Takeaway review: Fortune House, Preston

Fortune House in Preston is one such establishment which tries to win some passing custom by displaying its previous Post cuttings for all to see in the front window.

Those previous two reviewers have since moved on to new journalistic pastures and as the cuttings are looking a little faded, I thought it was time I paid Fortune House a new visit.

There are a few additional old-school traits I encountered. I couldn’t find a menu online, just a general Facebook page for the takeaway, so we had to take a punt by ordering some typical Chinese takeaway dishes we knew they’d be likely to have when phoning.

And so it was veggie spring rolls to start and my usual black bean beef to follow.

My dining partner Ben was delighted to find that Fortune House does his favourite, sweet and sour chicken balls in batter, which not every takeaway offers.

Delivery is available but we chose to collect our order and it was ready withing the promised half an hour.

The next old-school hurdle was finding there was no debit or credit card reader to take our payment.

Cue a dash to a nearby shop to use a cash machine (at the cost of £1.75 per transaction - ouch!) Happily, when we got our food home, it was still hot and there was some prawn crackers thrown in for free.

The three veggie spring rolls had an unusual, almost creamy filling, but were fairly tasty and soon snaffled.

My black bean beef came with plenty of onion, green peppers and other veg. There was a generous amount of beef strips too and it was a hearty, filling dish which wasn’t too salty unlike some Chinese takeaway offerings.

Ben’s sweet and sour chicken balls had lovely, crispy batter which wasn’t greasy and plenty of tender, well-cooked chicken inside. It came with a good-sized pot of sauce put separately on the side, which kept the batter fresh. We shared a portion of egg fried rice and it was just about enough for two people. Good value at just over £14.

There were some other tasty-looking dishes on the menu in the premises which we might have tried if we had had a menu in advance - maybe next time now we’ve seen what else is on offer.

So will I make it into the Fortune House window hall of fame? Let’s wait and see.