Jade Garden Chinese Restaurant, Didsbury

Yes it was very cold last night, but being made of hardy stuff (and bolstered by the consumption of a bottle or two of red wine) we donned our gloves and scarves and made our way in to Didsbury to celebrate the visit of a friend up on a cultural visit from the South.

If there are quite a few of you, then one of the best places to eat in Didsbury is Jade Garden, as they are very accommodating and will give you the best table in the house - the big round one with a gigantic Lazy Susan in the middle. You can amuse yourself with this for some time, by spinning it at such a speed that your friends will simply watch helplessly as the food sails past them (note -some people will not find this funny).

The menu is slightly bewildering, as it seems to offer every kind of meat/fish/vegetable/sauce combination under the sun, so the safest (and easiest) option is to go for one of the banquets. Banquet D at £25 a head is our favourite - crispy duck with pancakes, then a generous platter of ribs, wantons, samosas, fish cakes, and sticky chicken skewers. At this point, you will have already eaten sufficiently, so ask for a break before the mains come - all are delicious but the fillet steak in cantonese sauce is the best, so make sure the waiter puts this one near you.

Whilst the food last night was as good as ever, one tiny gripe. The duck came with 12 pancakes. There were five of us. We asked for 3 more pancakes, which came a little grudgingly, and then appeared on the bill charged at an extra 60p. This seemed a little miserly, particularly as we had already spent plenty on food and wine, so we were equally childish and reduced our tip by sixty pence. Ha - that'll teach them.

• Jade Garden is at 743 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury M20 6RN, tel. 0161 4456979.