THE Golden Sea Chinese restaurant stands at the entrance to Brighouse and greets those entering the town from the motorway.

This large building stands on the ring road and is recognisable as the only original building left on that section of Huddersfield Road.

It also stands out for another reason – it looks very forbidding and ugly to anyone driving past on the main road.

A stark wall is not made any better at present by the half-price fireworks banner strung across it.

Go round to the proper entrance, however, down a side street, and the exterior looks quite nice and cared for, with benches outside and attractive foliage. Just how old is this building and what is its history, I wonder?

I have never heard of anyone who has actually visited this place. Nobody could tell me what the food was like and because of this I was slightly dubious of what to expect.

The service we received was excellent, the waitress was friendly, and despite being almost empty the atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming.

The choices on the menu were pretty much the same as any Chinese restaurant (chow mein, satay, szechuan etc.) but the chef’s specials looked varied and appetising. Scallops and fillet steak seemed to be the speciality. The only criticism of the menu would be that there were not enough vegetarian dishes, but those they had were clearly marked out.

We ordered steamed Har Kau and vegetable spring rolls for starters and they arrived quickly.

Tucking in, we couldn’t have been more impressed with the food. Both were well cooked and well presented, the prawn dumplings still in their steamer, the spring rolls were crispy and not oily as I have often found with spring rolls.

The mains arrived as quickly as the starter, I ordered duck with ginger and spring onions while my partner had beef in blackbean sauce. The food came on its own hot plate which gave it that authentic-seeming sizzling sound.

The food was excellent, it was well cooked, the meat tender and the sauce was very tasty. I could really taste the ginger in my dish which is so often lacking in other places I have been.

The dishes were also a lot less oily than is often the case with Chinese food, the generous portion of duck wasn’t swimming in a dish of oil and MSG and the vegetables were crunchy rather than slimy. The beef dish was very tender and again a generous portion of beef meant that the meat was not drowned in vegetables.

The meals tasted very fresh and well cooked and had been cooked quickly to seal in the flavour.

Indulgently we had desserts – banana and pineapple fritters. Again the batter didn’t taste oily or particularly heavy.

I would say that the meals here seem a lot healthier than those in your average Chinese restaurant. The portions were ample but I didn’t come away feeling overly stuffed.

All in all the food was good, the service excellent, and the restaurant itself was comfortable, well laid out and inviting.

The only off-putting thing was the music, 1990s dreary pop music didn’t really complement the meal. Turn it down or even off is my little bit of advice here.

They also do takeaways at the Golden Sea, something I had not appreciated before. They’ll certainly be worth a punt if you fancy eating in rather than out.

VENUE Golden Sea, Phoenix Street, Brighouse.

CONTACT 01484 715554

OPENING TIMES Monday-Thursday 5pm-11pm, Friday-Saturday 5pm-11.30pm, Sunday noon-10pm.

DISABLED ACCESS Yes.

THE BILL £53.10 for two, including wine.

WOULD YOU GO BACK Yes.