‘Lauded with good reason’: Yuet Ben, Upper Duke Street, reviewed

Do you remember 1968? No, me neither. 

Intergenerational strife. Placards raised aloft on the streets. Wide leg trousers. Sounds familiar. 

Much has changed since Yuet Ben opened towards the end of that decade. But some things have stayed very much the same.

Sitting at the top of Duke Street with the grand Chinese gate looming over the road, the building itself is fairly unassuming. You could turn the corner from the main drag and miss it altogether. Which would be a shame.

Inside, Yuet Ben is comfortingly of another time; fanned decorative pineapples, paper tablecloths, a little arch of its own heading to the bar and kitchen at the back. Just enough decoration, because what you're here for, and heard so much about, is the food.

When looking into the restaurant online, which I don't do too much of, one thing kept cropping up when zealous regulars talked about this long-standing institution. The same keywords burst out of the screen; crispy duck, crispy duck, crispy duck.

Okay, quarter crispy duck with pancakes and relishes it is then (£12.90).

I don't often order it as a starter for fear that it'll greedily gobble up the lion's share of my appetite, but I couldn't not now, could I? 

This was a wise move. It arrived without pomp and circumstance, just simply laid out ready for me to assemble at will, which is always part of the fun. 

The duck was plentiful, and seasoned with the opaque but endlessly addictive flavours of what seemed like five spice. Crispy in parts, succulent in others. A winner that deserves the praise it consistently gets. 

You could sit and assemble them all evening if you'd nothing on afterwards, such is the joy of taking simple, well made ingredients and seeing what it produces. Of course you know what it produces; that unmistakable taste of crispy duck pancakes. But better. 

I only stopped eating it for not wanting to spoil my appetite for mains, and took the rest home with me because it’s just too good to not finish at some point in the evening. They taste just as good from the sofa. 

The mains on the menu are refreshingly slight, there's not pages and pages of confusing combinations, the endless permutations of main courses that can result in you being not exactly sure what you've ended up with. Here it was simple. 

I wasn't in the mood for the likes of black bean or sweet and sour, and instead went for sate (yes, satay the peanut sauce, the spelling just keeps you on your toes). I chose pork with sate sauce (£10.90).

Chicken seems to have the monopoly on satay but pork is so much more interesting. The beautiful sweet undertones of the sauce, along with its signature and decidedly savoury whack, combine so well with a meat that in its own way does sweet like few others. 

It didn't coat the pork so much as smother it, and in the most pleasant way, and the peppers, an accompaniment I can often give or take, brought their own slight sweetness. None of this was that saccharine, punishing flavour, instead a subtle and repeatedly enjoyable dish.  

The egg fried rice (£3.90) was as you know it should be - ample egg, peas and spring onion with soy-stained rice, it makes you realise what you’re getting off the supermarket shelf, which is not a lot. It could be a light lunch in itself if you’re feeling frugal. But then with the reasonable prices of everything else on the menu I don't know why you would. 

Not only in Liverpool, but especially here, Chinese food is insanely popular and with good reason. But there's been plenty of opportunities over the years to chase the trends, be that with the menu, the decor or all of the above.  

Here, among the chatter of regulars updating the owners on their day, or their holiday, or where they're going for their holiday, obscure 70s soul that sounds like Ann Peebles slinks out of the speakers. It may well have been playing for decades, but nothing feels staid. It's not 'from another time', it's somehow out of time. Providing the neon sign by the front door is glowing, it's here whenever you need it. 

Yuet Ben, don’t ever change.

Yuet Ben, 1 Upper Duke St, Liverpool L1 9DU

Yuet Ben is on Confidential Guides