Peking Inn

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 – in the shops now or buy online.

The mint-green colour scheme might feel a bit cold at first, but as the cheerful staff take your coat it very quickly it becomes apparent that the Peking Inn is both warm and welcoming. With views onto one of central Glasgow's busiest streets, the location means that the restaurant does a healthy trade at lunch. Later on, it fills up with regulars. Owner Peter Lau does the rounds the whole time, keeping his patrons well informed and well fed – starting with favourites such as piping hot, pleasantly oily paper-thin chicken rolls, or steamed pork dumplings that have a distinctive nuttiness thanks to the sesame within. The main course selection is considerable: lots of beef, chicken, king prawn, scallop and squid as well as a fair few vegetarian plates. Soya-based wor tae sauce is rich and salty (possibly too much so for some), and in a beef dish, it is soaked up by small chunks of meat in a chewy batter. This being Peking cuisine, duck is a speciality. The meat is prepared so that it's succulent and pink in the middle with just that correct little taste of fattiness. Taken with black bean sauce it contrasts nicely with lots of ruggedly sliced peppers and onions. It's a most agreeable place in which to dine.

• High point: Peking duck
• Low point: Pistachio hue of the walls