Tai Pan - Manchester

It could just be that Tai Pan is setting a trend. As with supermarkets so with restaurants - an out of town site, a car to go back to, hassles minimised. The problem is do people really want to go and dine out in a building resembling a cross between a 747 hanger and a supermarket? Well, that's a problem for the designers; meanwhile the formula seems to be appealing enough to justify Tai Pan's investment. Chinese families are there in significant numbers and reports on the food are almost universally good. That stalwart favourite, dim sum comes out very well and what's more people tend to eat it at the right time i.e first thing in the morning. So perhaps we are looking into the future here, though for me the small, intimate Chinese restaurant in town remains the favourite.