With many struggling for cash and having to resist the urge to spend on a delicious takeaway, Marks & Spencer's Chinese Takeaway Box has caught the eye of many eager shoppers. To test how the supermarket's 'Chinese Favourites' box measured up to that of a traditional takeaway, Birmingham Live reporter Emily Collis dined on the new item.
For just £12 the box contains Chinese-style egg-fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, beef and black bean sauce, battered chicken breast pieces with sweet chilli sauce, vegetable chow mein and four vegetable spring roles. Each item only takes 25 minutes to cook in the oven.
Emily said: "Our bowls were overflowing - and we still had about a third of the food left in their trays. We tucked in, planning to go back for seconds. The spring rolls were flaky and packed with flavoursome veg. The noodles weren't far off, either, and the vegetables were still nice and crunchy.
"We'd expected the chicken pieces to taste like Chinese chicken balls, but they were more like misshapen nuggets, although tasty nonetheless. The other chicken option was a bit dry, but the sweet and sour sauce was lovely and tangy - not too sweet, like some - so made up for it.
"The beef in black bean wasn't quite as nice as our takeaway's, but the salty sauce still packed a punch. The same couldn't be said for the sweet chilli dip, however, which was a little bland. The rice, too, was a bit plain and tasted boiled, rather than fried, but it was fine."
With the items in total an absolute steal an just £12, Emily said she was "really impressed with the M&S Chinese Takeaway box". While the food did not contain quite enough spice, she adds "the flavours were all there for the most part."
Emily adds: "The sheer amount of food was incredibly generous and you could probably even stretch it to feed three.
Half the box contains just over 1,000 calories, so it's definitely a treat meal, but probably significantly less calories than the average order from a real Chinese takeaway. M&S's version is great value for money, even at £12, and worth trying - if only for the chow mein and spring rolls.
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