Wings Chinese Review

April 13, 2015 by Rich - Foodie Reviewer

Wings Chinese Review

Its getting to that time of year again folks, when Louisa starts talking holidays, and I fear for my bank balance. Unlike the majority of the population we always take our annual summer holiday at the beginning of the year, during the winter. It makes perfect sense to me; when the weather is non-stop rain, snow and cold winds, why not jet off to warmer climes. This year’s holiday seems like a distant memory; we spent two glorious weeks in the Caribbean during January as guests of Louisa’s sister to celebrate her nuptials; what a wonderful day that was. Normally by now we have next years booked up, but we have been somewhat slack so far, which would explain Lou’s current anxiety!

So, over the long bank holiday weekend just past, Louisa and I found ourselves discussing where the hell to go! Our decisions on holiday destinations more often than not revolve around; yes you’ve guessed it, food! After all, food is always high on the agenda when on holiday, and what those glorious memories are made of. We’ve had some great food on our travels in previous years; superb curries in India, the freshest seafood in Australia, the hottest Tom Yum soup known to man in Bangkok, even down to a Plat du Jour in a somewhat rough French routier, sat next to the French equivalent of our own ‘white van man’ chuffing away on Gitanes (gosh I sound more travelled than Michael Palin, saying that, more like Carl Pilkington!) All these gourmet memories have their own charm and romance. However, our discussions turned to Hong Kong. Yes, now we’re talking! This is a foodie paradise; dim sum, char siu, crispy pork, crispy goose, chilli crab I could go on forever, all these delights are just the best you’ll ever taste.

As I am sure you have gathered, this sort of food excites me. But the biggest issue you have, is once you have tasted the real deal, it’s such a struggle to find it when you get home. Of course you can hop on the train and head up to China Town, but I do find most of the restaurants here a little impersonal, and rushed. I guess they are just trying to maximise the amount of covers through the door, and who can blame them, I can’t imagine how much the yearly rent would be on a premises in Gerrard Street!

But folks let me share a little secret with you. Probably the best and most authentic Chinese outside China town if not Hong Kong (jeez, that’s a bold statement) is right on our doorstep, yep in Southend, at Wings. So put your train fare back in your pocket and save it for some crispy belly pork at Wings!

As soon as you approach Wings you can see this is what I would describe as a proper Chinese restaurant. I could hardly contain my excitement, crispy belly pork, duck and char siu all hang in the window tempting you inside, just as you see in both China town and on every street corner in Hong Kong. The restaurants décor is by no means flash, wooden benches, basic tables and chairs, but this just adds to its authenticity. Louisa and I arrived here on a Friday evening and the place was packed with people who know were to find good classic Chinese grub. Thankfully we had booked and were shown to our table. Just to point out, this is a good old fashioned family run restaurant, the parents look after the kitchen whilst their two daughters run front of house, simple.

Wings have two menus. One more geared up to the less adventurous diner, with dishes such as beef with black bean and kung po chicken; I wouldn’t turn down any of these, they all sound tasty, but I was after food more reminiscent of my time spent, often late at night, wandering through the narrow lanes of Temple Street, Hong Kong, searching out new foodie delights! So, Ladies and gentleman may I direct you to the alternative, but more authentic menu; this is what the Chinese eat!

Now I class myself as a foodie, but I would find it a challenge to order some of the dishes on the menu; curry fish head in pot or duck feet anyone? Maybe one day I will be brave enough! But, that aside there are some superb sounding dishes on this menu, and I new this was the menu for me!

We started with a soft shell crab each. These are deep fried and served with a pile of crispy fried chilli and garlic, which I could just eat by itself; it is so sweet and sticky. But, combine this with the crab, and you’ve got yourself a real tasty treat.

Then came the dish I have been searching for since my last trip to Hong Kong; the classic mixed roast. Now, this dish is made up of, crispy belly pork, char siu (honey roast pork) and roast duck, the very same tempting roast delights we saw hanging in the window just moments earlier. Served with a chilli oil dipping sauce, I cannot describe just how insanely good this dish is. Crispy, succulent, fatty; yes, I said fatty, do not have this dish if you are on a diet, you need to eat the crispy duck and pork fat, it just makes the dish complete! Combined with the chilli dipping sauce, superb. This dish alone takes me straight back to Hong Kong

Third to arrive, a sea bass. Served whole and steamed with ginger, spring onion and soy. Simple, but simplicity is often best with such a beautiful fish. No disappointments here. This dish came with just some steamed rice, which was a delight when mixed with the soy and fish

Fourth to the table was curry beef brisket with noodles. Forget those gloopy horrible Chinese curries you seem to find in a lot of restaurants, this is a serious dish for the serious foodie. The brisket just falls apart, together with the curry sauce, you just know somebody has taken care over this dish.

I have just realised, so far I have not mentioned anything about alcohol! What’s wrong with me! Is he on the wagon I hear you cry, has he gone ‘Sober for April’ or something? Not a chance people, it was Friday night, and I had abstained from alcoholic beverages all week; I needed a beer! In my view, the only thing to drink at Wings is Tsing Tao; Chinese lager. I really think when eating Asian food you need something you can gulp, weather its Chinese, Thai or Indian, beer is the only way. Sorry to all my wine friends who would argue why not try a Gewürztraminer or a Riesling, I don’t agree. Alright, maybe not a lager maybe a good real ale, but Tsing Tao is what the locals drink, so hey, when in Rome and all that! I was going for authenticity after all.

Well, by this point we had eaten our way through all the dishes on our table. What’s wonderful about this type of dining and sharing, you are welcome to order more dishes if you think you can handle it. However by this point, sadly we could not fit in anymore. Which is a shame as there was so much more I wanted to try, not through gluttony but just shear curiosity; a good excuse to go back me thinks! So, the bill arrived and at £71.50 not bad for all that food!

We left, and were both happy; very happy, Wings is as authentic as it gets, there aint no MSG here my friends, just great Chinese food cooked with love and care. So if you cant get to Hong Kong or simply cant be bothered with the train to London, wander down to Wings and get a taste of the real deal, in our home town! I can guarantee you will not be dissapointed

Ps, if anyone’s brave enough to try the ducks feet, let me know, I would love to know what there are like!