The China Room in Westhoughton's Pavillion Square is a Cantonese restaurant, which on the outside boasts things such as air conditioning, various discounts, and winner of the 'biggest spring roll'. These sorts of things you'd expect on the outside of a cheap Chinese restaurant or a take-away, but The China Room is a good few rungs above the common herd.



A few years ago when this place was called The Pavillion, it was a proper old-fashioned English-Chinese restaurant, complete with waiters in black waistcoats and bowties, plinky-plonky music, and finger bowls. Now it's become modern and fresh, whilst still retaining a few traditional touches, such as the Chinese design chairs. The staff wear t-shirts, and are more relaxed, whilst still being very friendly and professional, which is pleasant.

The house white. We were offered to taste it before accepting it too.

We were a group of four, and decided to go for 'Set Menu E' which was the 'Banquet Menu', and good god they weren't kidding! At several points we forgot what else was coming out after each course, it was an Oriental magical mystery tour!


Set Menu E was £23.50 per person and included a choice of two soups: chicken and sweetcorn or (as seen above) the classic hot and sour soup. We all agreed the soups were delicious, and the hot and sour soup left your nose running and your throat warm, despite tons of flavour... that's the sign of a good hot and sour soup! 



My favourite part was the above platter, which had some of the tastiest ribs I've ever tasted, deliciously crisp chicken spring rolls, some curried samosas (which were nice, but an unusual choice), and some prawn dumplings as well as good ol' 'seaweed'. This whole platter was delicious, and not a single bit was left at the end, not even a strand of seaweed! 

One thing I did like is that between courses, when clearing the table, the waitress would use a little table-top vacuum cleaner thingy... well, not a vacuum, but what looked like a glasses case with rotating brushes in it to brush up the crumbs and detritus on the table. I liked this as I hadn't seen it before.


The next part was a duck, which was beautifully shredded for us by our waitress at the table. We agreed that sometimes a duck can be dry, but this one was delicious and full of flavour, perfectly accented by the delicious hoisin sauce and pancakes, and a lovely generous bowl of excellent quality fried rice, which we thought was akin to a paella, complete with prawns, but still delicious. There's no shame in admitting that this was taken home in a doggy bag!

At this point we were asked if we'd like a five or ten minute break before the next course, which I think is a great idea, and very thoughtful, but we decided to try and be heroes, and carried on regardless!

Also at this point a musician came into the restaurant and started playing instrumental versions of various 80s and 90s songs. He was good, and it was pleasant, if not a little bit loud as he used an amp. We did however find ourselves playing "name that tune" amongst ourselves, but it was nice to have live music with dinner.


Carrying on, this was the part where we were trying to remember what the next dishes coming out was, followed by "oh yes, I forgot that part!" as we were presented with four plates containing more deliciousness, this time a very juicy beef in garlic with spring onions, some pork, some very tasty vegetables with a unique flavouring, and a delicious sweet and sour chicken, which stood out for me as sometimes Chinese sweet and sour chicken can be quite soggy, but this was succulent with a lovely crisp outer, which was superb!





Service was friendly and attentive, and we never had to wait long to have our plates cleared or to be kept updated with drinks by the friendly and helpful team. 

The China Room is a great place for a nice dinner out whether on a budget, or for a special occasion, as you always get that good service and the excellent quality food. The nice thing about it being in Pavillion Square is that you have an abundance of free parking right outside, making it easier to waddle back to your car after being filled up with delicious food!


The China Room
9 Pavillion Square
Westhoughton
Bolton
(01942) 859 888
www.thechinaroom.co.uk


  

China Room on Urbanspoon

The China Room

by on 09:46
The China Room in Westhoughton's Pavillion Square is a Cantonese restaurant, which on the outside boasts things such as air condi...

Bengal Cottage in Horwich has pretty much taken the Bolton restaurant scene by storm. In the unit which was formerly 'The Red Onion' and then 'HaLay', when the signs first went up for Bengal Cottage - opening soon, the residents of Horwich pretty much thought "oh great, another Indian restaurant", but never have we been so happily wrong!

Welcome to flavour country, folks.


The first thing I must comment on is by far the food. If you've been to an Indian Restaurant in recent years and been underwhelmed, go to this place to have your passion re-ignited! The chef (pictured below) knows his cooking and service, and quite rightly has been voted Curry Chef of the Year 2012-2013!

The food quality alone is superb! It's fresh, tasty, and jam packed with flavour! Even though they also Tweet about contenders of their "hottest curry" challenge over on their Twitter, the focus generally with their offerings is definitely on delicious flavours and high quality ingredients rather than trying to blow your head off with spice. Even the simple naan bread pictured above was deliciously fresh and warm.

It's no surprise they won Curry Chef of the Year 2012-2013!

The chef and the other staff are superb when it comes to customer service! Friendly, warm and engaging, they are happy to help you choose what may be to your taste, or what they may recommend. The chef himself is often on the floor speaking to customers and making sure everything is okay. He even came over to our table to personally wish my mother a happy birthday and wish us a pleasant evening, as he remembered that I had booked a few months before to bring my mum to Bengal Cottage for her birthday.

About that though, I'd booked a few months ago for "5pm", and was told it was fine, but the restaurant actually opens at 5:30pm, which we didn't know. However, when we went there at 5, although the restaurant wasn't 'open', we were able to enter and sit in a comfy seating area by the bar, until a friendly staff member came over to assess the situation, and even though we would've been happy to go for a wander for half an hour, they were happy to seat us, put the music on, and effectively open up early... just for us! That's service, folks!

The venue is small but not cramped, and is modern and stylish in its décor and furnishings. Pleasant Indian music plays in the background, or the flat-screen TV shows big glitzy Bollywood musical numbers, which I loved.

The menu is large but not over the top. Each section is clearly explained and displayed, and all terminology is elaborated upon. They also have some amazing offers. We went on a Wednesday night for my mum's birthday, which was 'banquet night' ... 5 courses for £9.99 each!  Sorry, let me just repeat that... FIVE COURSES OF FRESH INDIAN CUISINE BY THE CURRY CHEF OF THE YEAR, FOR LESS THAN A TENNER!! Got that? Good!



It's easy to miss Bengal Cottage on Horwich's busy Lee Lane high street, especially as both Lee Lane and Winter Hey Lane are packed full of take-aways as it is, so you might see the small outside of the restaurant and mistakenly think it's another take-away, but even though they offer a take-away service, this is no run-of-the-mill Horwich take-away. It's one of the best Indian restaurants I've been to in years, and I highly recommend you visit soon!


(Mum had a fantastic birthday meal there, and has made it clear she
wants us to take her back there on her next birthday!)


Go. Just go. You'll see :)


Bengal Cottage
80A Lee Lane
Horwich
Bolton
BL6 7AE
(01204) 771 393
www.facebook.com/BengalCottage.Restaurant.Bar





Bengal Cottage on Urbanspoon

Bengal Cottage

by on 10:54
Bengal Cottage in Horwich has pretty much taken the Bolton restaurant scene by storm. In the unit which was formerly 'The Red Onion&...