If like me, your Chinese New Year resolution is to take your chopstick technique to the next level, you’ll be in need of the ideal setting. Let me recommend Min Jiang, an old school restaurant guided by the principals of traditional Chinese cuisine. These guys are masters at combining sweet, salty, spicy, sour and bitter flavours.

Min Jiang: The Vibe

Chinese New Year is all about starting on a high note, and Min Jiang takes you right up there. Hidden away on the 10th floor of the Royal Gardens Hotel, its ideal vantage point makes this quite possibly my favourite view of London. You feel like you’re floating over Kensington Gardens, an oasis flanked on all sides by the panoramic skyline, all scaled to appear within arm’s reach. Inside, the landscape is formal. Warm mood lighting pours over crisp white tables, inviting you to sit down, sit back, and relax.

On entering, your coat is taken and you’re offered a seat in their chic lounge and a drink from the bar. An Espresso Martini or elegant Vesper would suit the tone. Service is polite, but punctuated by thoughtful touches. We may have lingered too long in the lounge, (mesmerised by the twilight view) so our hostess suggested we might want to see more from our table. The windows are huge, ensuring everyone has a clear view. But I’d recommend asking for a table as close to the windows as possible.

Min Jang: The Food 

But even if Min Jiang was situated in my grandmother’s basement, I’d still go. Why? The food. Min Jiang’s nine-course banquet was designed to promote your good fortune and prosperity. Every dish is symbolic, and the proud waiter gently guides you through what can only be called a show.

You open with the Prosperity Hamachi Yu Sheng Salad. When the salad arrived at the table, I was concerned. I wondered if perhaps the variety of ingredients was too much: jelly fish, a cacophony of shredded root vegetables and pok chui crackers appeared as a culinary rainbow. But somehow the chefs managed to harmonise this mad orchestration of colour, texture and taste. This dish is prepared as a ceremony, with our jovial waiter making note of each of its 23 ingredients and the good fortune they symbolise. Remember to toss high: the higher you toss, the luckier your year.

Without sounding like a mother, remember to pace yourself. The salad is moreish, but you’ve got a long way to go. When the steamed wild seabass sprinkled with a soya bean crumb arrives at your table, you feel like a pagan god accepting tribute. Each forkful melts on your tongue with a gentle sigh, dishing out subtle flavours that deserve your full attention. The roasted chicken with crispy spring onions on the other hand, is a bold and audacious dish. The skin is so crispy that it could almost be considered crackling. Both plates are served with the support of a hearty bowl of lotus leaf reunion rice. Nom.

Min Jang: The Verdict

Some restaurants manage to get the food right, but fall short as an experience. This place masterfully conducts your senses. I’m torn between recommending lunch or dinner. This restaurant has the kind of formality that dinner goes so well with, but the daytime light of lunch makes the most of the view, so maybe go twice? I’d hasten to add, phoning ahead gets you Min Jiang’s legendary Beijing duck, cooked in a wood-fired oven and carved at the table, if you’re feeling particularly hungry for theatricality. The procession of courses finishes with a bill of £98 per person.

2-24 Kensington High St, Kensington, London W8 4PT, http://www.minjiang.co.uk/