Review of 'Oriental Magic'
On a Saturday night we were in the mood for a Chinese takeaway (bearing in mind we are talking about an English-STYLE Chinese takeaway) in Nantwich. Our first choice was the highly rated “Chopstix” on Beam Street which, despite it's name, is quite fancy inside. We popped in to see if they could do us a takeaway and the answer was no since they had so many orders they could not do ours for a few hours…Slightly dejected we instead visited “Oriental Magic” around the corner on Market Street, opposite the bus station.
“Oriental Magic” is takeaway only and with no frills whatsoever - On the phone or in person it is cash only but they accept credit cards via their web site. The slightly dingy interior consists of a waiting area and an order counter surrounded by plexiglass. There is a menu on the wall but they also have a shiny brochure. It is divided into (deep breath): “Soups”, “Appetisers”, “Fried Rice Dishes”, “Chow Mein (Noodle) Dishes”, “Japanese Udon Noodle”, “Sweet & Sour Dishes”, “Curry Dishes”, “Special Dishes”, “King Prawn Dishes”, “Duck Dishes”, “Chicken Dishes”, “Beef Dishes”, “Roast Pork Dishes”, “Chop Suey Dishes”, “Egg Foo Yung Dishes”, “Vegetarian Dishes”, “English Dishes”, “Side Portions” “All-in-One Meals”, “Children's Happy Meal”, and “Set Meal” for 1 (£11, two options), 2 (£26), 3 (£38) and 4 (£54) people. There is also “ Salt & Pepper Munchy Box” (£15; a staple, it seems, of Chinese restaurants in the area).
We opted for the set menu for two (£26) which consisted of:
- 1/4 Crispy Aromatic Duck
- Chicken with Green Pepper in Black Bean Sauce
- Crispy Beef in Sweet Chilli Sauce
- Yung Chow Fried Rice (containing egg) (Large)
- Prawn Crackers
We also ordered the “Mini Spring Roll” (£3.50; meat). We sat down by ourselves to wait for our order. They were obviously very busy accepting many telephone orders and a lot of people coming to pick up their order and leaving. After about 15 minutes our order was ready, packed up in transparent plastic containers stacked in two white plastic bags.
The “Crispy Aromatic Duck” consisted of a small (plastic) packet of very thin wrappers (that tended to split very easily), a large portion of shredded duck, sliced green onions and cucumber along with a good sized container of hoisin sauce. The duck was surprisingly moist and other than the disintegrating wrappers, this was all quite good indeed.
The “Yung Chow Fried Rice” was full of all sorts of things including not only egg but small shrimp and pork pieces. Quite nice and served as a good base for the other dishes.
The “Chicken with Green Pepper in Black Bean Sauce” had a good amount of flavour with many large pieces of chicken in a gloopy, but nicely umami sauce with lots of large pieces of green pepper.
Another good sized portion was the “Crispy Beef” had a very flavourful sauce and very crispy as well, perhaps too crispy as it was quite hard to eat. The copious amount of sauce was soaked up nicely by the rice. Could not really taste the beef, but, I suppose, that is the nature of this dish.
The ubiquitous prawn crackers came in their own plastic bag, once again a good sized portion of the white-style, think prawn crackers but with no dipping sauce provided. The crackers were perfectly crunchy and tasty.
The “Mini Spring Rolls” consisted of four short sprig rolls (again, with no sauce) with a good amount of filling. Nicely, they did not overdo the bean sprouts which is quite common.
“Oriental Magic” does what is says on the tin with good prices and good portion sizes as well. Tasty enough for this type of restaurant, the dishes are not exceptional but the taste is quite good.
Rating: “It is OK but I have some issues”
Review Date: 2024-02-17
Cuisine: Chinese
Address: 11 Market St, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 5DG ENGLAND
Location: Cheshire (England) - Nantwich
Map:
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Telephone: +44 (0) 1270 626465
URL: https://www.orientalmagic.co.uk/