Open: Mondays 6.30pm-midnight; Tuesday-Sunday noon-3pm, 6.30pm-midnight

Private kitchens have been springing up all over Hong Kong in the past few years. One of the advantages they offer is that, with the set menu, you don't have to rack your brains about what to order. The bad thing is that, if the chef isn't good, you need the fortitude of a roach.

Fortunately, Helen Chiang's Kitchen in Causeway Bay is in the former category. Situated above the Latata French Restaurant, opposite Leighton Centre, it makes no pretences to be more than a homely dining place where families and friends can gather for a boisterous meal.

It has the barest of furnishings. The only adornments were colourful festive decorations - it's the holiday season, after all - and family photos on the wall. The chef is reportedly one of Chiang Kai-shek's grand-daughters, so these were no ordinary family snaps.

We had made our reservations about three days in advance, and a suggested menu had arrived almost immediately afterwards by fax. Five starters and two entrees were fixed, but we had a choice of three main dishes.

The wine menu was functional although limited, but fortunately the restaurant is close to Times Square and we were able to grab a couple of bottles of our choice. The restaurant also didn't charge corkage for the first two bottles.

Our starters were simple: fresh tomato slices dipped in a delicious honey sauce, marinated cucumber, deep-fried pork ribs, beancurd sheets with beans and preserved vegetables and pork kidneys marinated in spicy sauce. The beancurd sheets and crunchy pork kidneys were outstanding. The pungent and aromatic tong ho vegetable soup was also excellent, as was the Tianjin cabbage cooked with dried scallops.

We congratulated ourselves on our fine choices for the other three mains. The baby abalones were steamed just right, and the topping of sliced chilli and vinegar brought out its full flavour. The Chiang Family Spicy Chicken is superb: the chicken was fresh and tender, and the marinade added a delicious tang.

The Eight Treasure Duck was another highlight. Stewed in a rich, heady sauce, the tender duck meat almost melts in the mouth and the stuffing of glutinous rice was soft and fluffy.

Sad to say, we couldn't do much justice to the dessert of dumplings after that.

The wonderful meal was only topped by the friendly and attentive service we received through the night.

Dinner for four was a steal at $1,080 - less the wine, service charge and tea charges