On a cold February evening we received a very warm welcome at the Golden Willow Chinese restaurant in Storrington. The restaurant’s location next to the duck pond is a great spot and the large round tables with thick linen cloths give a feeling of ‘occasion’ when visiting to eat in – a take-away service is also available.
Our visit came at the end of a difficult week after the loss of a family pet, so we all needed some cheering up.
Food is one of the best ways to bring families together and I challenge anyone to not be cheered by the sight and aroma of a plate of Chinese mixed hors d’oeuvres.
Everyone dug in to the delicious prawn toasts and crunchy spring rolls dipped in tasty sweet and sour sauce. Satay is my favourite and the Golden Willow’s chicken satay sauce is rich and thick with crunchy peanuts, totally morish.
The new owner and head chef Andy has moved to the area from Bicester village Oxfordshire where he had another restaurant. He has worked in hospitality in Malaysia, Japan and Singapore and has a team of five working with him in Storrington. Andy told us that after several weeks of chasing the telephone company, they had finally reestablished their main landline number owned by the restaurant for many years. “We’ve been really busy over Chinese New Year and also for Valentine’s Day” Andy told us, “local people have been very positive about our food and we are getting some lovely comments from both regular and new customers”.
We asked Andy about deliveries, he told us, “The quality of our food is the most important thing for us so we prefer to serve people here in the restaurant or, if people want to collect food they can, but after considering this, we are not going to offer a delivery service at the moment.”
No Chinese meal is complete without duck pancakes, my children’s favourite. The succulent shredded meat, the delicate rice pancakes and the dark, syrupy plum sauce. The trick is not to eat too many as the main course is still to come!
The collaborative style of Chinese food with everyone dipping in, makes for an especially sociable meal. I was delighted with my sizzling lamb – the arrival of which turned heads from other diners. We also ordered an “essential” sweet and sour dish, a vegetarian tofu option, a veg chow-mein and in addition to the staple ’egg fried’ we sampled a wonderful garlic and coriander fried rice. The servers were attentive and friendly and the low lighting helped disguise a few escaped bean shoots and sweet and sour sauce on the tablecloth.
5 Pulborough Road, Storrington RH20 4HJ
01903 740333 / www.goldenwillowstorrington.com/
