Tai Wu is a tale of two restaurants: part one, the ground floor space, is always rammed with the local Chinese community and those who know where to head for decent Cantonese cooking; part two, the cheap all-you-can basement buffet, is a room that’s packed full of those who value quantity over quality.

The Venue
Tai Wu occupies a huge commercial space on Oxford Street, opposite the scaffolded exteriors of The Music Box and Jillys. There’s an ugly NCP car park above the front door (there’s even a contra deal on parking for restaurant patrons) and a McDonalds a couple of doors down. It is not going to win any prizes in the pretty stakes but don’t be put off by unfavourable first impressions - some seriously good cooking goes on behind the glass fronted windows.

Inside, it’s a big old space. A member of staff or the manager is always on hand to greet you as you enter. A long rectangular bar area expands out to your left and the main restaurant space opens up straight in front of you, where you will usually find a room buzzing with the noise of excited chatter and the clinking of chopsticks on ceramic bowls. Right at the back of the room is a big red wall-hung canvas with a golden dragon print. That aside, the dated pattern on the carpet is best ignored and the room is not exactly pleasing on the eye.

The Atmosphere
The main restaurant at Tai Wu has a buzz that’s hard to match anywhere else in Manchester. Lively groups of predominately, but by no means exclusively, Chinese young girls and guys share the big round tables, while couples and older patrons sit in slightly less exuberant fashion around the corners. Kids are particularly welcome here, you may even see cute little kids running around the tables while waiting staff weave in and out trying not to lose their service plates along the way. It is also worth mentioning that you will often see some well-known Manchester faces in attendance. It is particularly popular with some of the city’s DJs before they go and play a bar or a club, and even the city’s resident world break dancing champion Mouse has been known to celebrate with friends here. Whether you’re eating solo or in a large group, no one bats an eyelid.

The Food
Certain dishes in Manchester take on near mythical status. There’s a dish at Chaopharya (called choo chee) that’s nothing short of amazing; the rice and peas from Buzzrocks on Stretford Road is talked about in reverential tones amongst those that know the drill; and, at Tai Wu, they serve up a plate of prawns in rice paper, from their dim sum menu, which is the stuff dreams are made of. The name of this dish: che pow har (pronounced chee-pow-haar). It arrives in little spring roll-esque parcels of deep fried rice paper that elegantly wrap around the juicy prawns. There’s a little coriander in the mix and instead of soy sauce it’s served up with Worcestershire-style dipping sauce. This is a simple dish that’s absolutely pheonemal.

Elsewhere on the menu, you will find more daring dishes like the chicken feet, but the dim sum menu has many familiar ones too: har gau (translucent steamed shrimp), beef with ginger, pork dumplings and so on.

After these fireworks you may be a little under whelmed by the mains. There are pages and pages of laminated choices that cover the bases of seafood, beef, chicken and pork. One dish that is usually a good bet is the chilli fried beef (about £8). This comes in glutinous thin sticks of beef which are sweet, sticky and a little fiery from the chilli. Plain noodles, on the side, served with slithers of onions, compliments things nicely. One portion of this should be more than enough for two. Look around the room and you will see all manner of interesting looking pots, stews and bowls of green vegetables. If in doubt ask your server and they will help you navigate your way around the menu.

The Drink
Tai Wu has a well stocked bar, and if you’re waiting for a table at busy times there’s plenty of seating by the venue’s glass-fronted floor-to-ceiling windows. Bottles of wine come from the most reputable wine-producing countries: France, Spain and Australia. They start off at £11.90 for both red and white house, escalating to somewhere in the region of £40 for the more lavish options. Bottled beer is usually preferred to draft, Tsing Tao, Tiger and Bud cost £2.80 a bottle, whilst Carlsberg and Boddies pour from the taps at £2.80 a pint. Most of the spirits are the established names, Bacardi, Smirnoff and Gordon’s. These cost £2.50 for a single measure, with a mixer upping the price to around £2.80.

The Last Word
Swerve the basement buffet and stick to the bustling ground floor restaurant. Pick up your chopsticks and order a big plate of che pow har. Happy days.

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