What: Busy hangout for the working world of Nanjing Lu – with an appeal both as a buzzing lunchtime spot and as a more sophisticated evening option.

Look: The dark wooden walls work well to bring this highceilinged room some style, with banquettes lining the side and linen-clad tables filling up the middle. The lighter wood effect on the tables on the side doesn’t quite carry the same class, but overall the dining room successfully occupies that difficult ground between upscale and cheap.

Food: The manager here was one of the original team who set up Ye Shanghai, and there are some similarities in the food. Expect a mixture of Shanghainese and Cantonese, including dumplings, dim sum, drunken chicken, roasted lamb served with pancakes and curried sauce, baked silver cod with honey and scallions, and a great dish of minced chicken with pinenuts for stuffing into sesame pastry pockets. Good value lunch sets between ¥50-70.

People: Casual business lunches, ladies meeting up to gossip, co-workers needing to whinge. The evening ushers in more couples.

Bill: Betwen ¥50 at lunch going up to ¥150-200 for dinner per person, without wine.

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