In a country in which about a third of the population is Chinese you know you will find good Chinese food, and Bangkok is no exception. There are many private Chinese restaurants around town, and many of the better hotels specialize in Chinese cuisine. In fact, name a five-star hotel and it's certain to have Chinese Restaurant.

One that caught my fancy when it opened in 1990 was the China House at the Oriental Hotel, located in a private house next to the hotel. The colonial-style house, in fact, was built a century ago for a wealthy Chinese merchant. It specialized in Cantonese cuisine. Michelle and I had lunch there a few times and had nothing but nice things to say about the place. And then recently, we heard the restaurant had been completely renovated. To acquaint us with the new restaurant, the Oriental's Public Relations director, Somsri Hansirisawasdi, or Susie, invited Michelle and me, along with writer Robin Dannhorn and some special guests, for lunch. One of the special guest included Ankana Kalantananda, the special guest representative who next year will have been working at the hotel for sixty years. Another guest was Porsri Luphaiboon, the previous PR director of the Oriental.

"Nothing special," Sussie said. "Just a get-together for old friends."

I was astounded at the change the moment I stepped through the front door. It came as a real nostalgic jolt. I was transported back to Shanghai immediately after World War II, before the communist take over, when Shanghai was the most wicked city of the East. The two-storey, colonial building had been completely transformed to the likes of an old Shanghai Restaurant and dance hall. I almost expected, when I stepped inside, for there to be a booth there to sell dance tickets for ten cents each.

The decor is red - the walls the drapes, the lanterns. The ceilings are high with an abundance of Chinese designs. And the women, the receptionist and waitresses, like in Shanghai, were dressed in long slinky silk dresses with high necks.

The selected artwork in China House depicts the very essence of life during the art deco period with its paintbrush calligraphy of Tang poems describing Chinese food and beverage. There are black and white photos of the Bund that dominate the main dining room on the ground floor and run all the way to private dining rooms on the second floor. These rooms are decorated in red and yellow with design carpets showing abstracted court ladies of past times.

Leading to the second floor is a Grand Stairway surrounded with red lacquered panels with mirror inset and solid balustrade and silkscreen images of court ladies facing the inner courtyard. Small private dining alcoves, again like in Shanghai, are everywhere, and intimate.

Now for the food. The Oriental has appointed as The China House's consultant chef, Jereme Leung, one of the most prominent Chinese chefs in the world, and founding chef of the much-lauded Whampoa Club, the stunning Art-Deco style Shanghainese restaurant located on the Bund complex in Shanghai. One of Jereme Leung's brightest proteges, Chef Kong Khai Meng, with extensive experience in both Hong Kong and Shanghai, heads the culinary team as resident chef of the restaurant.

We had course after course, beginning with dim sum followed by dishes barbecued and roasted. Jereme Leung's menu features a combination of classic Cantonese cuisine presented in an innovative fresh manner. The dishes, severed one after the other, included "Peking Duck" right from the oven, "Slow Cooked Shark's Fin in Golden Broth", "Slow Cooked Abalone", "Pan Seared Beef Tenderloin", "Stir Fried Rice Vermicelli Hokkien Style", "Wasabe Prawns", and one or two others that we missed jotting down the names.

The newly restored China House reopened for operation from mid-November 2006 for lunch and dinner daily. If you want to know what Old China was like, The China House at The Oriental is the place. The only thing missing are ten cents dance ticket and taxi dancers sitting in cane chairs along the walls.