Tin Tin, 30-32 London Road, Sheffield S2 4LN
HOW many people, like me, have gone down London Road, Sheffield, and idly wondered at the name of that restaurant called Tin Tin?
Unless the boy detective is very big in China, for it's a Chinese eaterie, it's unlikely to have anything to do with Tin Tin and his dog Snowy.
And it's just as unlikely that the restaurant's been indulging in a spot of Sheffieldish, as in tin tin meaning 'it isn't in.'
Strangely, tin tin in Cantonese or Mandarin means the exact opposite.
"It means everyday because that's how often we want to see our customers in here," says Sky, the supervisor.
We've been here before when it was a Chinese buffet restauarant.
Today it's a lot smarter with beech effect tables, wooden floor and smart bar – and all the other customers are Chinese, long accepted to be A Good Sign.
We find a table underneath the aquarium and study the menu.
Now I've been tipped the wink by a foodie scout to ask for the menu the Chinese eat from.
I haven't worked out how I'm supposed to read it but find I'm offered it anyway and am relieved to discover there is an English translation.
I'm a man who has eaten deep-fried chicken feet and wallowed in offal such as pancreas, windpipe and lung for a living but my wife blenches at some of the dishes on offer.
Not for her the steamed aborigine (sic), jellyfish with black vinegar, quick-fried pork intestine and ox's tendon listed.
I'm willing to give it a go but we do share dishes and while she does put herself out a lot for Food and Drink she draws the line at mixed wood ear mushrooms.
Other, braver English sorts have gone before us.
One of the dishes is pig's feet which the Chinese scoff whole but which the kitchen had cut into portions for one woman customer.
"She was annoyed. She'd lived in China and wanted it the way we eat it," says Sky later.
I'm not too sure if Tin Tin is a stand-alone restaurant or is part of a chain but I note there's a place with the same name and logo in Birmingham.
Set menus start from 12.80 per person but we decide to go a la carte.
At this moment Sky sees me scribbling down the menu in my notebook and demands to know what I'm doing.
He says the menu is on the website (although that's not up and running). I can't tell him yet so mutter something about not forgetting what we plan to order.
We begin with precisely cooked salt and pepper squid (5), covered in a thin batter, and dry BBQ spare ribs (4.20), which is the menu description, not mine, although it's right and I think I prefer my ribs a little gooier. There was a nice hit of five spice, though.
Main courses were fine: lots of juicy chicken with cashew nuts and abundant water chestnuts (5.60); sweet and sour fish slices, Hong Kong-style (6.50), the fish in batter and the sauce a lurid orange but very pleasant with it; and bright emerald-green pak choi, which didn't taste quite as good as it looked.
With it we had egg-fried rice (1.80 a bowl).
We were suitably appreciative – Tin Tin is a worthy addition to the Chinese restaurant circuit – and Sky wondered whether we'd fancy dessert.
Now Chinese restaurants don't normally do much in the way of puds but Sky offered us bowls of red bean soup. I've had it before and it is an acquired taste. I had it. It's OK if you want to go traditional but give me spotted dick any day.
He didn't charge us for it, any more than he did the prawn crackers at the start of our meal.
The bill, with drinks, came to 35.70.
Not at all bad.
TIN TIN
30-32 London Road, Sheffield S2 4LN.
Telephone: 0114 275 8880.
Open all week 12-11pm. Licensed. Credit cards. Disabled access. Street parking.
My star ratings (out of five):
Food HHHH
Atmosphere HHHH
Service HHHH
Value HHHH
Chinese restaurant category. Do not compare ratings between places of different style or price.
What do you think? Add your comment below.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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