Chinese Summer Palace
Foregate Street
Chester
Tel: 01244 310033
WITH Chinese food being one of my favourite cuisines, I was very excited to try out a new restaurant in Chester.
The Chinese Summer Palace Restaurant, off Foregate Street, had been recommended to me by a friend whose judgement I knew I could trust.
When we arrived we were greeted by a hostess who led us through the narrow building to the dining area.
The room was only just large enough for a table on either side of the hall, but this layout seemed to add to the authenticity to the place.
There were East Asian decorations throughout the room.
We were seated directly under a large heater, which was great since it was very cold on this particular evening.
There were only a handful of other people eating on the night, so it was very peaceful and Chinese music played softly in the background.
When we were brought menus we saw there were many choices for meals, including both Cantonese and Beijing cuisine.
I asked for a glass of J2O fruit juice as I had been suffering from a cold and wanted to stay off the alcohol. My friend had a pint of Carlsberg.
Almost everything looked delicious but it did not take long to make up our minds.
For starters I ordered shredded duck spring rolls, which were brought out to our table within a matter of minutes.
They came served with a side of sweet and sour sauce.
The rolls had been battered and deep fried and there were lots of juices on the inside, bursting with flavour.
My friend ordered wanton soup, which he enjoyed very much.
When our plates were cleared we were asked if we wanted to use chopsticks or cutlery for the main dish. Both of us wanted to keep our chopsticks.
The meals were brought out by the chef himself.
I had ordered the sizzling fried beef with sweet ginger and pineapple sauce. A mini stand was placed on the table and the chef took the lid off the dish.
The presentation was superb and the food smelled absolutely delicious.
My friend had ordered the same dish but with chilli. We also got generous portions of egg fried rice and a heaping plate of salty seaweed.
Everything tasted just as good as it looked.
The beef was juicy and tender, and the sauce had been seasoned to perfection.
Seaweed turned out to be a perfect side dish – its saltiness contrasting with the sweet sauce. I also had a taste of my friend’s dish.
Although I prefer milder dishes, his food was very tasty. We had been given very large portions but we both finished everything on our plates.
Unfortunately, this also meant neither of us had room for desserts. The bill was brought over with complimentary mints.
We left thinking it would not be too long before we would come back to try some of their other many meal options.
The Bill
Wanton soup £2.50
Duck spring rolls £3.50
Sizzling beef £9.95
Sizzling beef with chilli £9.95
Fried rice £2.50
Seaweed £4
J2O £2.40
Carlsberg £2.40
Total: £37.20