After a week of hysteria and hype of Salt's opening in Beijing, four of us trotted up to Salt last night to check it all out, having given them a week and bit to sort out start-up operational issues, I know - bit tough, but with Gaby's famed management of Alameda, we walked in with high expectations.

Location: not too bad, relatively easy to find sitting atop Franks Place, lots of parking with a cul de sac, well lit and secure.

Signage: large backlit billboard with 'Salt' - easily identified from the roadside.

Entry: stairwell leading to the first floor was clean, well lit, with non-slip floor tiles.

Decor: minimalist, sleek, modern, clean lines, splash of orange leather couches, open kitchen that looked meticulous, lots of greenery to offset the grey & metal feel, room temperature slightly high for our liking, but not unbearable. Toilets could do with hourly checks and tidy-up, but otherwise, clean and pleasant.

Service: friendly, courteous, smart...staff a little forgetful with table service basics. Pretty impressive after a week of operations!

Food Menu: Prix Fixe. 2 course starter+main or 3 course starter+main+dessert (for RMB20 more). The menu is nicely prepared with a good selection of meats and vegeterian options to satisfy all food types. Descriptions of meal combinations are interesting and drew positive comments from the table.

Drink Menu: simple but well thought-out and reasonably priced. Soft & alcoholic drinks priced similarly to other western-concept bars in town. Wine selection leans more to excellent new world options, but is robust and nicely priced.

Table Settings: arty cutlery, glassware, and table decorations. Plateware features nicely polished white porcelain.

Food Procession: Alameda's famed cheese buns and wheat breads are available and on demand (we devoured quite a few with our Chilean chardonnay). Water and wines regularly topped up. Starters arrived in good time. Presentation top notch. Portions nicely sized (could be deemed small for the larger appetite). Freaky combination of flavours resulted in nods of approval from our table. End result: plates totally wiped clean with free flow breads. Mains arrived after much table chatter and healthy gulps of chardonnay. Beef steak grilled to perfection (pink in the middle) and accompanied by pumpkin, tomato, and baby potatoes on an exquisite green pepper sauce. Again, plates wiped clean with more lashings of warm breads! Desserts took longer than usual to arrive - but the wait was worth it! The white chocolate filled dark chocolate souffle was to die for!

Billing and Mai Dan: the bill was clearly presented and marked. Thankgod I had notes in my wallet as Salt does not accept American Express (not yet anyway - Gaby assures me she will have this facility available soon).

Overview: Salt was nicely patronised on arrival at 7.30pm, but quickly filled to the brink by 9pm. We sat in the small smoking section close to the bar which afforded us good views of customer comments & reactions on their exit of the restaurant. All customers were happy-chappies and all vowed to return.

Verdict: Superb value for money. Gaby and Daniel's achievement after a week and bit operations gives us great hope for the future as Salt irons out its kinks and continues to push the boundaries of culinary creativity & unobtrusive service. Well done. We'll be back.