Dinner at Peterborough's new Chinese restaurant certainly Fired up my tastebuds

Yes, I know there is the Grain Barge on the river, which has been around for decades, but what about close to where you are shopping or drinking?

Somewhere that isn’t just an over-the-counter noodle bar.

Well at long last I can answer: Fire & Wok in Cowgate.

It’s new, opening a few weeks ago in what was for a good while Embe – a building hugely synonymous with Topo Gigio of course.

Now it doesn’t scream “Chinese restaurant” from the street – the sign is about as good as it gets – and inside it is a spacious, comfortable little restaurant with a few nods to the cuisine when it comes to the decor.

However, we are here for the food.

The menu is packed with dishes that you world expect in terms of starters, mains and sundries, with a few what you might call fusion dishes, as is the norm.

And to cater for all tastes there is quite a busy vegetarian and gluten free section, too.

My 12-year-old daughter was along for the experience – she’s been to Japanese and Thai restaurants but only ever had Chinese from a takeaway.

We kicked off with with a starter platter for two, and what a way to start.

Jasmine’s eyes lit up with her first bite into sesame prawn toast, and it was very good, the sort of thing you just want more of.

The chicken satay on skewers, with a dipping pot, were big, proper cuts of chicken nicely cooked, while the Peking spare ribs – all sweet and sticky with the meat falling off the bone were a messy delight.

The prawn crackers were crisp – what else – and the smoked shredded chicken was sublime – I barely got a look in; nice strips of meat mixed with onions and red and green peppers. Wonderful.

We topped up the starters, as we were sharing, with the truly amazing mar lak chilli king prawns, for us both the best thing we ate all evening. Plump, firm prawns in a stunning sauce.

To be honest, we could have ordered that again and left main courses for another visit!

However, we didn’t and I was more than happy with my scallion beef - stir fried tender strips of beef cooked with ginger, onion, celery and spring onion to conjur up a great flavour.

For Jasmine, the stir fried chicken with vegetables – baby sweetcorn, mushrooms, beans and broccoli giving it some crunch - didn’t disappoint either.

We shared a bowl of stir fried noodles, mixed with beansprouts, onion and carrot, which while a somewhat simple and straightforward dish caught the eye. It was very tasty and not at all oily like some noodles are.

All in all, Fire & Wok should make a welcome addition to what is on offer in the city centre.