THE best laid plans, as John Steinbeck wrote, belong to both mice and men and, while the sainted and freshly coiffed Mrs FM may have caused me to feel positively mouse-like, when she cancelled our dinner engagement, it was left to the men to dine out in her absence. Unfortunately, a last-minute call from the daughter to carry out baby-sitting duties caused Mrs FM to drop me and head south.

Still, my dear friend from the motor trade, Swiss Tony, dropped in most opportunely, which meant he could join me at the Phoenix Restaurant in the High Street in Lincoln. I have to admit my last visit to the premises, some three and a half years since, was met with a fair degree of indifference from Mrs FM and I also felt mildly short-changed at the same time. It would be interesting to see if it was just an "off night", or if standards had improved.

Guided to our table, we were served with a bottle of excellent Tsingtao beer apiece and made a fairly rapid choice from the menu. Our shared starter was delivered with remarkable speed. The gourmet hors d'oeuvres consisted of seaweed (flash-fried cabbage strips), sesame prawn toast, pancake rolls, crispy won ton and a dipping bowl of sweet and sour sauce. Each item was much as expected, packed with goodness, the essential light and delicate combined flavours of the vegetables, seafood and crispy pastry providing a tantalising start to our Oriental banquet.

Although intended as a separate seafood course, our six Scottish scallops arrived, three each, steamed fresh in their shells, in white wine, finely chopped garlic and spring onions. They were accompanied by a small dish of sesame and chilli oil, with tiny slices of spring onion as a dipping bowl. While they were not the largest shellfish of this type I had eaten, they were impeccably well prepared and could not have been fresher. They even tasted of the sea and were utterly delicious. I do not know of any other restaurant in the Lincoln area that serves scallops in a similarly excellent way.

Moving on to the main courses, naturally, they were placed on hot-trays laid in the centre of the table and, as usual with Chinese food, both Swiss and me were able to take what we desired from any of the dishes. Our choice consisted of Cantonese fillet steak, which was tender, sliced easily and was bathed in a piquant light sauce with sweet onion shreds. The sliced Gressingham duck breast had been prepared in typical Chinese style, slightly dried and in a sweet, dark plum sauce. It was delicious and almost melted in the mouth.

The lemon chicken breast, tempura-battered and settled in a beguilingly tart lemon sauce, with pineapple added for sweetness, had lovely white breast meat that was beautifully cooked within its lightly crisped batter and it was served tastefully. Accompanying our mains were a lovely sticky egg fried rice, which balled-up beautifully for eating with chopsticks, while the Singapore style vermicelli (fine glass noodles, served with finely chopped vegetables, tiny Chinese pork cubes and a modest amount of soy sauce) was perfect.

As is my want, I always request a pot of jasmine tea for Chinese dining, which serves as an excellent digestive aid that I would recommend to any customer. Overall, as both Swiss and me enjoyed our meals immensely, I would venture to suggest that my earlier visit perhaps caught out the kitchen, for some reason. I had no reasons to grouse on this occasion, although, to be frank, the scallops did add £16 to our total bill, which was fairly steep as a result. Yet, as a treat, while not falling into the "fine dining" category, I was most satisfied with the overall Phoenix experience. If there is but one problem, the lack of parking in accessible free areas at the bottom-end of Lincoln's High Street is a bit unfortunate and parking on the street presents other potential issues. If you can live with that, the Phoenix more than meets expectations.

WHERE: Phoenix Cantonese Restaurant, 18A-20 High Street, Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN5 8BD

TELEPHONE: 01522 527682

THE DAMAGE: Gourmet mixed hors d'oeuvres – £10.90; 6x steamed scallops – £16.00; Cantonese-style fillet steak – £12.00; roast duck in plum sauce – £8.00; chicken breast in lemon sauce – £7.50; vermicelli Singapore noodles – £8.60; egg fried rice – £3.00; pot of jasmine tea – £5.00; bottle (x4) of Tsingtao lager – £3.50 ea.

TOTAL: £85

FINAL VERDICT: Good quality Oriental food, served speedily and charmingly in a pleasant, if busy, environment.