Roasted lamb rack with rosemary. Photos by Antony Otera / China Daily

The lamb rack arrives a short time later, frenched and leaning languidly on a throne of potatoes, a brown carpet of gravy unfurling from beneath. It might be the Australian in me, but I think lamb is the king of meats, baa none!

My first bite of this majestic morsel is like a parched traveler's first sip of water after traversing a desert. The lamb is a nice pink color inside and tender. It's delicious.

The potatoes are fluffy white inside and melt in my mouth - just the way I like my spuds. As for the eggplant, my favorite nongreen vegetable, it's perfectly cooked and a great accompaniment to the meat.

When I'm finished, there's a little room left in the belly for something sweet. Being that my bloodlines are Sicilian-Italian, I sit up at the sight of Sicilian cannoli - crispy pastry with ricotta, walnuts, raisins and raspberry - on the dessert menu.

Normally, I eschew any food containing ricotta (a soft cheese-like product made from sheep, cow, goat or Italian water-buffalo milk whey left over from the production of cheese). It's more to do with the texture than the taste. But to slight this most Sicilian of sweets is considered sacrilege by anyone with so much as a single green, white and red corpuscle of blood. I suck it up and order it.

The delicious crunch of the baked pastry momentarily transports me back to the streets of the Sicilian port town of Milazzo, its creamy contents slide down my throat without resistance.

As I swallow the last crumb of my dessert, the manager stops by to ask me whether I have enjoyed my meal. The answer is a resounding yes.