Aja

Asian cuisine, with its myriad flavours and styles, can be hard to pin down. Say your mother wants rice-paper rolls, your brother is busting for Korean barbecue, and then there's you, who only arranged the whole dang sortie to satisfy a curry craving. Where to go? Aja, whose menu covers all bases in a mostly calm, soft-lit environment - unless it's full, when it can be loud and service may be stretched. Rice-paper rolls filled with creamy avocado, sharp basil and fried soft-shell crab (crustacean legs all akimbo) tickle the palate nimbly; they're served with a honey-heavy dipping sauce. Little domes of spinach and duck dumplings are stuffed with fresh, vivacious ingredients, although some may find the glutinous pastry heavy. A special of fat lemongrass prawns pops with flavour - prawns are charry, sweet and pack a hefty chilli punch. And northern-Chinese lamb shanks are subtly spiced, tender and served on nutty wild rice. Conclude your genre-spanning journey with a creamy tiramisu that should satisfy the whole gang.