NOW this is something of a rare event ¬– a Chinese restaurant review.

We have been publishing this column for 12 years and you can count the number of oriental eateries reviewed here on the fingers of one hand. I say oriental because there haven’t been many Thai places visited either and I’ve yet to hear of a Japanese restaurant in these parts – there was, allegedly, a place behind the university in Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough, in 2011 but it must have lasted only five minutes.

To be frank, I’m not a big fan – a terrible admission for a food critic with supposedly catholic tastes to make I know. It may be something to do with a period in my student years where I lived in a community which had one takeaway – a Chinese. It had the merit of being very handy and quick (everything was “abou ten minute”) but that was about all.

The menu was endless but it didn’t take very long for me to realise that even when I hadn’t spent a dissolute evening in the union drinking taste bud-anaesthetising beer, everything from this place tasted of the same thing – monosodium glutamate, the stable flavour enhancer of Chinese cooking.

So apologies for all you Chinese food enthusiasts, we’ve let you down. Mind, it could be said that it’s your own fault - you haven’t exactly been queuing up to recommend your favourites.

Almost inevitably, there is an exception. In 2004, on the recommendation of many and Sylvia, we ate at the Eastern Bamboo, something of an institution in Darlington’s Northgate. We wrote about how the Ma family had opened up 33 years previously (possibly the first “foreign” restaurant in the town) and had set the standard for Cantonese cooking hereabouts. Sylvia had recalled as a young woman when a trip to town with the Cockerton crew to the cinema (now the Odeon, then the ABC) and then afterwards to the Eastern Bamboo was about as adventurous and exciting an evening one could have in early 1970s Darlington.

Our enthusiasm in 2004 was tempered only by the rather utilitarian decor. We said that was OK because they were about to close for refurbishment. What the refurbishment consisted of we can’t recall; suffice to say that in 2015 it looks almost exactly the same. Spotless certainly but very dated – and possibly the most uncomfortable dining chairs I’ve sat on for some time.

But, Bamboo aficionados will say that’s part of the charm and what really matters is Raymond Ma’s cooking and the friendly but deferential service of the staff led by Sally Ma.

We spent a long time looking at the menu, especially me. I never know what to order in Chinese restaurants. The easy cop out is the set menu but I felt I should be grown up and chose from the carte.

Our shared starter – the “hors d’oeuvres platter” – was, in a way, something of a cop out – a veritable smorgasbord (just to add further international flavour to the description) of little dishes. It wasn’t quite as billed on the menu but the collection included crisp and dry spring rolls, surprisingly spicy chicken satay, more-ish prawn toasts, tender char sui, something which we can’t recall the name but (Shanghai chicken perhaps) but was in a lovely light batter and, my personal highlight, crispy beef – tangy, crisp-round-the-edges in a sweet-sour sauce.

Having mucked around with chopsticks for a little while, we had resorted to fingers; the hot towels to clean-up ourselves up were very welcome.

Sylvia kept with the sweet and sour theme for her main course – tenders piece of chicken coated in the lightest of batters and a piquant sauce. Simply delicious was her verdict. Both her main course and mine were decorated with Raymond Ma’s trademark roses carved from turnip (or swede but we’ll not open up that debate here)

I choose fried king prawns with bamboo shoots and was less enthused. I can’t say there was anything intrinsically wrong with it – the prawns were plump and juicy, the bamboo shoots still had a bit of crunch to them – but it just seemed a little bland. Perhaps it was my old Chinese prejudices resurfacing.

We shared some lovely fluffy egg fried rice and probably could have settled for that but Sylvia was heading down Memory Lane and was tempted by banana fritter with ice cream and syrup. Not the most sophisticated of desserts but it was good as soft banana deep fried in a light batter could be, I guess. Sylvia said yum, yum, yum.

Our bill was ?? which included a couple of soft drinks and complimentary prawn crackers on arrival. We suspect that’s quite dear for a Chinese meal but this institution has a loyal following. The packed restaurant told its own story.

Eastern Bamboo
194 Northgate, Darlington DL1 1QU, Tel: 01325 461607 No website
Open: 5.30-10pm Tuesday-Thursday, 5.30-1030pm Friday and Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday.
Disabled access Vegetarian options a plenty.

Ratings (out of ten): Food quality: 9 Service: 9 Surroundings 6 Value 7