When the fish aren't biting, start cooking

If you are not too adventurous with food, order braised pork ankle, golden bean curd and sweetened cherry tomatoes - you can't go wrong.

Du Hsiao Yueh's menu includes an array of Taiwan-style dishes. Deep-fried oysters wrapped with flour are crispy, served with a saucer of white pepper. If you like oysters, this will satisfy your cravings. Fried egg cake with dried radish has a nice bite to it. Hakka brined pork and crisp pork ribs are quite unique and worth trying.

Mullet roe is a signature Taiwan delicacy, and is probably one of the most expensive dishes on the menu, priced at 88 yuan ($14) a plate. It tastes very smooth. But there could be a strong sea-like smell, especially for people who are not used to eating it. If so, you can ask the waiting staff to roast it a bit longer to reduce the smell.

Cuttlefish meat balls and omelets with oysters are also good options. Pork belly slices with mushroom soup has a lot of black pepper in it, giving it a rather hot, strong taste.

The restaurant's decoration is nice and compact. It looks festive, with many red lanterns covered with auspicious Chinese phrases on them.

Service is excellent compared to similar snack restaurants. Like its branch in Parkview Green, it is likely to be packed at lunch time. But it is worth the wait.

If you go:

Du Hsiao Yueh Restaurant

5/F, No 552 APM (Sun Dong An shopping mall), 138 Wangfujing Dajie (Street), Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6512-1806.

Average spending per head: 60 yuan ($9.75).

Recommended: Noodles with Minced Pork, Braised Pork Ankle, Golden Bean Curd.