You won't find many riches at Gold Mine

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A couple of years ago there were upheavals at The Four Seasons in Queensway and one result has been the barbecue chef Zhi Man Wong recently opening Gold Mine not far away. Lacquered ducks and roasted meats hanging in the window like succulent washing advertise his expertise.

Ignoring first courses such as spare ribs, crispy seaweed, sesame prawns toasts, spring rolls and the like, we decided to start with half a Cantonese roast duck at £7.50 and a portion of barbecued pork (char siu) at £6. To introduce a little greenery, we also asked for a dish of pea shoots sautéed in garlic. I don't know the price for that as the bill was presented in that singularly Chinese fashion as a piece of paper saying food and drink and a seemingly arbitrary single sum of money that is the total.

The duck was heavenly. The cooking process provides a skin with a faint liquorice tang, a thin layer of tasty fat and meat that is juicy, tender and fragrant. A half duck was enough for the four of us but we could easily have eaten more. Char siu pork was not so impressive. The pea shoots were fine although they had a sheen of what seemed like not the freshest of cooking oil, a detail that was to become even more apparent in our main courses.

A stained and splattered menu looked as if it had done service in another restaurant and so, we came to think, did the oil. Chef 's Specials of stir-fried sliced eel Kung-Po style (cashew nuts are involved) and braised aubergine with battered fish fillet in hot pot were both marred by the stale cooking medium, a great pity since they were otherwise interesting and well assembled.

We chose crispy rather than soft for noodles with mixed seafood since some of the noodles always sog in the sauce and you get both textures for the price of one.

Service seemed hell-bent on turning tables and slices of fresh orange were plonked down to signal that the meal was ending. A deconstructed duck à l'orange Chinese-style would be the way to find riches at Gold Mine (the two stars are for the duck). Even better, as my friend Bill pointed out, you could take the duck away to eat at home and supply your own fruit.

Gold Mine
Queensway, London, W2 3RR