China Rose

735 Manchester Road, Milnsbridge

Rating

Venue China Rose

Tel 01484 648099

Website N/A

Opening hours Mon-Sat 5pm-11.30pm, Sun Noon-11.30pm

Children Yes

Disabled access Yes

The bill £57.55 for two courses and wine for two

Would you go back? Possibly

THERE’S a lot of 80s nostalgia going on at the moment.

Whether it be in music, fashion (big shoulder pads) or in TV, the decade when greed was good, braces were de rigeur and Thatcher ruled the roost is hot property.

Little did I know that through my visit to China Rose, I would join John Simm and Keeley Hawes as a time traveller like them in Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes.

When you first approach the restaurant, you realise it is in a former rectory.

The grand villa looks more like a setting for an Agatha Christie murder mystery than a restaurant.

After being welcomed in, we were seated in a bar which could have been tended by Doug McClure.

Perusing the menu – in my copy the first page spoke of Christmas Dinner. We visited in April – me and my partner (the DCI Gene Hunt to my naive, rookie cop-cum-gourmet) decided upon a bottle of wine.

Picking the house white, we looked around the room (complete with porcelain horses, roaring fire, Chinese calendars and one of those bars you find in Blackpool hotels) we decided upon two starters – salt and pepper spare ribs, crispy duck; two mains – chicken kung-po and a beef szechuan sizzler-style dish, as well as picking out portions of rice and noodles.

The lady running the restaurant, who was very polite and efficient, time travelled with us and took us from the 80s bar into the 90s dining room, replete with some sort of soft-rock (it may have been in Cantonese, but I’m not sure).

It was a Thursday night at about eight but there were only three other diners in the room, which can probably seat about 30.

The ribs and duck came out and the lady, who wore a lovely sweater, shredded the duck at the table.

The ribs were OK: well done but surprisingly filling. The duck again was fine, if a little dry, but the crunchy fresh vegetables offset that.

Finishing the first bottle of house white and moving on to bottle number two The Guv and I were excited about our main courses, which came in just the right amount of time – not too much that you’re still wiping your mouth or not too long that you’re thinking about breaking open an emergency pack of Chewits.

My dish, the chicken kung-po was nice and glutinous with a thick sauce slathered over chicken pieces, which appeared to be fried bread croutons and little bits of carrots and other veg.

It was served on those faux-Ming dynasty style blue and white plates which only added to the taste as I tucked in like an emperor.

My partner’s sizzly thing did the trick, sizzling and spitting on a hot skillet brought to the table and she said everything was as it should be – lots of beef, vegetables and a sauce thickening as it reduced away on the hot plate.

The noodles and rice did their job and bulked out my tum and soaked up the sauce.

Towards the end of the meal the Oriental soft-rock was replaced by what sounded like the songs from Spielberg movies (first up ET theme tune) and my camel-coated and driving-gloved up partner and I ruminated on the China Rose dining experience.

The food isn’t the latest flashy Oriental cuisine with whistles and bells, but is no worse for it.

But what clinched a sort-of thumbs up for me was the whole experience – it’s a very friendly and slightly bizarre experience which won me over.

As DCI Hunt himself might paraphrase: “Fire up the kung-po!”