Yuen Shan

We inadvertently celebrated Chinese New Year at Yeun Shan, by that I mean we’d not realised till afterwards that it was actually Chinese New Year, or Valentines Day. Ooops. The table we were sat at had a hot plate thing in the middle and a large and slightly off-putting extractor overhead. We were compelled to order from the £4.95 lunch menu, the thankfully shorter lunch menu. I decided to be daring and order wonton soup. Steve ordered Sweet and Sour Chicken. And as soon as both arrived I realised I’d made a heinous mistake. My watery noodles were what I expected yet ridiculously unsatisfying when compared to the flavourful and bright looking dish opposite. The insipid soups' only flavour came from the soppy wonton, and I've quickly become conscious that my love affair with Chinese dumplings was swiftly waning. Instead of ‘little parcels of heaven’ I find the texture vaguely grotesque, both the innards and the outtards, especially in this broth, the parcels completely broke down and practically melted. The meat inside, which I once found revelatory, I now find rough textured, salty and off-puttingly pink. I think I may have over done it and sickened myself with them. Instead of eating my own I ate surreptitiously off of the other plate – to begin with was a delight, but after some time it was rather too sweet, not enough sour. It was a shame.