You really can ‘Canton’ this top Chinese takeaway
We tried Canton Chop Suey House - the highest-rated Chinese e takeaway in the area
W ITH the Year of the Ox now upon n us, plenty of people took the time to celebrate Chinese New Year r with a surprisingly British staple, the Chinese takeaway. Deciding to get in on the trend, I thought I should base my food review on a Chinese takeaway.
It didn’t take long for me to decide on where to order from, however, after writing a list of f the ten best Chinese takeaways in North East t Lincolnshire according to TripAdvisor r reviews.
This ranking puts Cleethorpes’ Canton Chop Suey House at the very top, with plenty y of praise for its fresh, high quality food. The takeaway has been open for 42 years and describes itself as Cleethorpes’ number r one Chinese takeaway.
So I decided to give it a go and see just how w good it is.
WHAT I ORDERED
To make the order, I headed to the takeaway y directly to place it. I was already out at the time and thought it best to save the money and hassle of getting it delivered - especially living less than 10 minutes’ drive away from it. Pulling up, the car park was surprisingly y empty despite it being the weekend of the Chinese New Year, and I was able to walk in n straight away.
The staff were quick to be at the till to take my order, and were very helpful when I asked d questions about the menu.
As it was just for myself and had a limited chance of sampling the menu, I decided to be a bit naughty and go for the Canton Deep Fried Special Mix Box for some appetisers/ sides.
I figured it was the best way to try as much of the menu as possible while also not ordering 10-12 dishes for just one person, as it came with crispy seaweed, mini spring rolls, prawn toast, spare ribs, chicken wings, and prawn crackers.
As well as this, I went for an incredibly British classic for my main - sweet and sour Chinese chicken balls with fried rice and chips. I was tempted by the duck in orange sauce but decided to go old school instead.
After ordering, I went back out to the car and waited for my order to be ready, taking no longer than about ten minutes - which was a great turnaround for the food.
THOUGHTS ON THE FOOD
Let’s start with the appetisers. Everything was a very high quality in the box, even though I was very concerned about how greasy a “deep fried special mix box” could be. I love crispy seaweed, so that was an obvious highlight. It was in the bottom of the box and dusted with brown sugar on top. If you’ve never had it before, I would recommend giving it a try.
There were two different types of spring rolls, which were both very nice. I wasn’t too sure about the difference between them, but figured one might be the bigger chicken spring roll while the other was the smaller vegetable version.
Prawn toast is another Chinese classic that I love, Canton’s had good flavour and a good crunch. Both the spare rib and the chicken wings were very good as well. It was a good box of food and perfect to share or have as leftovers the day after.
For the chicken balls, fried rice, and chips, Canton also delivered. The fried chicken balls had a good flavour, both with the batter and the chicken, and they were very much crispy, even following the drive home.
The fried rice was a standard, and good, fried rice, while the chips were also a big positive - as they tasted great and were crispy on the outside, soft in the middle - the perfect type of chip. The sweet and sour sauce was also good. Often it can be either too sweet or too tangy, but it was a nice balance between the two and worked well with the rest of the dish.
The portions were absolutely huge, too. I had more than enough for leftovers the day after, you could order this between two of you and still be struggling to finish it.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, Canton smashed it out of the park. They had great tasting, fresh food, a quick turnaround for orders, polite and helpful staff, and it was also very affordable.
The food along with a can of Coke came to just over £18 - and you could knock £7.30 of that off by removing the appetiser if you just want the main.
But, ideally, you’d be splitting it between the two of you, which would come out at just £9 per person, which is more than affordable given the standard and quantity of food provided.
It will definitely be hard to take the crown from Canton any time soon, and it is very much deserving of its title.