Working on the MyFoodHunt journey takes me all over the place and all over the world, but sometimes when I am driving over to South Notts to feed my Mum’s cat, I am just looking for something quick to pick up on my way.

East Leake is kind of en-route (ish) and I have found myself stopping off and picking up the odd takeaway.

I think that we all do that sometimes, we cant all dine out every night,  and with the Nottingham Food Blog in my mind it is not all about fine dining, or just the new place in town.

No it is really is about anywhere that you can pick up something tasty to fuel your soul and fill your stomach. I like to keep it real and keep it honest.

So it comes to pass that I find myself telling the off track tale of how I like to Scoff a bit of Chinese Takeaway when the moment and the mood find themselves on the same path as me and my belly.

I like the Golden Star Chinese takeaway in EastLeake, and have often (well perhaps 3-4 time a year) have popped in to get a quick fix of their westernised Chinese fare.

It is tucked away in the front of what seems to be someone’s house just off the Main Street next to the big co-op. I know that it is not particularly authentic but there is something so familiar and desirable about filling your mouth with this sort of Chinese.

Perhaps it is because we grew up in the 70’s and having a Chinese takeaway was a rare treat and almost exotic.

Spicy Chicken wings

These days I can be picky and also not picky when I peruse the takeaway menu looking for something to tickle my fancy.

I do like to order the fried spicy Chicken wings. I know that they are probably really bad for me, but they are still a lot of fun, crunchy thin coating that is both salty, spicy, and tasty at the same time. The chicken inside these ones is always pretty moist and juicy.

I wonder why it is that the Chinese community are just so much better at cooking this sort of fare than all those hipster pretenders selling fried chicken at inflated prices from a food truck?  Perhaps it is also because I am getting twice as much at half the price?

However it is not a guilt free trip, I know that this is going straight onto the hip alongside those other meals that have already found their home there

Kung Po Chicken

This is another one of those terribly westernized dishes that you know is so bad for you, but for some reason is just so eatable. This looks like some sort of sweet and sour chicken dish, but it was actually a Kung Po, this time basically a spicy chicken and cashew version.

The Chicken is coated in some sort of really sticky almost glutinous stuff, I love it, but it is so wrong. This really isn’t my sort of Kung Po, but it was as I said a few sentences ago so goddam scoffable.

The downside was the fried rice, which they sell in so many of these places, it is is truly dreadful. Sticky in a bad way, lacking in flavour, its sole purpose seems to be to fill you up with stodge. I always seem to order it though, so go figure, I never learn. Yes if you want to test me I can do better, and you know what they can too, it is our fault as westerners that we never challenge it. In China it is not like this, it is nice.

Chopstick House

Chopstick House, also on Main Street, is the other Chinese in East Leake that I have often popped into with the same level of frequency.

What can I say to imply a difference between here and the Golden Star? Well it is on the other side of the road? It is basically the same, one might have a slightly bigger fish tank than the other one, and one might have a bigger window, Oh yeh that’s it, one has a counter facing the window and one has a counter at right angles.

Lets be honest it is also a Chinese takeaway and there are basically serving the same sort of stuff, so I choose the one with the best parking when I visit.

Salt and Pepper Fried Chicken strips

This is another deep fried or wok fried treat, basically salt and pepper fried Chicken strips. They add some semblance of green veg with a few slices of spring onion or scallions, but basically you are just getting some awesome fried chicken strips and a nod towards your 5-a-day. Lets be honest though I am not even thinking about my 5 when I order this, I am thinking about how hungry I am.

Close up it looks even better and even more fried, I would not mind jumping onto the number 1 South Notts bus out to East Leake to get another metal container full of this Chicken. This is probably my favourite, not even guilty pleasure, from the UK Chinese takeaway. It is not always on the menu, but when it is, it usually hits the spot.

Chow Mein Noodles

What else do I like to order? well for one most times just a simple plate of Chow Mein Noodles like this. It might not seem to be anything special, but I do love these. They are almost the closest thing to the food I ate when I lived in China many years back in the late 90’s. There was a street food stall in the University of Wuhan where I was working that served up simple fried noodles and plain egg fried rice. I stopped there most nights to get a bowlful of one or the other. Happy food memories are always triggered when I order this.

 

Even though most of the Chinese takeaways serve Chinese food for us Western people there is still something that brings us in time after time.

These two Chinese Restaurants in East Leake are in the same vein and I still like to pick up a little snack on occasion from both

Next time I am over that way I will pick up the menu’s to get the pricing of my faves.

 

The Golden Star is Located at