By Martin Crowson

Eating Chinese food is a bit like going to Hunstanton for the weekend. You know what you are going to get and it rarely disappoints – but it's hardly the Seychelles is it? The challenge for the plethora of Chinese restaurants in Leicestershire therefore, is to find something a bit different. Something to make them stand out from the crowd.

Sweet and sour chicken is sweet and sour chicken wherever it comes from. Isn't it?

Enter the Shoulder of Mutton, in the picturesque village of Foxton, better known for its locks.

My wife Liz and I have driven past the Shoulder of Mutton many times, before taking our toddler for a walk along the locks' towpath. A strange choice of venue really, when we spend half our time warning him to come away from the edge of the water.

We have frequently looked at the classic old white 18th century pub and questioned how it could possibly be a Chinese restaurant.

When we arrive, there is a vast and comprehensive menu to prove this is a full, bona fide, taste of the orient.

The tables around us are packed with people and full of food.

They do a Sunday buffet and offer "Oriental Tapas" at lunch and there's an offer on every day – you can order as much as you like off a 50-strong dish menu for £15.95.

They call it pick 'n' mix. You order your dish, eat it, then order something else. If you have a hollow belly, it could go on all night. They only refuse if you have left a good portion of your previous dish.

It's a Wednesday night and the quirkily-decorated place is almost full. We sit there tutting at the amount of food left on people's tables as they pay-up for pick 'n' mix. Then realise we would probably do the same, so choose food off the a-la-carte menu, as it were, instead.

We make our own mixed platter to start. Satay chicken skewers are moist and tender, prawns on toast tastes great, seaweed is a salty treat and pork and prawn steamed dumplings dipped in chilli sauce is the highlight.

A quarter of crispy duck follows and comes with another pint of IPA from a bar stacked with lagers and real ales.

The mains are coriander chicken with sweet chilli sauce and sizzling fillet steak in black bean sauce with egg fried rice and plain noodles.

The steak dish is stunning and the meat falls apart in your mouth.

The chicken is well-cooked and served in a light batter but, by this time, we have both had enough sweet chilli sauce for the night and leave a third of the dish. Tut tut.

As I go to the bar to pay the £54.90 bill, a few locals walk in to ask the landlord for their "usual". It's a strange experience – but a good one – and the landlord is very friendly.

As we get our coats on, the couple at the next table, who we have been gassing to all night, offer to take us and our lad out on their boat, the next time we are in town.

It's clearly not just the food that gives you more than you had bargained for here...

Information

The Shoulder of Mutton, Main Street, Foxton. Phone 01858 545 964

Rating 4/5