With a name like Classic Passion, some may imagine a menu of aphrodisiacs. There is a far more innocent explanation, but the menu is as unusual as its name. In theory, Classic Passion may be listed as a Cantonese restaurant - except it has nothing in common with that cuisine. For that matter, Cantonese food has little to do with Canton. And that is the key to this restaurant. Real Cantonese food came from a town in Guangdong province called Shunde. This was where many rich people lived in the 19th century, and where culinary experiments took place with the ingredients which grew around there. Those that were successful in Shunde made their way to the capital, and thence to Cantonese restaurants around the world. Few, though, are the restaurants which use these ancient recipes these days. Classic Passion is one. Its owner Patrick Au was in Paris about 25 years ago when he felt homesick and went to a Chinese restaurant where he enjoyed a wonderful meal. 'I realised then what a passion I had for classical Cantonese food from Shunde,' Au says. 'So when I opened my own restaurant, I called it Classic Passion.' The restaurant is founded on traditional tastes, but these are combined with 'Eurasian' dishes and Hakka cuisine. On the good side, virtually all oil is removed from meats so the texture is smooth, ready to soak up the variety of marinades and sauces. There is a strange diversity in flavours and textures. Almost one-third of the menu is made in a kind of soup - homage to the food of floating restaurants in the old Causeway Bay typhoon shelter. One should be prepared to order braised eel with roast pork and winter melon, or fried sea perch with a stylised Burmese curry, or even baked fish intestine with eggs. But the mundane dishes also have a special flavour. The two of us started with 'salted superior chicken', which came on a huge platter, covered with pickled mustard plants. The bite-sized chicken and vegetables are dipped in a hoisin sauce, then a crushed ginger sauce. The taste is both acrid and sweet. Almost unrecognisable is 'stuffed eggplant'. The eggplant is stuffed with shrimp, then covered with a combination of garlic, dried shrimp and dried scallop, Chinese ham and shrimp paste, finely chopped and lightly fried. The deep-fried fishball with clam sauce is an old, time-consuming recipe. Fresh carp is chopped by hand into a paste, then refrigerated. Patties are pan-fried, ready to dip into tiny clams in a sauce. The texture was rubbery and chewy, and the sauce didn't go with the fish patties. But some find it delectable. Next, beancurd. Ours was braised with fresh scallops, and as delicious as it was ordinary. Pigeon, anyone? At Classic Passion, they boil the soy sauce with the bird rather than baste it with the liquid, so the flavour becomes part of the meat. Others may enjoy the Eurasian dishes, which include oysters in Parmesan cheese, or spare ribs with a strawberry sauce. The menu lists about 100 dishes, and there are about 30 unlisted desserts. All are complex in preparation and flavour. The service is friendly, with explanations forthcoming. Chinese wine - and a fine selection of French - makes the place unique. We paid more than $500 for two, and didn't have shark fin or abalone. But for those hankering for original food, Classic Passion can live up to its name. CLASSIC PASSION 188 Wan Chai Road (actually Heard Street), Wan Chai; tel: 2574-8181. Hours: noon-3pm, 6pm-midnight