Beijing Chinese Restaurant

48 Portland Street
Manchester
M1 4QU
Tel: 0161-228 0883 / 0893
Fax: 0161-228 0883

The Beijing Chinese Restaurant is in the Chinatown district of central Manchester. It is located just on the outside of the main Chinatown area on Portland Street. It has an unassuming main road frontage and the restaurant is accessed down a flight of stairs.

The Beijing is a busy and friendly little restaurant. It does special buffet lunches for a fixed price of £5.50 per head and also has a 'happy hour', which is a 3 course meal with each course chosen from a selection. 'Happy hour' is only £4.80 per head.

There are menus on display in the window. As we passed on our regular tour of Chinatown to stock up on a few provisions, we decided to take some lunch, a Chines meal was the obvious choice. The menu offered a bargain £5.50 per head lunchtime buffet menu, with children under 7 years half price. This was too good an opportunity to miss, so myself, my wife and two children (9 & 7) descended into the cool basement restaurant.

The buffet menu itself  is rotated from a regular choice and so it is not possible to be sure beforehand what is offered. On this occasion the was:

Shredded Duck & Mushroom Soup
Chicken & Sweetcorn Soup
Prawn Crackers

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Crispy Seaweed
Spring Rolls
Vegetarian Sesame onToast
Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings
Skewered Chicken
Satay Sauce
Sweet & Sour sauce

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Beef Curry
Stir Fried Mixed Vegetables
Fried Noodle with Beansprouts
Fried Rice

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Fresh Fruit Salad
Gateaux

We all dived in with gusto. I particulary liked the Duck & Mixed Vegetable Soup and the Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings. The main courses suffered a little from being put out in large heated pans, particularly the Stir Fried Vegetables. However, for £5.50 it was a bargain and we all ate far more than we should have done.

Service is hard to comment on in a buffet, however our drinks order was taken promptly and arrived efficiently. The bill came to just under £24 with a round of drinks included.

Verdict - A good value restaurant in an area where there is a lot of choice. At £5.50 the buffet is the cheapest around and definitely worth going for. There are other alternatives just around the corner all offering a variation on a theme. Try this one but keep your eyes peeled on these pages as we sample some more restaurants in Chinatown.