Doctor in the house

A Chinese restaurant may not be the first place you would go if you were suffering from a sore back, but the recently opened Palace Chine in Edinburgh hopes to change all that by offering food that cures customers' aches and pains.

Palace Chine combines the roles of a Chinese restaurant and herbal shop, catering for customers who want something for their lumbago along with their kung po chicken.

The 100-seat restaurant is the brainchild of 52-year-old Brian Wang, and opened at the beginning of April in the Conran-designed Ocean Terminal shopping centre. Wang owns a string of herbal medicine shops in the UK and believes that Palace Chine is the first place outside China to integrate traditional Chinese remedies with food.

"Within Chinese tradition, herbal medicines and food are a unified concept," explains Wang. "In ancient times, rich and powerful Chinese people would have doctors who also performed some of the duties of chefs. Chinese emperors, in particular, had doctors who helped to identify herbs and plant extracts that would increase longevity, ward off illnesses and help the emperors to enjoy life."

Wang's customers can use Palace Chine as they would any other restaurant, or they can turn up and have a consultation with the duty herbal doctor. After a detailed consultation the doctor will recommend herbs that can either be taken away or cooked into a meal at the restaurant.

At Palace Chine there are five chefs and a herbal chef, who has two additional years of training in using medicinal herbs. He specialises in integrating the medicinal herbs into the cooking process. Much like, say, chillies or peppercorns, some herbs are unpalatable on their own but combine well with food. The herbal chef uses his specialist knowledge to ensure that the herbs taste good with the food. "Chinese herbal medicines and cooking are like twin brothers - unified," says Wang.

Since the herbs and roots used in Palace Chine have not been licensed under the terms of the Medicines Act 1968, Wang and his staff cannot claim that they will have any specific effect on any given ailment. "We say that our products are good for health, but we do not give specific effects," says Wang.

Customers can choose from a customised meal, using ingredients prescribed by the herbal consultant and cooked by the herbal chef, or from a set herbal menu. The waiting staff can advise on which dishes from this menu might be suitable for people with, say, troublesome indigestion. There is also a men-only virility menu.

To the sceptical, it might sound like something of a gimmick, but Wang reckons that about 25% of his customers either order at least one herbal dish or have a consultation with the Chinese doctor. Public interest in the area is certainly growing and is no longer restricted to the Chinese community, a fact borne out by Wang's decision to open in a mainstream shopping centre.

After a career as a race relations adviser to Camden council, Wang set up his first Chinese herb shop in 1986. He now has 21 stores, pointing to a market hungry for such products. The dishes containing herbal food supplements sell at about a 30% premium over the normal menu items. According to Wang, they make good sense health-wise but also have a beneficial effect on the bottom line.

Wang's success with his chain of herbal shops provides the cash-flow to run Palace Chine without the backing of banks or business partners. But the restaurant has yet to develop a regular clientele and depends on passing trade to the shopping centre and the nearby Royal Yacht Britannia.

The shopping centre itself is not yet running at full capacity, as 10 units are still to be let. To generate custom, Wang has been advertising Palace Chine locally, taking full-page adverts in the Scotsman newspaper.

He is confident about the future, however, and says that business is growing. Certainly, there is no denying his faith in the concept; he is planning to open another restaurant in the Triangle shopping centre in Manchester at the end of May and is bringing in two more specialist herbal chefs from China to cope with the demand.

Palace Chine

Third floor, Ocean Terminal, Ocean Drive, Edinburgh
Tel: 0131-555 4212
Covers: 50-60 for lunch and dinner
Open: noon-11pm, seven days a week
Average spend: lunch £9; dinner £20
Start-up costs: £200,000
Projected turnover: less than £500,000 but dependent on other units in the centre being let - there are still 10 empty units
Staff: 11 - two in the herbal shop, five in the kitchen, three front of house plus one part-timer
Floor space: 2,500sq ft
Seats: 100

Some Chinese herbs used in meals

Dang Gui - a fragrant root that is used in dishes such as dang gui spare-rib soup. It is said to have a beneficial effect on irregular periods, the menopause and coarse skin.
Cordyceps - a type of fungus used in dishes such as cordyceps peppercorn beef. They are said to improve kidney function and help with impotence.
Myotonin - small white seeds that are used to treat eczema.
Longans - like small lychees. Said to contain a potent energy and generate heat in the body.

A selection from the herbal menu at Palace Chine

Starter
Ginseng gui hua chicken soup. Contains longans, Korean red ginseng and chicken. Said to "tonify" both chi (vital energy) and blood as well as reduce anaemia and help with insomnia, £6

Main courses
Saut‚d pork loin with hawthorn. Contains hawthorn, pork, green pepper and onion, which are said to help digestion and lower blood pressure, £10.50

Gou qi oysters with coconut juice. Loosens bowels, "tonifies" the kidney and treats "yin deficiency", £11.50

Dessert
Eight Treasures Congee. Contains fox nuts, huai shan, fu ling, lotus seeds, yi yi ren, lentil beans, dang shen, bai zhu and rice. Said to treat weakness of the body, swelling and constipation, £5

A selection from the male virility menu

(three courses for £35.50 per head)

Soup
West Lake Soup. Contains yin yang huo, yang qi shi, liquorice root and beef

Main course
Sizzling lamb with red jujube and gou qi. Contains red jujube, gou qi, ginger and lamb

Dessert
Cordyceps moo sweet soup. Contains cordyceps, dried lotus seeds, white fungi and red dates