Lily's

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

On first impressions, Lily's may seem somewhat stark – white tiled floor, pale walls and giant windows – but a warm welcome awaits guests at this busy Merchant City café/diner. The menu covers a selection of sandwiches, toasties and burgers, but what really sets Lily's apart is a range of freshly-cooked Chinese cuisine. A bowl of vegetable (though not vegetarian) noodle soup is packed with wiggly egg noodles, cucumber batons, squares of pepper and the occasional pellet of chicken, topped with a mound of crunchy bean sprouts and finished off with an enthusiastic grinding of black pepper. Chinese pancakes are wrapped around aromatic sweet chilli chicken or juicy mandarin duck, packed with shredded vegetables and served with mounds of salad. Diners with more time can opt for steamed-to-order dim sum delicacies, such as snowy-white steamed dumpling buns. Their spongy, slightly sweet dough breaks open to reveal nuggets of sticky, smoky char sui pork. A combination platter features beef, prawn and two types of pork dumplings with pleasingly gelatinous wraps and deep, savoury fillings. Choosing is made more difficult on Thursdays and Fridays when the menu expands to include rice dishes such as Chinese chicken curry.

• High point: Delicious steamed dumplings
• Low point: Waiting 20 minutes while they're prepared