WE nearly drove past the Miramar Chinese restaurant. ituated on the ground floor of the Fourways Hotel, it is easy enough to miss.

As a fan of Chinese food, a friend of mine had recommended I gave The Miramar a try, so here we were.

This small, cosy restaurant blends in with its surroundings, looking traditionally English, except for one or two oriental style paintings on the walls. On entering, we were greeted with a warm smile and seated at our table.

Mellow jazz music created a relaxed atmosphere, but for a Friday night it was very quiet. With only one other couple dining, I almost doubted my friend's recommendation.

A quick glance at the wine list, and a bottle of house red (£9.50) was on its way, along with a soft drink for my girlfriend.

A few minutes later, the drinks arrived as did obvious regular visitors to the restaurant, which I found reassuring.

We spent the next 10 minutes trying to choose two starters and main courses - we usually share, having half of each other's dishes.

There was plenty of choice, making our decision even harder. Starters ranged from Prawn Cocktail (£4.50) to Spare Ribs (from £5) to Aromatic Duck with pancakes, spring onions and Hoi Sin sauce (£12.50 for half, £25 full), as well as various soups (Crabmeat & Sweet corn £2.50).

At last, we were ready to order - a mixed platter for two for starters (£7 per head) which offered a selection of Prawns on Toast, Spring Rolls, Spare Ribs, Crispy Wan Tons and Seaweed, served with a delicious home made sweet and sour dip.

While we waited for our dish, we tucked into a large bowl of prawn crackers, which were delicately flavoured enough for someone like me, who is not a seafood fan, to enjoy.

My partner eats rather less than I do, so I got the lion's share of our platter!

After devouring our generous starter we washed our hands and faces with the wipes provided, and our empty plates were removed, again with a smile.

On to our main course dishes.I played safe and chose a favourite duck dish with pineapple in ginger sauce (£8.75) accompanied by egg fried rice (£1.80).

I was pleasantly surprised at how light the dish was, not saturated in fat like some duck dishes, yet not too dry and the flavours of ginger and pineapple were nicely balanced.

My girlfriend almost always opts for Cantonese style something or other, and on this occasion it was Lemon Chicken (£8.75), again with egg fried rice.

Even though I'd done my best to help her out with our shared starter, my partner was still unable to finish her main, offering me the opportunity to try some for myself.

Tender pieces of chicken smothered in a tangy lemon syrupy sauce was very nice, we agreed.

Other choices for main course included beef satay (£5), kung bo mixed vegetables (£5.50), shrimp foo yung (£7), special fried rice (£7.50), king prawn curry (£8), as well as English dishes such as fillet steak (£13.50) or gammon steak and pineapple (£6.50).

For dessert we chose pineapple fritter (£1.50), banana fritter (£1.50) and ice cream (£1). We could have chosen peach or pineapple melba (£2), fruit cocktail (1.50) or lychees in syrup (£2).

Both fritters were good and we were pleased with our choices.

I finished with a delicious Gaelic Coffee (£3) and we both agreed it had been a wonderful, and very delicious, evening.

Miramar Chinese Restaurant

Bolton Road, Farnworth

Tel: 01204 574147

Open: Tuesday to Sunday from 5pm 'til 11pm

Star rating:****