Margaret Thomas indulges her love of Chinese food at Risborough Peking in Church Street, Princes Risborough

MY love affair with Chinese food started nine years ago on a visit to Hong Kong, so when I heard a series of reviews of local Chinese restaurants was planned for May I jumped at the chance to try a selection of places I'd not been to before.

First to be sampled was Risboro' Peking, tucked away in an old beamed building on Princes Risborough Church Street.

The decor is a bit like a sheik's banqueting hall with a touch of China, come to olde worlde England.

Swathes of fabric are draped across the ceiling, more as you might expect in an Arabic venue than a Chinese restaurant, but the result is quite cosy.

We hadn't booked, but luckily they had a table.

If we'd arrived half an hour later we might not have been so fortunate, as by 8pm (on a Friday evening) pretty well every table was taken.

That seemed to bode well for the standard of food that was to come.

Although we both love to mix and match the great variety of dishes offered at Chinese restaurants, we decided to stick with the set menu as this would give a good base for comparing restaurants through the month.

We began with special mixed hors d'oeuvres which included the usual selection of tiny spring rolls, crispy wantons, crispy seaweed, sesame toasts and spare ribs.

Nothing exceptionally special, but all very tasty.

We moved on to share a quarter Peking Duck with pancakes and the usual trimmings.

It was well and truly up to standard, but I was disappointed that it came to the table ready shredded, this having been done out of sight.

This was followed by sizzling beef in black bean sauce, fried chicken with cashew nuts in yellow bean sauce, monks' vegetables and fried rice.

The combination was pleasing, though I felt the flavours of the two main sauces didn't offer enough of a contrast to each other.

The restaurant was clearly popular, the service was excellent and the standard of food was good.

I would go to again, but next time I'll be true to my adventurous spirit and devise my own menu. Menu Set menu for two (or more) people: £16 a head

Two bottles of Chinese beer: £4

Total: £36

n This is an independent review. Risborough Peking, Church Street, Princes Risborough. (01844) 342505 Restaurant rating Quality of food: Good

Quantity of food: Just right

Value for money: Fine

Staff: Efficient and pleasant

Complaints: Next time I'll ask them to shred the crispy duck at my table

Would you recommend it: Yes

Dynasty: More Joan Collins than Ming

Marks out of 10: Seven

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