It's a bit of a funny place to be on a bright, sunny Thursday morning, sat in a Chinese restaurant in Swansea surrounded by panda toys and lucky cats while sat in a deep booth usually reserved for evening dining while drinking jasmine tea from a cup that is magically never empty. But, at Gigi Gao's Favourite Authentic Chinese at the Maritime Quarter it's entirely part of the experience to be immersed in all these things and then some as the self-confessed MO of the restaurateur is to give her customers as authentic an experience as possible, both in terms of the food and the cultural references, artwork, decor and more.
Last week, the venue was given a vivid, glowing, striking review by The Observer's Jay Rayner, where he said he entered a "candy-coloured, garlanded, ribboned, sequined and tasselled world" of as he describes it "all round bloody good things". So accurate was Jay's description of Gigi's that I was given exactly what I expected when I walked through the door, from the pandas and cushions to the traditional Chinese wall paintings of the Monkey King and good luck knots and pretty tablecloths covered by protective plastic.
But I wasn't there to sate a curiosity over how good Jay Rayner's descriptive writing is, or even there to eat any of the 'fabulous' creations. I was there to meet the women herself, Gigi, who is quite fabulously dressed from head to toe in dark blue sequins, putting my Thursday daps and dress to shame, quite frankly.
