Yahoo News ‘I returned to a Chinese restaurant in East Yorkshire after years – and I'll be back again soon’
It’s been years since we darkened the doors of the Water Margin in Driffield.
There’s no particular reason for it, only that generally we tend to be in the market town more for shopping during the daytime, rather than eating out in the evening. And we are still, even now, only just venturing back to some of our old haunts since Covid.
On this occasion, we were heading home and I was on a high from a successful shopping trip to York for a summer wedding outfit. Not so much of a high, however, that I fancied cooking once we got back.
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As we were close to Driffield, I plucked the Water Margin Chinese restaurant out of the air, as a suggested stop-off – and hoped it was open on a Tuesday evening. Our luck was in.
This is quite a large restaurant and prominently located in Market Place – you can’t miss it, with the lovely installation of colourful umbrellas that are currently strung over the area. There was only one table occupied so we had our pick of the place, really.
We were shown to a booth by a very pleasant and smiley young waitress – the tables to each side of the restaurant are partitioned for privacy – and left to peruse the menu, with some complimentary prawn crackers to munch. While we were considering our choices from the many options, we ordered a pint each of Sunlik, a new-to-me Chinese beer, which proved to be refreshing and very hoppy.
I love a mixed starter platter but they do tend to fill me up, so me and my other half opted for a quarter crispy aromatic duck, which is regular go-to of ours. There was loads of delicious duck to share, and three soft pancakes each to fill, with the requisite cucumber matchsticks, shredded spring onions and special duck sauce.
Instead of sticking with my usual for a main course, I decided I’d ring the changes and go for something completely different – chicken with cashew nuts and yellow bean sauce in a bird’s nest (keeping my fingers crossed it wasn’t an actual bird’s nest). I also ordered a side dish of mixed vegetable fried rice, when I’d normally just go for plain steamed or boiled rice.
My partner is a fan of king prawns but chose a chow mein dish featuring them, rather than his usual curry. We both tucked in with relish.
All the food was piping hot and delicious. The bird’s nest was, thankfully, shaped from crispy filo pastry (the waitress was hugely apologetic that one side had collapsed as she was bringing it to the table) and packed with cashew nuts and the yellow bean sauce was a revelation.
The mixed vegetable fried rice would have made a meal on its own, because of the content and the amount. I could not finish it, even with my partner’s help.
We really enjoyed our return to the Water Margin but were sad to see it so quiet - only two more people came in to eat while we were there. Hopefully the restaurant does enjoy greater footfall generally.
