Luxury Chinese dining isn’t a phrase often heard, but that is exactly what The Duck and Rice on Soho’s Berwick Street has to offer. A perfect hybrid of restaurant and bar, you will love everything about this kitsch space.

First appearances are important, so we are delighted that the interior matches the elusive black arty windows of the outside. The bar is adorned with leather stools, copper beer tanks and lots of dark wood. And if you’re lucky enough, you can bag a space in one of the comfy sofas down one side of the room.

Upstairs, the quirky feel continues, but with a more formal dining arrangement with tables, chairs and benches.

Lethal and delicious

If we weren’t already in love with the decor and the atmosphere it creates, the menu definitely ups the ante. With four different menus, the choice is all yours. The Duck and Rice has a main menu, pub menu, pub lunch and weekend brunch, not forgetting the drinks. Whether you’re looking for a sit-down meal or a cosy pub dinner, you’ll find it here.

There is an impressive beer menu, with a huge selection of bottled and draught beer, as well as a choice of five delicious beer cocktails. Try the Harvest Rob Roy with Auchentoshan three wood, sweet vermouth, Drambui, Marashino and Harvestoun Schiehallion. It is delicious and lethal in equal parts. The gin cups are just as tempting. Our favourite was the gin mare with Mediterranean tonic, rosemary and cherries.

The drinks were a great indicator that the food menu was going to be just as thoughtfully created. And we were right. The main menu offers small chow, dim sum, chop suey, monthly specials, vegetables and of course, duck and rice. The only problem is not being able to order everything, because it all looks so good. We settled for crispy aromatic duck, jasmine tea smoked rib bao, black pepper mock chicken and spring rolls.

The portion sizes are perfect with a rice to share between two and we loved everything we had. The spring rolls were fresh and crispy and the duck was cooked to perfection. The staff were helpful, taking us through the menu and giving recommendations, even though it was a full restaurant.

One of our favourite things at The Duck and Rice is the ability to set the mood of your meal by connecting to the wifi and picking songs via the Duckbox — perfect for a date night or celebration.  There are 188 specially selected tracks to choose from, with genres such as Canton Pop, pogoing or Hong Kong Garden. There are also quiz nights every week, with themes such as drag queen cabaret — definitely not to be missed.

If you want to fall in love with Asian cuisine all over again, The Duck and Rice is the place for you. Just be sure to book, because there is rarely a spare seat in the house!