WHEN I first passed the Hanliu Garden, I hesitated for a while, wondering whether to enter, because the restaurant seemed desolate, without any customers. However, the bright colours of the stylish corner I could see through the glass door made me step inside.

The inside was surprisingly spacious. It was originally two-storeyed, but the owner ?Ling Fei, a real estate investor ?had removed the intervening floor and re-designed the space with several levels for different zones: booths, a coffee area and a Korean barbecue zone. These areas were decorated in either bright greens or oranges, which induced a light-hearted mood.

However, the big French windows dotted with Korean-style wooden valances deny diners a good view of the crowded elevated highway outside and the surrounding jungle of highrises.

According to Sun Jiayou, manager of the restaurant, all the previous restaurants located in the same place had failed. They hoped their own approach based on authentic Korean food would change this situation.

Ling chose to open the Korean restaurant for selfish reasons ?he is himself a lover of Korean barbecue. Another reason: He considered Korean cuisine to be simpler than Chinese food and he had enough confidence to make a Korean restaurant succeed.

All the tableware, from the chopsticks to the scissors used to cut the grill items, had been imported from South Korea. Waiters here are not required to wear traditional Korean gowns, as they are in other Korean restaurants. Instead they wear jeans, giving the restaurant a younger and livelier atmosphere.

As usual at any other Korean restaurant in town, the meal started with eight small dishes of pickles. The kimchee and preserved spicy radish were crisp and tasty. Ling said they were given ?0 points?by a South Korean consul, while those in competitor venues in the city received only 80. Li plans to sell the home-made kimchee from the lobby.

“Since most courses in Korean cuisine are freshly made, pickles are served first during the waiting period,?he said.

The meat for the barbecue was said to be chosen from a farm in North China’s Hebei Province. I found the beef to be good, juicy and tender while the pork, half-fat-half-lean, was easily burned because it was too dry.

Ling has bought his own farm in Jinshan District to raise pigs and cattle for the restaurant.

I had tended to think of Korean barbecue as rather boring ?consisting of grilled meat dipped in bean paste and wrapped in lettuce with garlic and pepper. However, from Ling, I discovered other ways to enjoy the food. You can grill the meat together with a little kimchee, which makes the meat more aromatic, or roast the garlic to make it less pungent, or even grill the lettuce.

Thanks to its policy of attracting more young diners, the prices are kept comparatively low.

Hanliu Garden

123 Caoxi Beilu

Tel: 5489-0677

50 yuan (US$6) per person