Amber Regent

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• What are these?

• Average price 2 courses:
   £7.95 (set lunch)
   £22 (evening meal)
• House wine: £10.95 per bottle

• High point: Half-price main courses on Monday and Tuesday
• Low point: Long walk to the loos
• Food served: Mon-Thu noon-2.15pm, 5.30-11pm; Fri noon-2.15pm, 5.30-11.30pm; Sat noon-11.30pm. Closed Sun.
• Open since: 1988
• Also offers: Childrens high chairs

The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 is now in the shops.

This review is from the 2007 edition.

From the welcoming smile that greets you as you hand over your coat in the cloakroom, Amber Regent is as comfortable and relaxed as going round to a good friend's for the evening. Maybe it's the curtain swags framing the paintings on the walls and the buzz of conversation. Sure, there's theatre - the chicken satay arrives on a dish so hot the spicy peanut sauce still sizzles long after being poured - but it comes naturally from the food, not for effect. The restaurant has a good reputation, which the cooking appears to justify - julienne vegetables in the Mongolian mushroom crispy rice soup retain their crunch, while the meat of barbecued spare ribs in a sticky red honey sauce all but falls off the bone. Substantial slices of ginger interleave the scallops with spring onion. House specials feature quick-fried sliced lamb, either with black pepper and garlic, or with spring onion. And as well as venison satay, there's sliced venison with spring onion or mandarin sauce. The wide range of seafood dishes includes sole, salmon and seabass, while desserts include a Chinese pastry filled with sweet red bean paste. It's not cheap, but it's worth it.