SUNDAYS, so far as our home goes, can be on the manic side. It's certainly rare for my wife and I to have the day to ourselves. Normally one, two, or all three of our adult, always ravenous, sons drop in from their own homes demanding roast beef with home cooked Yorkshire puddings or lamb with mint freshly plucked from my currently water-logged garden. Traditional, good old British Sunday dinners are, well, a tradition in our household. However, last Sunday our fledglings were all otherwise engaged and we really didn't fancy slaving over a hot stove to produce a roast dinner for two. So we decided on indulging in our passion for Oriental food. The Hot Wok, in King Street, Mold, has been quietly building a reputation for itself and we had booked a table for 6.30pm the evening before. The restaurant was a traditional British cafe for many, many years until the owner sold up and, I believe, retired just after the turn of the Millennium. Outwardly it still retains it's cafe look and it's only after dark that two Hot Wok neon lights give the game away. Inside the decor is plain and minim-alistic. Don't expect to see illuminated pictures of some far off Chinese waterfall, pictures of smiling villagers dressed in bright red or blue Oriental sarongs working in a paddy field or pottery fortune cookie cats. And, to my relief the background music is just that, background music, and features pleasant piano tunes or Western ballads as opposed to someone wailing like an extra from a Bruce Lee kung fu film. We were shown to a table for two and I have to say I was surprised just how busy it was. Once we'd sat down every table, some 40 or so covers, was in use. The tables appear to be close together but once seated it's intimate and you certainly don't feel like those seated nearby are encroaching on your privacy, or eavesdropping, on your conversation. I would add at this point that the owners are expanding the restaurant and will shortly be opening up the second floor to diners. Unusually customers can look into the spotlessly clean kitchen through a glass partition and I have to admit I was fascinated at the speed and culinary skill of the two chefs who were hard at work. We were unaware there is a set Sunday banquet on offer between noon and 9.30pm and, although what was included sounded very nice, we asked if we could look at the a´ la carte menu.. We decided on the China Red Banquet at £17.50 a head. Once we placed our order we settled back to soak up the atmosphere while enjoying a glass of house white wine and an orange juice - yet again, my turn to drive. The Hot Wok clearly has a regular clientele and when our first course combination platter arrived I could see why. It included some very large spare ribs in O.K sauce, spring rolls, sesame prawn toast and skewered chicken in black bean sauce - all well cooked, well presented and delicious. Once we polished that off it was crispy duck pancake time and a quarter of duck arrived at the table with some very hot pancakes. The duck and pancakes were superb but we did have to request more Hoi Sin sauce and could really have done with a larger portion of the leek and cucumber accompaniment. Staff were attentive and asked whether we wanted to go straight to our main course or wait five minutes or so - we settled for the wait. Our main course consisted of China Sechuan spicy sweet chilli pork loin, beef with onions and peppers in black bean sauce and chicken cashew nuts in a crispy potato basket all served with egg fried rice. The chilli pork was spicy and had a real zing to it while the beef and chicken had some delicate flavours that really complimented the heat of the pork. I have to say I am impressed with the menu. The Hot Wok isn't just a Chinese eatery and boasts dishes from around the Orient with Thai, Malaysian, Singaporean, Vietnamese and Mongolian all heavily featured in what is a colossal menu. I have to admit that, as a man with a pretty big appetite, I have often gone for a Chinese banquet and left feeling bloated, and somewhat guilty, after leaving enough food, in particular rice, on the table to feed a small family. However, that wasn't the case at the Hot Wok. There was exactly the right amount of food and we left practically nothing and departed feeling entirely satisfied without that bloated, overly full feeling. To sum up, I consider myself something of a connoisseur of Chinese food and, up until now, my favourite place to indulge my passion is a small Cantonese restaurant off Macclesfield Street in the heart of London's China Town. The jury is out on whether the Hot Wok can grab my personal number one spot but I'm definitely going back, probably within the week, to try a few more dishes and give it every chance. | 
