Next up in the Thame Hub review of Thame's Best Takeaway is Harvest Moon. This is the third part of a four piece review of Thame's Chinese takeaways. After successfully completing reviews of The Sun and Famous House over the last two weeks it was time to find out what our foodie thought of The Harvest Moon.
"I had visited this Chinese establishment on a handful of occasions whilst it was still known as 'The Drunken Chef' but I hadn't been in since it changed hands to The Harvest Moon. Thame's only sit down Chinese restaurant!
Once again to keep the review consistent I will be reviewing:
- Sweet and Sour Chicken with egg fried rice
- Beef Chow Mein
- Prawn Toast
- Chicken Satay Sticks
- Prawn Crackers
After a good start to the review at The Sun and a somewhat mixed bag at Famous House, where would The Harvest Moon sit on my Chinese review scale? Ordering at the same time as last week, 7.30pm i was told to expect a 25 minute wait, which was the same as last week. I hoped that this would actually be 25 minutes and I wouldn't be sat down twiddling my thumbs when i got there like last week. Harvest Moon's total Chinese price weighed in at a whopping £27.90, compared to The Sun's £25.45 and Famous House's £26.90. I was expecting an upgrade on quality with that price, and the fact that this was a dedicated Chinese restaurant.
As I collected my Chinese takeaway from the restaurant I was quite surprised with how busy it was inside. There must have been a good 40 plus people tucking into Chinese food, if this is good perhaps I'll have to come back for a sit down meal. When I arrived the food was ready waiting, I was seen to quickly and off I went...Good start!
So first up the chicken satay sticks. Four chicken satay sticks for me to tuck into, the same amount as at Famous House but two less than The Sun. These were the best satay sticks yet. The chicken was cooked to perfection and the sticks were covered in a lovely rich sauce. Highly moorish, I could have certainly eaten another portion!
Next up was the prawn toast, once again four pieces for me to tuck into, the same as Famous House but four less than The Sun. I was left slightly disappointed with the quality of prawn toast. Every mouthful I took, I could feel the grease trickling down my throat, not particularly pleasant, and this took away most of the flavour of the prawns.
Now to the mains!
Sweet and Sour Chicken with egg fried rice! The chicken, as with the satay sticks was cooked to perfection, and was served with carrots, peppers and onions. This week there was an adequate amount of sauce to cover the chicken and the rice. But it wasn't as enriched with flavour as the previous two Chinese takeaways I had eaten at.
The beef chow mein was next up, and it appears the Chinese takeaways of Thame certainly don't like to scrimp on the beef they put in these dishes. Much like last week the soy sauce proportion was excellent and the beef was the best I had had yet. Not too chewy and a lovely flavour.
So to summarise my thoughts on Harvest Moon, I would say as this is the most expensive of the takeaways yet you are paying restaurant prices for take away food. The beef chow mein and satay sticks were the best I'd sampled so far. But equally the sweet and sour chicken and prawn toast end up bottom of the pile. The mains were once again a good portion size but the sides fell short when compared to The Sun's portion sizes from the first week. Perhaps I shouldn't have gone there first, and I wouldn't be disappointed in only receiving four pieces of toast or sticks there on after!"
Our final part of the Chinese section of the review will take place at Ming's Chinese takeaway formerly known as Tommy Yaki.
Read our previous review on Thame's best takeaway below:
Thame's Best Takeaway - Chinese - Round 1 - Sun, Chinese Food - www.thamehub.co.uk/thames-best-takeaway-chinese-round-1-sun-chinese-food/
Thame's Best Takeaway - Chinese - Round 2 - Famous House - www.thamehub.co.uk/thames-best-takeaway-chinese-round-2-famous-house/
