.

It's topped with shreds of haw cake. If you're wondering what that is, don't, as I did, be disappointed when an actual cake fails to materialise. It's the pressed pulp of the hawthorn berry, quite similar to the sheets of apricot puree we have in the Middle East (or fruit roll-ups). It adds a chewy sweetness to the dish.

Jellyfish joy

I made only one deviation from the Imperial menu -to grab a jellyfish starter from the regular list. For my two dining partners and me it was a first-time experience, and one two of us will gladly repeat. The glistening, quivering strips of translucent jellyfish were doused in a salty, garlic dressing, served cold.

The sauce was delicious, the jellyfish adding not so much flavour as texture. At first, it feels like calamari in the mouth. Then, a slightly prickly surface comes into play before you bite and get an almighty crunch. One of the most entertaining things I've eaten in ages.

If you're looking for a vegetarian dish with a hefty meatiness, the aubergine and mushroom cooked in oil is a winner, but it is the lone vegetable dish on the Imperial menu.

Stir-fried chicken in hoisin sauce was so flavourful, it was easy to forget it was such a light dish -and it was served, like Peking duck, with wheat pancakes.

These were something out of this world: thicker and doughier than expected, with a real homemade texture. I also used them to mop up my wok-fried lamb with leek, savouring the vegetable's fragrant sweetness.

The one dish that failed to impress was the minced chicken with squid in sweet and spicy sauce. I expect a richer, deeper flavour from the surf and turf, but however much I try, I just can't face sweet and sour. Fans of that dish, however, will probably love the rolls of squid stuffed with chicken.

We ended our meal with a selection of desserts, not usually China's best player on the dining field. The deep-fried sesame balls are a favourite of mine however, and here they performed well, the not-too-sweet stodginess proving a good partner to a pot of jasmine tea.

One word about the tea: at Dh20, it's totally overpriced, and while the waitress will try to convince you to have a pot each, one can easily serve three. Ask for one pot with extra cups.

Checklist
Where: Shang Palace, Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai.
How to get there: On Shaikh Zayed Road near Defence Roundabout. Reservations essential. Call 04-4052703.
Hours: Lunch: 1pm to 3pm, Dinner: 7.30pm to midnight
Price: Brunch starts at Dh160.
Must Have: Handmade noodles; eggplant with mushroom;
wok-fried chicken in hoisin sauce.

The verdict: 4 stars