I recall going to the launch of The Rickshaw, all those years ago. I fell in love with it instantly. To start off with I have always loved the rickshaw at the entrance. It puts you in the right mood. Once you are down the stairs you almost forget you are in Malta. It is an oasis of calm and thankfully there is no music, Cantonese or otherwise. The ambience in the restaurant has always been more than just pleasant. It is a sophisticated restaurant with the oriental waitresses in cheongsam, the body-hugging Chinese dress which cannot be worn by fatties like me - or some of you for that matter. (I know you are not all thin which makes me feel so much better.)  These waitresses too, add to the exotic atmosphere. The Rickshaw may not be full-on chi-chi colonial glamour but it is certainly not paddy fields and straw hats either. Neither Hollywood nor Beijing it is more than just middle-of-the road. It most certainly is fine dining and a restaurant for foodies. It has had a number of culinary awards as well.

The food has always been more than gratifying. It is distinguished and those of you who are fans of oriental food and therefore also oriental restaurants will know exactly what I mean. Having lived in Mauritius where at least three percent of the population is Chinese I have eaten a great amount of Chinese food both in restaurants and private homes. The latter were feasts not easily forgotten.  The worst I have eaten, in restaurants was stir-fried chicken swamped by a heavy glutinous sauce,  clumpy noodles and soggy deep-fried prawn dumplings. If your perception of oriental food is cheap and junky then a visit to the Rickshaw is a must.

We must remember that China has one of the world's most ancient, most diverse and most sophisticated cuisines. Chinese philosophers and poets have mused for centuries on the pleasures of eating, and Chinese cooks have developed a culinary tradition that not only prizes colour, fragrance and flavour but that also does things with texture that European cooks cannot even imagine. And Chinese cooking isn't just about stir-frying, but involves a vast range of cooking methods, many of which simply cannot be expressed in English. If you have been to disappointing Chinese restaurants here or elsewhere it is because something has been lost in translation. If you suffer from an unwillingness to shed your narrow stereotype of Chinese food due to several bad experiences of take-away and mediocre restaurants a visit to the Rickshaw will soon change your mind.

The press was invited to the launch of the new Rickshaw menu at the Corinthia Palace in Attard a couple of weeks ago. The new menu was developed in collaboration with London-based Asian restauranteur Andy Kwok. Although I have been commenting on Chinese food however, the restaurant provides Far-Eastern food  not only from China but also the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and Korea. This new menu has developed a uniquely-authentic menu of Oriental street food, the executive chef, Stefan Hogan told us. He gave us an explanation of each dish as it was served. There were new tastes and new textures and the experience was one of fine-dining and fine-dining in a most pleasant ambience for this is a serene restaurant with no frenzied waiters charging around bearing tottering towers of bamboo  steamers.

There was too much food for me to describe each dish in detail. We ate very well indeed now a beautifully poached oyster here, then plucking morsels from a ravishing array of delicate brochettes or crispy balls and a rainbow of vegetables, the peppers delectably al dente and everything cooked comme il faut. A gastronomical adventure indeed and far from the day-glo sweet and sours which are too often on Chinese menus.

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I am taking this opportunity to write about a recent experience I had in a good restaurant. Do ask, if you are booking a table at a restaurant, whether there are going to be any birthday parties that evening. At the last restaurant I went to with friends and where I had already had a couple of good meals, there were five  - yes five - birthday parties. Five cakes with sparklers and a great deal of noisy 'Happy Birthdays' have put me off ever going there again unless they can assure me there will be no birthday celebrations. Restaurants which do not have a private room should not allow these birthday celebrations in their restaurant. Patrons go there for a little peace away from this noisy island and to chat and catch up as well as to eat. With all this noise going on we could hardly have the quiet chat we had planned for weeks before, since everyone is so busy it is difficult to arrange a rendezvous with friends. Yes, from now onwards I encourage everyone to check up on birthday celebrations. One birthday is tolerable but certainly no more. It is worse than eating with loud music thumping away constantly. And yes, it happens in some places.

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