We'd heard good things about this restaurant, so when the family wanted Chinese takeaway, I was…read moreready to try this place over the old standby staple Tree View, which I really don't care for.
We ordered take out on New Year's Eve, and when we called at 5:30 pm, they told us they were overwhelmed and we'd have to call back as they couldn't tell us when our order would be ready by. We had to pick up a few last minute bits from the supermarket, so we decided to drop in and order in person. Thankfully, this was the right move as we heard them tell people the same thing over the phone that they weren't taking anymore orders right now.
The restaurant was packed with diners, and they told us our order would be ready in 2 hours at 8 pm which was fine. When our family arrived for pickup though they had to wait, so we think everything was just made right then which at least meant everything was piping hot and freshly made.
For the 5 of us, we ordered Deep Fried Chili Chicken, Duck & Plum, Beef Ho Fun Dry Noodles, 2 Fried Rices, Salt & Pepper Chips and 1 order of chips. The bill was 35 pounds. While the food was good, the portions were a bit small. We definitely could have used one more dish for the 5 of us.
I'm American, so it's a bit weird to me to order fries with Chinese food, but apparently that's a big deal here and a must. The order of chips was incredibly dinky. The order of salt & pepper chips was a bigger portion though (though my family still thought it was small, but the regular chips just came in a tiny little paper bag). The salt & pepper chips were really good though and they were probably my favorite dish I tried.
The noodles needed a bit more flavor, but I do like a thick wide noodle, so that part was nice. We ordered them dry, so maybe that wasn't the go-to move here. I added a dash of soy sauce which was okay. I wanted to love this dish since I love noodles, but this was just okay/good.
The duck dish was crispy and my sister-in-law said that was her favorite dish. It wasn't saucy; it wasn't what I expected, but it was okay/good.
The chili chicken dish was definitely better than other similar dishes I've had in the UK. This is my sibling-in-laws go-to-dish, so I've had several iterations and they are always too sickly sweet. Thankfully, this one was not and it wasn't terribly saucy either. I liked the crispiness of the chicken, but because of the sauce it loses a bit of that crunch factor. If my husband and I were just ordering, I probably wouldn't choose this dish, but it was still ok/good. The same goes for the duck dish -- these aren't the type of dishes I'd typically get, but both were pretty alright.
The fried rice was pretty standard and basic. No complaints, but no compliments either.
I really liked the seasoning of the salt & pepper chips which was like a vinegar sauce with chillies. I loved this dish and I'd order this again.
Anyway, I haven't been terribly impressed with Chinese food in general in the north, but this was one of the better versions I've had in the area and I definitely would be happy to order take away from here again (there's not loads of options in this area and it's definitely one of the better options).