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.

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.

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!