JANET Hewison is delighted with a Chinese restaurant in Acomb

ThE Tung Hing is an unpretentious family Chinese restaurant, miles away from the busy, city centre buffet restaurants which seem to be the latest trend in Oriental cuisine.

It is situated in between houses along a quiet stretch of Gale Lane, in Acomb, so you have to make the effort to get there if you don't live nearby. But if you like Chinese food, it's worth the trip.

The restaurant has a large car park outside and inside has two big rooms, with tables spaced comfortably apart, decorated in an unremarkable, but comfortable, dark red and cream colour scheme.

As we were seated, it was clear the restaurant had lots of regular customers - a large party of middle-aged couples near us were asking for "the usual" as the waitress came to collect drinks orders. Next to us were a young girl and her mum who also looked quite at home.

Service was prompt and polite - our drinks came quickly and the waitress was very patient with my indecision over the extensive menu, which was several pages long and had all the dishes you would expect, plus a substantial vegetarian selection and banquet options for two or more people.

The starters came promptly and mine took up most of the table. I went for a quarter Aromatic Duck - a bit pricy at £8.50 but well worth it. I got a plate full of lovely warm pieces of pinkish, tender meat, dark and crispy at the edges, served with beautifully-arranged strips of fresh, crisp spring onion and cucumber, a little pot of plum sauce which wasn't too sweet, and a pile of at least ten wafer thin, warm, light pancakes in which to roll the whole lot together. This dish can sometimes be disappointing, but I felt they had got it just right.

There would have been enough for two - but happily for me, Mike had his own starter, Vegetable Spring Rolls (£2.20) which were freshly cooked and full of crisp vegetables. We also shared a portion of Fried Seaweed (£2.20) which was satisfyingly crispy.

My main course was Fried Chicken with Cashew Nuts (£5.20), served in a sauce which was quite plain, with the simple ingredients given a kick by pieces of tangy ginger. The chicken pieces were firm and flavoursome, not bland or soggy, and the cashew nuts were crunchy.

Mike went for Fried Bean Curd with Cashew Nuts and Vegetable in a Satay sauce (£5.40). This had a spicy and thick red sauce and was very tasty.

The vegetables in both our dishes, which included big pieces of pepper, onion and mini sweetcorn, were cooked just right so they kept some bite and their own flavours.

We also had accompanying portions of Egg Fried Rice (£1.60 each). The rice was warm and soft, but there were no problems with grains sticking together.

We kept desserts simple with a vanilla ice cream (£1.50) and a banana boat (£2.50), which were pretty standard.

The bill came to £40.80, which also included three and a half pints of lager and a gin and tonic - pretty good value.

This was a restaurant that seemed to pay attention to detail, rather than show; which did simple things well, both with the food and the service. It also felt like a real family Chinese restaurant. As we were leaving we passed an elderly Chinese woman sitting in the bar area, pouring herself a cup of tea from a small teapot; next to her were a man and two children engrossed in a game of cards.

Fact file:

Food: tasty

Service: excellent

Value: good

Ambience: low key

No disabled access

Tung Hing Cantonese Restaurant, 162 Gale Lane, Acomb, York. Tel: 01904 782068

Janet visited on Saturday March 8

Restaurant reviewers aim to be fair and accurate. Any comments on this review should be addressed to Chris Titley, Features Content Editor,

Evening Press, 76-86 Walmgate, York, YO1 9YN or e-mail features@ycp.co.uk

Updated: 15:53 Friday, March 21, 2003