Old-style feel-good eatery

Crisp-skin prawns with flour-wrapped pear balls.

The restaurant makes very good desserts. Cheese "fish" is a light-tasting jelly-like dessert in the shape of a fish. Red bean and yellow pea cake tastes natural and smooth. Red-wine poached pears are very well made and reasonably priced.

For hot dishes, try dry-braised yellow croaker, crisp-skin prawns with flour-wrapped pear balls, and "want to eat" roast potato cubes. The Xiaodiao signature rice in soup has two versions - one in a tasty yellow chicken broth, another with light-tasting mushroom soup.

It is a medium-sized restaurant. The space is divided into many different rooms. But one does not feel so constricted, thanks to good design and decor. Instead it has a classic style that seems to take one back to old Beijing. One room even has two trees growing out of a glass roof, creating the perfect ambience on a sunny day.

The owner of the restaurant, a local Beijinger of Manchu ethnicity, had previously opened Najia Xiaoguan, a private imperial-style restaurant. Diners might find Xiaodi Litang a more reasonably priced version of Najia Xiaoguan. The dishes are a fine version of popular home-style Chinese and Beijing foods.

It is a feel-good eatery that would be good for a happy get-together with friends or family.