East West, Swindon (From This Is Wiltshire)

East West, Swindon

9:27am Thursday 11th February 2010 in

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IT’S always good to find a friendly restaurant selling well-prepared food at reasonable prices . . . and it’s even better if it’s within walking distance of home.

We’d lamented the closing of Parasol in Commercial Road, which had become a favourite over the years.

That was despite - or perhaps because of - a waitress who midway through one memorable book club Christmas do raised her eyebrows and, rather in the tone of an oriental Lady Bracknell, met a request for a bottle of wine with an accusing: “You want ANOTHER one?”

So, noticing a new sign outside, I went along with my son and daughter on a drizzly Saturday evening.

While Parasol’s decor - boldly painted walls and large striking floral pictures - remains unchanged, the main dining room has been made smaller.

It has more of a cosy, homely feel. Parasol felt like a special occasion restaurant whereas East West is more of a balance between takeaway and eatery.

There’s even an Ambiance Corner with comfy leather sofas where you can have a coffee or unhurried drink or two and a snack - there are books available or you can take your own.

We opted for the dining area to try a mixture of Chinese and Thai dishes.

A particularly good deal was the two courses for £6 from a set menu, which my son opted for - although in his rather unadventurous pick of spring rolls and chicken chop suey (£1.50 and £4.60) there wasn’t much of a saving.

Still, he enjoyed the packed crispy spring roll and mountain of chop suey.

Portions were on the generous side and we ended up taking a lot home with us.

I started with a nicely spicy hot and sour soup (£2.20) while daughter Virginia tucked into delicious salt and chilli pepper squid (£4.90).

As an alternative to crispy duck, we all shared crispy lamb pancakes and agreed that, at £5.50, it was a great deal and just as tasty as the poultry version.

Onto the mains; my Pad Thai noodle dish (£4.50) with chicken, egg and peanuts was full of flavour, as was Virginia’s king prawns with black bean and chilli sauce (£4.90).

Wine was a reasonable £10 a bottle and as we only shared one, no eyebrows were raised.

I doubt they would have been in any case.

Service was extremely friendy and as we were told before we ordered that they were a little busy with takeaway orders, we decided to relax and chill out - we weren’t in a hurry. As it was service didn’t seem at all slow and soon it was time to amble (or rather waddle!) home again.

If East West isn’t within strolling distance for you, I’d still recommend a visit - or at the very least try a takeaway.