The Peking, Kingsmead Square, Bath

I heard our Sizzling Chicken long before the gloriously fragrant, intrinsically Cantonese ginger/spring onion/chicken combo wafted our way, heralding the imminent arrival of one of our main courses. And it led me to thinking…

Of our five basic human senses, hearing is probably the last on the list when it comes to how we connect with food, with sight, smell, touch (that’ll be texture, then?) and, of course, taste all ranking well above hearing. But when you order a sizzling anything in a Chinese restaurant, your food never sounded so good; by the time your searingly hot platter of promise arrives at your table in all its exciting, noisy glory, you’re more than ready for it.

Having said that, I’m pretty much always more than ready for any plate of food served up at The Peking, which is not only the city’s longest-established Chinese restaurant but, having flown the flag for Bath’s independent food businesses for over three decades, is one of Bath’s longest-established restaurants, period.

Established way back in 1985, the Peking was the first restaurant in Bath to bring eat-in, Brit-friendly incarnations of Cantonese, Szechuan and Peking cuisine to the city. Back then – or indeed, back when I first started frequenting The Peking (‘frequenting’ being the operative word here) when I first landed in Bath almost 25 years ago – you could hardly have described the restaurant as being anywhere close to the heart of the eating out action. But today, Kingsmead Square has almost entirely reinvented itself thanks to a lively team of local, independent hospitality entrepreneurs that have breathed new life into this historic pedestrian intersection – and, despite its vintage, The Peking maintains its status as the original stalwart of the KQ scene.

While this properly friendly, family-run restaurant has gracefully declined to concede to the kind of fads, fashions and fripperies that can all-too-often over-dominate the modern dining scene (you won’t find canteen-style dining, waiters who call us ‘guys’ or chalk board menus flaunting a ‘street food’ selection here,) its most certainly moved with the times. Offering uncluttered views of the square from big picture windows by day and exuding a subtle ambience of welcoming, understated glamour perfectly balanced on the bridge where contemporary expectations meet traditional diner requirements post-sunset, it’s a casually seductive environment, offering broad appeal to cosy couples, families, students-on-a-budget and celebratory parties alike (there’s a lovely little private dining area available too.)

On the all-important food front, well-priced dishes waltz around the kind of familiar Chinese food ‘tradition’ that’s borne out of catering to the British palate; oh of course you can have spring rolls followed by sweet and sour chicken here – and exemplary incarnations of a classic genre they are, too.

But look beyond those enduring popular options and you’ll notice all manner of fascinating flourishes: there’s garlic salt and chilli frogs’ legs on the hors d’oeuvres selection; fillet steak amongst the array of sizzlers; lobster, monkfish and sea bass in the (ample) seafood section… and whole Peking Duck available for those who have the organisational skills to order the house speciality 24-hours in advance, all of which make it clear that there’s a lot of thought, hard work and passion for really good, freshly-prepared food going on behind the scenes here.

When I visit The Peking, though, I know what I like and I like what I know. I don’t really even have to read the menu anymore, but I read it just because I love reading it, and then I order what I love, and I know it’ll be very, very good and I’ll fall in love with it all over again. So!

Bring on the Aromatic Lamb: a generous tumble of soft/crispy meat served with a steaming pile of papery pancakes and a deeply flavoursome pot of hoisin sauce. Pair that with chunky chunks of stir fried squid, crazy hot with garlic salt and chilli, and addictively frangible. Take a short break, then lemme at those fat, shiny, shiny prawns tumbled with shiny, shiny nuggets of green pepper, all bathed in deeply umami black bean sauce. And oh, listen up! Here comes that Sizzling Chicken with Ginger and Spring Onions, its attention-grabbing klaxon ringing out loud and clear and creating tastefully dramatic histrionics before eventually calming down to seduce all five senses (including, for us, touch – I’ve never been proficient in chopsticking, and He’s known for his finger-lickin’, slap-happy habits).

Are you craving Chinese food now? I hear ya! And I can’t sing the praises of The Peking loudly enough.