We’ve tried the best Chinese takeaway in the city according to our readers, now we have tried the lowest-rated Chinese takeaway to see if it really was that bad, as community reporter Keimae Blake reports….
At the end of a long week, there are few things better than curling up on your sofa, putting on the television and ordering in a takeaway. Millions of us take the shortcut every week and whether we opt for an Indian, Chinese, or even a trusty fish and chips, we will normally opt for a high-rated venue or an old favourite restaurant.
But not all takeaways draw the praise of their customers, so we decided to put the lowest-rated Chinese takeaway on Trip Advisor - New Culture Takeaway on Hartley Road - to the test. The Radford venue has been scored 1-and-a-half stars out of five on the website, so I'll be honest, my hopes were not high.
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Despite my misgivings, I placed my order and sat down with an episode of The Bill while I waited for it to arrive. An hour later it reached my front door and I must say it did smell wonderful - so far, so good.
Getting a plate, unlike last time when I had a Chinese, I shared out what I had got - prawn toast, egg fried rice, prawn chow mein and my favourite, sweet and sour chicken balls. I have been eating healthy lately and hitting the gym again, but I couldn't say no to a Chinese.
While the food smelled wonderful, I did have some concerns, as my chicken balls looked a bit soggy, as did my prawn toast. The sweet and sour sauce definitely helped give the food a bit of a kick and added a little more flavour but all in, the king prawn chow mein was by far the best.
My egg-fried rice was rather clumpy and a bit hard so I only had a few mouthfuls. I can't sit here and say my hour's wait for food was totally worth it, but the one-and-a-half star rating is harsh, in my opinion.
While not my favourite, New Culture is affordable. The chicken balls were £5.50 for 10, the prawn chow mein was £6, a large egg fried rice for £3.50, sesame seed toast for a fiver and free prawn crackers.
The affordable pricing however didn’t take away the fact that, for me, the taste was a little disappointing. I would give it a four out of 10.
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