Eating in: Cantonese Wok, Matlock

However The Cantonese Wok, in Dale Road, Matlock, hides a secret – some of best barbecue spare ribs I’ve ever tasted.

Most of the time I could take or leave barbecue ribs, but there is something truly special about this takeaway’s recipe.

The barbecue sauce is sweet without being sickly - so good in fact that I find myself spooning it out of the container and eating it by itself.

The ribs (£6.10) themselves have a good amount of meat on them without the excess fat you often get with the dish when ordering at other takeaways.

For £1.90 I get a large bag of prawn crackers – an essential accompaniment for any Chinese takeaway meal in my opinion.

I order sweet and sour chicken (£5.20) as a main course.

When the chicken comes it is coated in a thick batter, which was a little sickly for my taste.

Smothered in a red syrup-like sweet and sour sauce, the dish is tasty but extremely rich.

There is only so much I can eat of it in one go.

I find the shredded chicken fried rice I ordered for £5.50 counterbalances the richness of the sauce, soaking up some of the sweetness and making it more palatable.

Meanwhile, the shredded chicken chow mein, costing £5.50, is so delicious that I could happily tuck into it without any sauce or side dish.

As usual I order far too much food to eat in one go, but for me there is nothing better than leftover Chinese takeaway in the morning, however an unhealthy breakfast option it may be.

Food: 4

Atmosphere: 3

Service: 4

Value: 5

Cantonese Wok,

Dale Road,

Matlock

DE4 3LU

tel. 01629 584792