New China Palace, Berry St, Liverpool

What do you do when you're disillusioned with cheap Chinese buffets and want a nice relaxing lunch out without being rushed like some of these Early Bird places do? Go to Chinatown, that's what. After its rise and fall, it seems to be on the up again with lots of new places popping up and my new favourite place there is the New China Palace, the artist formerly known as the Far East, old school Scouse foodies. With a huge menu including dim sums, authentic Chinese dishes and Westernised ones, this one is suitable for both adventurous foodies and the boring chicken and sweetcorn soup brigade alike. To start, I went for the 'boring' option of veggie spring rolls which were incredibly tasty! The hardcore carnivores can have an offal-ly good time here (groan) with kidneys, liver and various appetisers containing tripe.

For the main, I went for Szechuan tofu with EFR. The portion was so big, a doggy bag was necessary. One main here can easily do two. The sauce tasted home made and not a blue dragon jobby like some places. Chillies, pickled veg and silky tofu made an amazing combination!

I was too full for dessert, but the dessert menu didn't seem to be too exciting. There didn't seem to be a dessert menu for that matter as most of the diners seemed to be ending their feast with just a pot of jasmine tea. I spied mango pudding, but in lieu of a coffee machine in the restaurant I settled for a coffee at Café Tabac for dessert instead.

Amazing restaurant, friendly staff and the open plan kitchen is a show in itself, definitely worth swerving the bland buffets for.

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The good- generous portion size and relaxed ambience
The bad- lack of coffee and dessert