Thursday, July 5, 2012

China Town: a good chinese restaurant in city center

Date of the meal: 04/07/2012
Number of people: 2 adults and 1 child (2 yo)
Order and price: 41 Vermicelli spesial 169 NOK, 45 Chicken with vegetables & cashew nuts 175 NOK,  Chop suey de luxe 199 NOK
Address: Skagen 14, 4006 Stavanger


China Town is very central since it is located in one of the most busy streets of Stavanger. Located on the second floor above Newsman, facing the Sportsbar and Cardinal. It has been there for a while and I have been there many times (with my Italian friend, with my Norwegian friend, ...). Yesterday, I went there with my wife and my son and I decided I should review it.


To begin with the accessibility, China Town is unfortunately one of the few places I know that are completely impossible to access if you are in wheelchair or have a baby sleeping in a stroller. It is situated on the second floor of the building and there is no elevator. Even the steps to enter the building are quite difficult to take with a stroller.

Concerning the menu, the choice is quite wide. There is a lunch menu (Monday to Saturday from 14:00 to 18:00) with prices ranging from 85 NOK to 120 NOK, a children menu (sausage, chicken, chicken wings or fried rice) and of course a dinner menu, including dinner courses (between 200-300) that are quite good value for the money if you are a big eater.


Yesterday I went for what I think they do best: the "chop suey de luxe" hot pot. For the sake of objectivity, my Italian friend likes the seafood version of it better (called Sea Lord in the menu). Anyway, I think those hot pots are good options. Not too salty, not too greasy, just well cooked, nice flavor dishes. As most of their dishes, those hot pots come by default with white rice but you can order fried rice or noodles instead for a small additional fee. I would not recommend it though as it may hide the subtle taste of the dish itself. For picky people, there is a small spelling mistake in the menu, the correct spelling is "chop suey", not "chop seuy".


I ordered fried vermicelli called Vermicelli special for my son. I wanted to change a little bit from the fried rice (children menu) we generally order when we go to this restaurant. The dish was  quite nice but a bit too salty and too much pepper. I liked it as I like pepper but I would not recommend it for children, people who don't like pepper or as a side dish (the taste would be too strong). In case you wonder, there is a small mistake in the menu again, they used the Norwegian spelling "spesial" for both the English and the Norwegian version of the menu.


My wife went for the "Chicken with vegetables & cashew nuts". The dish looked great but she was actually a bit disappointed with it. The chicken was good, the sauce was fine but the bamboos did not taste good. It was the first time she had this particular dish so it is difficult to say if this was just a one time problem with this dish or if this dish in general is bad.


Otherwise, the prices are correct, the service is fine, the restaurant is clean and spacious, so all in all China Town is a good restaurant situated in the city center of Stavanger, except it is not accessible to all. I would recommend the hot pots or if you are a big eater, why not try one of the dinner courses.

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