Chinatown, Manchester: On the hunt for 'real' Chinese food

On a first date in Manchester’s Chinatown 12 years ago I promised my unsuspecting ladyfriend a culinary treat of a night out. A Bacchanalian feast. A smorgasbord of Chinese treats, all on me. Yes, I selected an infamous Chinese buffet, enticing us through its gilded doors with its all-you-could-eat, MSG-laden, questionable-meat filled sticky dishes, all rounded off with unlimited bowls of vanilla ice cream.

Maybe I was nervous, or just starving, but I gorged so much that on leaving I vommed behind a wheelie bin on Princess Street with my date as witness. We are now married with a child.  

Said lady and I have just returned from a stint in China, where we have pretty much relentlessly eaten for five years straight. Now, it’s a bit of a cliché to bang on about how totally different, bastardised or butchered British versions of foreign cuisines are (think chicken tikka masala or microwaved spag bol), but it is, of course, true – and in some cases, Chinese food can offer an extreme example. With British colonial influences and immigration to the UK from Hong Kong in the late 1940s, it was only natural that Cantonese food, with its home in Canton (Guangzhou), would filter through to the UK first, sweetened up to suit the delicate British palate. But what about the rest of the colossus that is the 'Middle Kingdom'?

It seems on the surface that, in our absence, Chinese food in Britain has experienced something of a revolution. London’s Michelin-starred stalwart Hakkasan continues to set a benchmark for top-notch Cantonese grub in the capital. Yes, Cantonese still seems to rule the roost, but things are changing quickly with the likes of Camberwell’s Xinjiang restaurant Silk Road, where cumin-infused lamb shish wafts across packed tables of Tsingtao-guzzling punters.

But what’s happened in Manchester in the dozen years since my body rejected – and ejected – the state of play here? Fresh off the boat from Beijing and equipped with Sinophile food snobbery, I went out into Manchester’s Chinatown on the hunt for something ‘real,’ and also to be that loudmouth back from his travels.

The first calling point was the George Street institution that is Hunan. After practising our Chinese on restaurant manager Hanni Hayes, she told of her optimism that the knowledge and sophistication of regional Chinese food is developing. “As China becomes more open and accessible, sooner or later people will realise that there is so much more to Chinese food,” she says. Hunan’s use of simple ingredients, including lashings of garlic and chilli, has delighted foodies in the area since 2010, and 80 per cent of their clientele hail from the local Chinese community. Altering the other 20 per cent's preconceptions, however, is proving challenging: “A lot of British people might not like the idea of eating salmon heads or frog’s legs.” Lung features on the menu here too, along with intestines and pig’s feet – but don’t be put off. You must try the red braised pork. Accompanied with something as simple as their fried egg and tomato dish, it really doesn’t get more authentic than this, and at very reasonable prices.

With our spirits lifted, we also checked out Oxford Road’s Red Chilli, another Manchester favourite, serving up good value northern Chinese and Sichuan food. You should race there to lap up their Gongbao chicken. Try the Beijing spring onion pancakes and excellent pork-filled dumplings, too. This is everything fusion Sichuan/Beijing food should be: mouth-numbing and messy, spattering vinegar and oil everywhere. Bring an apron.

The same goes for Red N Hot on Faulkner Street. Here you can dispense with the chef and fish out pieces of meat from a boiling broth, known as hot pot or steam boat. This is fondue, Chinese style, and is the ultimate in Sichuan comfort food.

Manchester does cater to the other end of the financial spectrum with the likes of Michelin Guide recommended Wing's on Lincoln Square or, for a similarly glitzy taste of new China, Ocean Treasure 235 on Watson Street. The former has some excellent dim sum, though that aside, the menu is relatively dull and sits comfortably within the Cantonese norms at above-average prices (there is also a dress code); the latter has a slightly more adventurous menu than Wing’s but still, frustratingly, relies on set menus laden with black bean sauces. But what about the buffets, we hear you cry? Well, they are certainly still there, but we can’t say we’ve braved a return. Maybe an anniversary visit to celebrate our repatriation...? Nah.