Wok Inn - Chislehurst

Can i just start this by saying that I don't like Chinese food.  It tastes nice at first but soon develops into furry teeth, sore gums and a kind of feeling that you want to throw up - kind of like the same feeling you got as a kid after riding on the waltzer, which had been preceded by a bag of candy floss and a toffee apple, and washed down with 1.5 litres of Panda Pop cola.  You get the idea.

So why on earth would I stop here?  Without Chinese I find that takeaways are limited to curry, chips and pizza.  Curry rocks and should be eaten every week in my opinion.  Fish & Chip Shop chips are regal and should be eaten in moderation so one can continue to marvel at their splendour.  Pizza is a good takeaway for once in a blue moon, but after polishing off a king size Domino's meat feast you can't help but feel guilty for being such a fat sod.  For some reason Chinese, in my mind, is the healthier option of the four, right up until I put the first spoonful in my mouth...

Not liking Chinese food all that much I find that I am limited to four things on the menu, al three of which I like very much.  these being:

• Prawn Crackers - don't like fish or Chinese but am strangley partial to these.

• Crispy duck - with the hoisin sauce and pancakes and cucumber.  Oh yes!  I love food you build youself!  Not partcularly good for a takeaway but great if people have dragged us along to eat in at a Chinese.

• Chinese Chicken Curry - great dish, different in every Chinese

• Egg Fried Rice - the classic

So what I'm basically saying that I will base any review of a Chinese takeaway entirely on Chicken Curry, Egg Fried Rice and Prawn Crackers.  I think that comparing the same dish is fair?!

The Wok Inn is part of the old station complex at Chislehurst Railway Station.  It is adjacent to Denny's, the upmarket fish and seafood restarant which has been built into the old railway waiting room.

I travel from and to Chislehurst Station every day, I walk past the Wok Inn every day and have done for 3 years, I have never been in until now.  Walking past it has conjured up feelings of both hungry wonderment and greasy nausea in equal measure in the past but until this point I had never had any real need to go in there.  On this particular day I was late home from work after playing football, the wife had eaten, I had had chip shop chips already that week and I had my usual consideration that a takeaway curry for one was far too extravagent.  Given this 'perfect storm' I had made up my mind, I was going to Mapings in Southborugh Lane for Chinese curry and chips.

I had not considered Wok Inn at all, however on my exit from the station I was met with a dilemma.  Should I go for a tried and tested Chinese curry that I knew I found a little bland and watery with chips of questionable quality, or should I try something new.  The latter won, not because of the poor alternative, but because said poor alternative would have meant me driving 25 seconds out of my way. 

The Wok Inn is quaint, not a word I wuld usually use to describe a Chinese takeaway, but situated in a tiny room in what I'd like to say is a mock Georgian red brick (?) station it is fairly quaint.  The lady behind the counter is enthusiastic and welcoming and speaks English better than I do, ending any difficulties in ordering which I often face due to my inability to understand English spoken with any other accent apart from my own South London twang (this difficulty for me starts as close as North Londoners, seriously).  I take a seat in the tiny waiting room.  As I have my kit bag with me I'm glad of the fact that no-one else is waiting or it could get a little cozy.  Behind the counter is a TV playing the Man Utd European Cup match, I kind of feel like I'm sitting in someone's living room.  I order my usual but am disappointed to find no prawn crackers on the menu, I decide against asking and just settle for the curry and rice.

I find European football quite dull at the best of times, the match is a dead rubber with Utd already qualified and they are losing, which I'm pleased with, so I end up turning to the generous pile of magazines to read.  I say generous, generous if you're a woman, and you're an idiot.  A large pile of Now!, Heat, More magazines telling me about Jordan's boyfriend, Katie Price's kids, Jordan's arse, Katie Price's diet, Jordan's tirade etc etc...  Not being sexist here but who normally goes and gets the takeaways anyway?!

The speed is good, around 10 minutes maybe less, the price is OK too at around £6.  And low and behold the prawn crackers are sittng on top, chucked in as a freebie, now that is a good touch!

The food itself isn't bad either.  The sauce is paler than I usually see but is pretty tasty if not quite as spicy as I'd like (only rare Chinese curries have the added spicy quality).  There are far less chunky onions than usual which though a like a chunky onion or two, does make for a better eat.  The chicken seems to be poor quality at first, but then does seem to be mixed in with more quality cuts, you also can't argue about the quantity either.  Egg fried rice is egg fried rice really, this one is good quality and large.  The prawn crackers are fresh without any distinguishing other qualities, there are some quality prawn crackers out there believe it or not but these weren't adventurous in any way. 

All in all this is a standard Chinese, friendly staff, quick service but a tried and tested ordinary formula.  Free prawn crackers is a nice touch and convenience wise I would use it again should I need to, but not go out of my way, which as a person who doesn't actually like Chinese, would be an unusual thing to do anyway!

 
Posted by: Bromley Scoffer on 03 December 2009