Mouth wide open

I believe that if your children like the food, it has to be good. "Yes," agrees Regi Mathew, chief chef of Wangs Kitchen.

"I always ask the kids whether they like the food because kids always tell the truth. If they are satisfied, I am satisfied".

In our case, it wasn't just the kids who were happy with the food.

On a lazy weeknight, our family of five - two adults and three boisterous kids - made our way to the newly opened restaurant in Deira.

As we burst in (yes, burst in, what else do you expect from three hungry children?), a smiling hostess led us upstairs to a nice cosy corner table.

What surprised us was that at 8.45pm the restaurant was completely empty. As we were seated at our table, Augustin, our server for the evening, handed us our menus. (One for each. Even for our not-yet nine-year-old.)

The orders came in quick. One wanted fish dumpling soup while the other went for the manchow. We adults skipped the soup page and moved to the starters. Augustin suggested chicken sizzler. OK.

The children wanted chicken dim sum. OK, again. As we waited for the starters and soup to arrive, we went back to the menu. Reasonably priced and a good choice, we noted. Generous portions too, we found out later.

Prawns, said one. So, Singapore chilli prawns it was. We also asked for Liu Suey chicken and baby corn, spinach, broccoli in Hong Kong style. These are all cooked in mild sauces. Hotter versions are available too, if you insist.

We finished asking for fried rice and American chopsuey, just as the soups and starters were served.

Delicious

Manchow soup, a thick vegetable broth topped with crisp noodles, was declared delicious with the first sip and nods came for the fish dumpling soup too. Of course, everyone had to try the soups, even if they were meant for the children only.

The chicken sizzler and chicken dim sum came and went quickly too. So fast that we ordered a second helping of the dim sum. Vegetarian this time; unfortunately, this didn't quite make it.

Then the main courses begain. Liu Suey chicken had slices of chicken stir fried with garlic, chilli paste, tomato puree and flavoured with Chinese herbs. Good. The dominating flavour here was star anise (as Mathew explained).

The American chopsuey was sweet and tangy. I had thought the lamb in the chopsuey wouldn't work, but surprisingly it turned out to be very tasty.

The veggies were shared by my companion and me as the children were more interested in the chicken, fried rice and chopsuey. Good again.

Modern style

The food here is more Indian-Chinese than pure. That means more spices and richer sauces that exactly suited our Indian palate.

For the first time after we started eating, I looked around me. Apparently we had arrived early, for by this time, the restaurant was quite full. The sound of people talking and eating drowned our own din.

The restaurant itself is furnished in a modern style. Unlike other Chinese restaurants around town, you don't have paper lanterns nor that all pervasive red-orange glow.

We had spacious tables with sofas or comfortable high-backed chairs and good lighting instead.

Hunger appeased, the young ones were quite sleepy and ready to leave. But Augustin insisted we try the fried ice-cream. So we shared a small platter, rounding off a delicious meal on a sweet note.