The New Emporer

The New Emperor,
52-56 George Street,
Manchester
Tel: 0161-228 2883

Friday night and my wife and I had just been to a show in the centre of Manchester, 10:00pm. at night and we were both starving, a Chinese was what we wanted so we went back to 'The New Emperor', we've been about 4 times before and never had a bad meal yet. The restaurant was almost full, but we were lucky they had one table free.

Situated in the centre of Chinatown in the centre of Manchester, the Faulkner street car park (free after 9:00 pm) is directly in front of it , so if you know the one way system you can park very close to it. This is a large restaurant, offering a large selection of Chinese cuisine. chopsticks are the default in this restaurant, and with a little practice you'll soon be as proficient as the Chinese nationals who frequent the restaurant (always a good side for a Chinese restaurant). The staff are very efficient, however a couple of them struggle with the English language, but they do check the order back with you so that should eliminate any errors.

The menu offers only Chinese cuisine, no English (not even a portion of chips).

The Dim Sum selection is superb and great favorites are the Roast Pork Bun and the Prawn Bun. So light and fluffy that they just melt in your mouth. On this occasion we had the Roast Pork Bun, Steamed Prawn Dumplings,Crispy Prawn Wan Ton and Prawn on Toast. All of which were very good, and together made a great set of starters.

The main meals are very good, both in portions and in quality, I had the Duck with Honey and Lemon Sauce, which is very nice, the Duck been cooked such that the skin is crispy...hmm lovely. My wife had one of the specials, Prawn Balls with something, and that was very nice. Along with the main dishes we had one portion of vegetables and one portion of Egg Fried Rice. Too much for us to eat everything. As usual we were too full to have a sweet.

Booking        : It's a large restaurant but gets busy so I'd recommend booking for more than 4 people, or if you want to eat during the standard busy periods, on Friday or Saturday nights.
Atmosphere    : Background 'chit-chat'
Quality            : Excellent
Staff                 : Polite and efficient (but a couple do struggle with the English language)
Portions          : Good sized portions.
Price                 : £18+ per head.

Verdict           : Good quality Chinese food .... Well worth a visit.