Imbi Palace

This cavernous restaurant has carved a real reputation among fans of Chinese fare.

There's something for everyone here. The fish maw with minced pork tasted homemade, in the best sense of the word. Health-conscious customers might be happy to hear that Imbi Palace's food seems to be laced with very little salt (even though everything remains sufficiently flavorsome).

Braised goose webs in abalone sauce. Suck it up and stop squirming; this was bony, of course, but succulent (in the slimiest fashion possible).

Stuffed dace fish, nicely presented. The stuffing was superb _ juicy and subtly flavorsome, like the finest kind of fish cake.

Steamed tiger prawns. Utterly unmemorable; the lowlight of an otherwise fab meal.

Frogs with fried ginger. Tender, chunky meat, lightly battered and seemingly greaseless, with a finger-lickin'-good addictiveness.

Lap mei fan. A hearty helping that hit the right notes (though one could quibble that the goose liver sausages _ while delicious _ weren't as amazingly aromatic as The Han Room's).

Deakin Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Australia). Richly rounded.

Imbi Palace,

Jalan Barat, Kuala Lumpur.