Mr Chan's Restaurant — Restaurant in St Helens

What a find!

I was up from London for a kart race meeting with my 11 year old son and we fancied a Chinese. After a little time on Google I settled on Mr Chans, even though it was a few miles from the hotel it was an straight forward enough drive. We drove into St. Helens and parked easily opposite. I have to say it looked a little dingy from the outside, but having driven all that way we decided to go in anyway.

We were greeted as soon as we opened the door with a welcoming smile; the restaurant was completely packed! We asked for a table for two and after some examination of the reservation list the owner (Mr Chan I presume!) decided that he could fit us in. As we waited my son admired the large clean fish tank. As more people arrived it was clear that this restaurant was at the heart of the community, with customers all seemingly regulars welcomed as old friends. While we waited for our table to be ready our order was taken and we were seated just in time for our first course. We went for the set menu as I knew my son would not know what to order and rather than second guess him I thought we would try a bit of everything.

The food was in every way flawless, a traditional menu with everything cooked to perfection; quite the best Chinese food I've had in a very long while. But what really marks this restaurant out is the service; It is absolutely outstanding!!! All the staff were genuinely friendly and cheerful. Even though it was very busy and they were clearly rushed off their feet, there was no stress and everyone smiled as they waited on the tables. We were never made to feel rushed and noticed every time we needed anything. Every member of staff was so friendly and welcoming, we were really made to feel special. But looking around, all the customers were being treated in the same charming way.

At the end of our lovely meal Mr Chan himself came over to ask if we had enjoyed our evening which of course we had. As we left all the staff near smiled and said goodbye. I've got to tell you; this was a rushed decision on google maps, I was blown away! We ate out several times while up in Wigan and the service was generally very good, But I thought I would take the time to write my first review as the food and the service at Mr Chan was just brilliant from start to finish. We are up in Wigan again in a few weeks time can't wait to come back to this utterly...

If you have allergies or dietary requirements double check the information they provide or eat elsewhere.

Ordered a number of items for delivery from their own website, all of the items ordered were listed on their website as vegan. When they arrived one of the items contained eggs, which is obviously not vegan, and also wasn't listed on the allergens for that dish (not listing or listing the wrong common allergens is illegal).

When I called to query this the owner came on the phone and I was told that the item does contain eggs, and that I should have told them I was vegan. Having only ordered items that are listed by the business as vegan and also double checked the listed allergens to ensure eggs and dairy were not listed, I do not believe I should have had to tell them, they should supply food that is as advertised. The owner seemed unable to grasp the idea that I ordered based on the information he provided and insisted I needed to tell them.

The owner became angry and was shouting about how it was my fault and they aren't a mind reader, eventually when I said they were at fault they sarcastically said something along the lines of "oh yes OK, it's my fault, I am so ashamed, I will go kill myself now" before putting the phone down. Aside from being incredibly rude, considering that the town had the highest suicide rate in the UK just a few years ago I think this is a very insensitive thing to joke about.

I initially was going to ask for the food to be re-made without egg, but given the way the complaint was handled I asked for a refund as I have no confidence in their ability to meet food safety requirements or dietary choices.

They have now refunded my whole order which is more than I asked for so thank you for that, unfortunately however this doesn't offset the restaurants flagrant disregard for food safety and needless to say I will not be...

We are so glad we had booked in advance the restaurant was very busy! After looking at the menu wee opted for a banquet meal as described below. Soup, Ribs, Spring Rolls, Prawn Toast Half Crispy Duck Chicken & Cashew Nuts Beef with Ginger & Spring Onion Yung Chow Rice Plain Noodles Toffee Apple

There was so much flavour in every part of the meal and when food was brought out it was piping hot. There was plenty of food to satisfy even the most hungry of diners!

Mr Chan loves to interact with diners but he also respects your space too, he was telling me how he first had a job in my hometown before opening takeaway in St Helens which he only sold a few years ago before opening the restaurant. He was very proud to talk about meat being sourced from a local butcher.

The ‘wet’ side of the restaurant is very well stocked with a varied selection of beers, wines and spirits (whiskey being a house favourite)

Our bill with a couple of drinks each was under £110 for two diners. However we did opt for a large ‘banquet’ meal!

Apologies for the lack of pictures it wasn’t until this course arrived we thought about a picture or two we were way too keen to dig...