In Japanese enclave Nihonmachi, there’s a little Chinese outpost—a restaurant where the owners, waitresses and often the guests come straight from the mainland (if their accents and newspapers are anything to go by). Despite the tagline “new style Chinese cuisine,” we can’t detect any attempts at modernity on our plates. Instead, Spring Garden is famous for its classic Peking Duck served alongside solid, reasonably-priced food. Granted, the decor is a tad brighter than your average, gloomy Chinese dining room. But despite the bay windows, the gold ceiling, chandeliers and dark wood furniture don’t exactly qualify as “new style” any more than the food. Let’s start with the reputable duck: the crisp, moist skin is a tad oily perhaps and we still prefer Xinn Tien Di’s pancakes, but the accompanying stir-fry is stellar: tender strips of duck nicely-browned, almost crisp, and a wonderful mix of crunchy peppers, chili and onions. The dim-sum offering is minimal and probably best skipped altogether—the crab Shanghai-style dumplings (B120 for six) have a fairly thick “skin” and the crab was nearly undetectable. But overall, dishes tend to be fresh, crisp, with bright flavors, such as the seaweed salad  with sesame seeds and crushed garlic or the braised green beans with minced pork—although the latter is a tad sweet. Even the preserved pork Zhenjiang-style feels like a light, fresh dish—not overly fat or gelatinous, it’s downright addictive, in fact. Competition is stiff for Chinese food in Bangkok so that comparisons between versions of this or that dish may often leave you preferring some other venue, but Spring Garden’s performance across the board is very strong, and it comes with a reasonable price tag and friendly service.