
Quan 88 has decent reviews so we decide to make it our meeting place.
Service was warm and friendly and Steve did the ordering. The waitress was full of smiles although she couldn't really answer our questions and Steve wasn't convinced she'd taken our order fully as she seemed to write some dishes down but not others so we left our dining fate in the hands of the gods!
We started off with the ever favourite spring rolls and go for duck and pork. They come out crisp and golden with a dish of lettuce and the tasty dipping sauce. It's a pretty good start as these are yummy. My personal preference is the pork whereas Steve prefers the denser duck.
- Crispy chicken wings in a special chilli sauce
- Five spice beef hot pot
- Fish in chilli and basil
- Lemongrass and chilli chicken
- Flaming pork Cantonese style
We liked the chicken wings as they were crispy and tasty. The hotpot wasn't bad either with lots of pieces of beef and a savoury gravy. The fish was ok; I quite liked it but Steve felt there wasn't enough fish and it was all carrot and other veg. Lemongrass chicken was too similar to the fish and way too mushy. Obviously not a popular dish as half of it was left. The flaming pork was essentially sweet and sour pork in a tin foil package that had been set alight. The waiter split the package open. I felt the battered pieces of pork were too soggy and the batter too thick. It was a little like sweet and sour pork that has been left overnight when the the batter and sauce coating it melds together and goes a bit grainy.
I have to be honest and say I think there was a substantial sprinkling of MSG used as I suffered from late night thirst. I enjoyed Quan 88 enough at the time but in retrospect it's not on my list of must repeats.