Banquet 88, London E1: ‘Sweet, rich, fiery and moreish’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants

I turn up solo and brace myself to be dumped by the cleaning supplies cupboard, but instead the staff treat me like an off-duty empress

Perched in between a Zizzi, a Côte and a Slug & Lettuce at the far end of St Katharine Docks in Ye Olde Tower of London tourist-land, Banquet 88 feels like something of an enigmatic Asian cousin: it has a sedate frontage, sparse, functional decor with not an ounce of chintz nor an ounce of modernism, or even much of a nod towards comfort. There’s sake cherry foie gras and egg tofu with spicy pork floss and bottles of Fei Tswei Magma chardonnay from Ningxia on the menu, and a distinct dearth of spice bag chips and Mateus rosé, and they’d very much like you…