This new Chinese restaurant at the Royal Garden Hotel has a lot of things going for it – great views, glamorous decor and duck to die for.

The Venue
Located on the 10th floor of the ultra-swanky Royal Garden Hotel, Min Jiang is a long restaurant whose shape maximises its best feature: the view. With enormous windows that stretch from one end of the venue to the other, you can glance up whilst you’re eating and take in everything from ducks waddling around Hyde Park’s Round Pond to the London Eye and the Gherkin far in the distance. In daylight the park’s greenery is lovely, by night the skyline is sparkling.

If you’re not one to wax poetic about views of London, however, there’s plenty more for you to look at. The walls are dark red, lined with black and white photos in simple black frames, and enormous wooden shelves are stacked with blue and white porcelain vases and bowls. Panels of glass decorated with Chinese characters act as walls, separating the more private rooms from the rest of the venue. There’s also a small bar at the entrance, with low, beige leather seating, so you can enjoy the view even if you just want a drink or two.

The Atmosphere
Min Jiang is deliciously glamorous, from the crisp white tablecloths to the staff’s immaculate uniforms. Older, well dressed couples seem to be the typical clientele, but being a hotel restaurant you can also expect single diners and small groups of tourists excitedly pointing out landmarks. Staff are friendly and effortlessly patient – it no doubt gets a bit tiring explaining the dishes and rolling up pancakes dozens of times a night.

The Food
There’s a wide range of Chinese food here, from traditional dishes to ones that are a bit more modern. Prices are high but that’s not especially surprising given the location, with non-vegetarian mains ranging from £12 to £42 for lobster dishes. Set menus are also available (starting at about £20) for lunch and dinner (starting at £48 for an eight course meal). Whether you want to keep your bill small or splash out, there’s ample opportunity for both.

Min Jiang’s specialty is a wood-fired Bejing duck, available for £48 for a whole and £25 for a half serving. It’s served as two courses, although the first one is actually three separate dishes. The chef brings out the duck, and whilst cutting it a member of staff explains how he’s serving it and how the duck was traditionally eaten. The first part of the starter is small pieces of shredded skin from the neck of the duck, dipped in sugar, which was apparently the ladylike way of eating it as Beijing women didn’t like the strong taste of the duck meat. It’s best eaten whilst the meat is hot, so dive in, because if you wait politely until the staff finish speaking it’s only lukewarm. Even still, the skin is soft and tender, and the sugar, although it doesn’t quite melt on the duck, melts on your tongue and gives everything a candied coating.

Part two comes in the form of pancakes, with a traditional version (sweet plum sauce, shredded leeks and cucumber) and the restaurant’s own take (minced garlic, cabbage and turnip sticks). As before, the duck is cut and the dish prepared in front of you, although once the staff show you how to roll a pancake or two it’s best to take the ingredients off them and make them yourself. The pancakes’ common denominator is the perfectly cooked, moist duck – otherwise the traditional version is thick and sweet, with a hint of freshness from the cucumber and leeks, and the Min Jiang take on it is warm and spicy, with a bit of sweetness from the vinegary cabbage. It’s probably best to avoid this one on a date, though, because the garlic is lethal.

The last part of the duck dish comes out timed with the rest of the table’s main courses, and you can choose one of several ways to have it prepared, including a soup with vegetables and tofu or stir-fried with black pepper or ginger and spring onion. One of the popular choices is wrapped in slices of lettuce – and after eating about a dozen pancakes it’s easy to see why. The duck is minced, with red pepper and mushrooms, in a spicy, salty, moreish combination, and spoonfuls of the mixture are dropped on three small leaves of lettuce – refreshingly light after so many starters. But even though you’re full, you’ll find yourself sneaking a chopsticks’ pinch of what’s leftover once the lettuce wraps are gone.

Besides the duck, Min Jiang also specialises in dim sum, which has a whole separate menu. A good way to get a taste of it, however, is as a starter; the vegetarian dim sum selection has three pieces of small but perfectly formed dumplings, covered in translucent, sticky pastry and packed full of tiny chopped vegetables. From the main menu, the lobster with vermicelli in egg white (£22) is sweet and succulent, although there’s slightly too much egg white sauce, making the noodles slippery and gloopy. Desserts include indulgent, plump black sesame dumplings covered in crushed peanuts (£6), and a well made cinnamon cheesecake, creamy and luxurious with a hint of warm cinnamon. However, the accompanying green tea ice cream is a bit of a disappointment, as it contains too many slivers of ice crystals.

The Drink
The wine list is mostly French, although it has a few bottles from each of the other major new world countries, as well as a bottle of Chinese wine: a Noble Dragon, Changyu Pioneer 2005, available in both red or white for £25. The white is light and easy to drink, with a slight taste of honey. Bottles start at about £20 (well priced for the area) and head all the way up to the £750 mark for a 1985 Chateau Margaux, Appellation Margaux Controlee. Several glasses are available as well, from about £5.

Cocktails are also on offer, starting from £8.50, and many have a Chinese twist: the Oriental mojito is made with lime, watermelon and ginger ale on top of the usual sugar, mint and rum, and the usual Bloody Mary gets a spicy, Sichuan kick with some chilli.

The Last Word
Even if the food wasn’t up to scratch, the view would make up for it. Luckily, Min Jiang mixes style with taste for a nice blend of modern London elegance and traditional Chinese flavours.

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