I have finally tried the legendary Hull Chinese takeaway subject to rave reviews from locals.
Last December, Hull Live readers voted Mr Chiu as their favourite Chinese takeaway. It got an impressive 558 votes, with the four next-best takeaways receiving 151, 120, 88, and 75 votes respectively.
That said, I was definitely expecting something special when I place my very first Mr Chiu order. Unlike the majority of takeaways in Hull, Mr Chiu does not appear to have a way to view a menu and order online.
However, there is a phone number which I rang and the female staff member was helpful; informing me I could collect or order takeaway – and it is cash-only.
I was glad I checked because I rarely carry cash and don’t live near an ATM, so I made a diversion en-route. Mr Chiu itself is on a bit of a dessert island in terms of amnesties, situated on the A1033 opposite the impressive Salt End Chemicals Park.
The interior was clean and spacious, with a large front counter for making and collecting orders and bench-style seating. The menu had many typical British favourites: chow mein, aromatic duck, satay dishes, and curry sauce.
My usual order when I get Chinese is Mapo because it is light and spicy, although I’m also partial to black bean sauce which has a rich umami flavour. I couldn’t spot those on the menu, so thought I’d try something I hadn’t had in about a decade: sweet and sour.
I also ordered some vegetable spring rolls, chow mein noodles, and mixed vegetable fried rice. It took less than 20 minutes to be ready, which I thought was pretty fast.
When I unboxed it all at home, I was staggered at the portion size of mixed vegetable fried rice, which could feed three to four people if used as a side. It was just as well: £6.90 is definitely at the pricier end of the spectrum.
The sweet and sour was a bit blander than I expected, but I was glad it wasn’t sickly sweet. The vegetables in all the dishes mostly consisted of carrot, green pepper, and copious amounts of onion.
I like onion, but these huge, crunchy chunks were rather pungent, so I picked out a lot of it to try and taste other flavours. The spring rolls were probably my favourite part of the meal, the batter was doughy rather than crispy but they tasted good.
Thanks to the huge portions of noodles and rice, there were plenty of leftovers to stick in the fridge. The food was actually even better the next day; the flavours developed a bit more and the onion mellowed in taste and softened in texture thanks to the microwave.