Manchester Chinese Restaurant

Manchester Chinese Restaurant has a name that states the obvious but other than that, doesn’t give much away. Perhaps it’s keeping its thousand year old egg dish and the extra helpings of jellyfish a secret for fear of upsetting the punters.

There’s no need. Manchester Chinese Restaurant has a menu to keep both the sensation-hunters and the play-it-safers perfectly happy. After all, China is a big country and the restaurant aims to reflect all of its culinary heritage. You’ll find Szechuan spices and roasted meats, Cantonese seafood dishes, the warming comfort food and the steamed dumplings of Beijing as well as the peppery tongue-tingling food of the mountainous northwest.

If you’re looking for authentic Chinese food you don’t find at the takeaway, look no further. From cold slices of spicy rabbit meat to stir-fried frogs legs with bitter melon or ox tongue cooked with mixed dry mushrooms, every mouthful is an adventure. A lot of it is very tasty too and the prices are cheap enough that you can experiment without worrying that your appetiser of pigs ears is not as appetising as you’d hoped.

It’s not all out-there. You can rely on fail-safe favourites like spring rolls and stir-fried duck with cashew nuts or you can discover traditional dishes from all over China that are squeamish-proof. The Szechuan fried wild sea bass in a hot and spicy sauce, the braised pork belly with yam in a bamboo case and the minced fish ball with lemongrass curry might take you out of your tried-and-tested comfort zone – but not too far.