Mother and son lunch at his favourite place in the neighbourhood - a cheap and cheerful Chinese restaurant tucked away at the side of the local rail station. He happens to go to a gym across the road, so is recognised as a regular by the couple who run this canteen-style place. The ambience is functional but calm and spotlessly clean. Never packed despite the large portions at low prices. But appears to have a steady stream of Chinese students coming in for the homely meal deals. My son said he is generally the only non-Chinese customer in the place whenever he goes. Spicy beef noodle soup is his regular order. I perused the prepared dishes in the glass case, which included braised duck, braised fish, beef brisket and meatballs. I went for meatballs (£5.20 for two large meatballs) and plain rice (£3.00). Son had his spicy beef noodle soup for £9.80. I think the meatballs might be lion’s head meatballs - quite large but with a light texture and hint of fresh ginger. Came in a small amount of light broth that tasted of 5 spice. I added chilli oil to the rice. Each table has dispensers of chilli oil, soy sauce and black vinegar. I like that, because usually in UK Chinese restaurants if you ask for chilli oil they bring you a tiny saucer of it and we need to keep asking for more. So it’s great to have a whole jar at my disposal. Service is basic - you order and pay at the counter and they give you a beeper that goes off when your order is ready to collect at the counter. There’s a fridge with a selection of drinks including beer to buy. The fridge also contains cutlery and chopsticks to take to your table!
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Bargain food. Good find by son.
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