THE King's Saloon Restaurant has such a huge logo boasting of its "the most authentic Hubei cuisine" that it can be seen from the nearby Jinmao Tower. Ever since an ancient self-declared king named Xiang Yu conquered the area covered by today's Hubei Province in Central China 2,000 years ago, this warrior monarch has been renowned for his bravery and treated as a source of pride by people from the area. That is the story behind the restaurant's bold name.

Fortunately, one of my best friends comes from Hubei so I brought him along as an authentic critic.

A showcase displaying copies of relics found in the province, including a chime and drum on a pedestal decorated with tigers and phoenixes, attempts to convey a striking image of the province's historical and cultural background.

Yet the food at the King's Saloon was less than overwhelming (maybe the ancient kings loved it), although it was prepared in an appealing family style.

My friend found there were not many genuine Hubei-style dishes on the menu, excepting some steamed dishes and dim sum. The other choices could be found in almost any other Chinese restaurant. We were a bit disappointed, but my friend ordered some dished he had eaten since his childhood.

A manager told us that some of the key ingredients had been transported from Hubei, but this was soon proved to be misleading.

First came the soup of pork ribs and lotus roots, a traditional course, featuring fresh and glutinous lotus roots and a slightly sweet flavour. The lotus roots were acceptable but the soup turned out to be quite crudely prepared, with an excess of MSG. Good lotus root soup is stewed for hours and has a light pink colour.

Two steamed courses were contained in small bamboo baskets - braised beef with sticky rice and pearl-like meat balls - were both rather unappealing in appearance, but they tasted unexpectedly good. My friend said they tasted just like the dishes from his hometown.

The next two dim sum dishes - dry noodles dressed with sesame sauce and Hubei "donut" - made him feel even more homesick, though some of the ingredients were sweet in the way Shanghainese tend to like. Both of these dishes were usually served for breakfast, especially the noodles. But we found the noodles had run out when we asked for another serving.

King's Saloon Restaurant

176 Huayuan Shiqiao Lu, Pudong (close to Jinmao Tower)

Tel: 6887-0379, 6887-0398