DIY dinners

A new Spring Festival catering service has emerged in which restaurants are offering partially prepared dishes for customers to finish making at home.

The Xueyuanlu branch of five-star restaurant brand Feng Ze Yuan is offering two set meals of partially prepped fare for festival banquets.

These offerings are not only tasty and healthy but also fun to assemble.

Both menus feature braised sea cucumber with shallots - one of the eatery's most famous specialties - deep-fried prawns, dry-braised mandarin fish, and "crispy and fragrant" chicken.

Cold appetizers include tongue-numbingly spicy quail leg, brown-braised beef and "secret-recipe vegetarian rib".

The two semi-finished set meals of 14 dishes are priced at 988 ($ 150) and 1,388 yuan. The biggest difference between the options is the quality of the sea cucumber.