There’s a certain irony that, while the Chinese New Year might remind people how great Chinese food is, and what a welcome addition to the nation’s culinary range it is to have a Chinese takeaway on pretty much every other street, it’s actually harder to get a Chinese takeaway at this time of year.
Many Chinese takeaways are closed for a couple of weeks, or more, as the owners, staff and families often take a well-deserved long break and return to China to visit family and celebrate the Chinese New Year.
So when handed the role of reviewing the best Chinese takeaway in Bristol – as chosen by Bristol Live readers – the fact that it’s shut for the next couple of weeks was something of a logistical challenge.
So we’ll have to wait until they get back to find out why the Beijing Express, on St John’s Road in Bedminster, was picked as a clear winner by the people who said they travel a fair distance to specifically order from there.
I’ll also have to wait until my own personal favourite – Passion Wok in West Street – is back open to explain why I think it gives the Beijing Express a run for its money – that’s also closed for an extended period because of next Wednesday’s Chinese New Year, as were several others.
This was becoming something of a mission, but one place that didn’t let this hungry family down was Asia Express, in Midland Road, just off Old Market. In a previous guise as Luc’s, it was named as one of ‘the best Chinese takeaways in Bristol to try in 2020’, back in the February of that year, just weeks before the first Covid pandemic lockdown.
Now, it’s Asia Express, and the question was ‘is it as good?’ and ‘will the food still be good after two or three miles on the back of a delivery rider’s moped?’ – which, depending on the kind of food ordered, is often an important question.
The family ordered a range of food, and all of it was pretty tasty. The plain chow mein was just about perfect – a lot of bean sprouts and onions, and it was a very big portion.
The spring rolls were way too crispy on the outside, but the inside was still a soft consistency, and the sweet and sour chicken was nicely tangy. There wasn’t a lot of sauce though – something also true of the sweet and sour tofu dish, but because of this, the chicken itself was still very crispy.
If it was sitting in the sauce all the way from Old Market to South Bristol, it would usually go softer, so that was a good sign that it was made recently and still very fresh.
The mushroom chow mein contained good sized large mushrooms that still had a bite, a great sign they were fresh and cooked well, and the seasoning on the salt and pepper tofu was perfect.
Most people over-order when their eyes get bigger than their bellies on a food app, but a word of caution with the delicious Asia Express – the portion sizes are pretty big. A straightforward sweet and sour dish with rice was easily two platefuls, and it passed the reheat the next day test with flying colours too.
With most mains costing around £8.50 and an egg fried rice to accompany that another £4.50, it is on the more expensive end of the Chinese takeaway range Bristol has to offer, but it was certainly worth it.