Sun Kee

Like the tides of the sea or rumours of a new Stone Roses album, dining fashions ebb and flow. There's a lot of gratitude due to the Chinese community here in Belfast - even at the height of the bad old days, the doors to their restaurants have been open all hours, offering somewhere to eat when the local options were particularly grim. There's always room for a good Chinese meal, but where once the Sun Kee was regularly packed out, it's sun is now setting.

Which is a shame - back in the day it found diners beating a path to the door, including former Secretary of State Peter Mandelson. What's more it was always a hit with the Chinese community, which is always the gold standard when it comes to judging ethnic cuisine. The place is looking a bit shabby, but there's nothing stale about the welcome when we arrive, with all the family working on the floor.

Three Tsingtao are ordered and arrive with almost indecent haste, but by then we've already spied a bottle of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc being punted for less than twenty quid. Being fans of high end, low price grog, it'd be a shame not to indulge, alongside some jasmine tea to help with the digestion. There's three of us, but the set meal for two looks the part - and it's no issue to under order.

We're immediately glad we did, as we're soon presented with a plate the size of a hubcap, covered with a sharing selection of starters that include prawn toast, salt chilli prawns, squid, spring rolls and ribs. The prawns get targeted first, plump and well seasoned, while the rib sauce proves a hit, sourly sweet and with a firmness just on the right side of chewy.

No sooner than that is dispatched that half a duck lands, complete with the necessary pancakes and dressings. Crispy and flavoursome, with thick and unctuous hoi sin, they set the scene for the main courses.

We're treated to a Monkfish and Char Siu Hotpot, Sweet and Sour Pork and a Special Fried Rice that would be a meal in it's own right - remember, that this is supposed to be a meal for two. The Sweet and Sour sings from the plate, bright, fruity and with no trace of MSG, while the Hotpot balances the sweetness of the Monkfish and salt of the pork in a heavy broth full of al dente veg.

It's not quantity over quality - each of these dishes would stand on it's own for someone less hungry. Sun Kee still has the elusive 'it', and is well worth rediscovering.