Best Chinese restaurants Nottingham: WOWO's salt and pepper squid is absolutely out of this world

With many of us feeling the pinch at the moment, eating out probably isn’t quite as popular as it once was.

But there’s no harm in treating ourselves every so often, particularly when you’ve got your eye on trying somewhere new or keen on following up a recommendation. 

Here in Nottingham we’re lucky to have an absolutely buzzing food scene.

Whether you’re looking for a light bite during your lunch hour or something a bit more substantial later in the day, each corner of the city is bursting with highly-rated restaurants and cafes.

It’s always big news within the city’s foodie community when somewhere new opens, especially if the business isn’t part of a wider chain.

Last month a new Chinese restaurant called WOWO opened in 26 King Street, replacing a delicatessen which closed in 2022.

The restaurant, which also offers collection and delivery, describes itself as “a contemporary Chinese takeaway that brings the soulful essence of Hong Kong's street food classics to the heart of the UK”. 

Having been impressed by its menu, I decided to head down and give WOWO a try.

My initial impressions upon walking into the restaurant were very positive.

The interior clean and stylish interior really provided a welcoming feeling - not something you get when entering all restaurants.

After browsing the menu, which had plenty of choice, I opted for salt and chilli squid (served with egg fried rice) and tenderstem broccoli with oyster sauce.

I hadn’t been sat at my table for more than 10 minutes before my order arrived.

The food was served in traditional Chinese food cartons and I even got offered chopsticks, which I politely declined in the interest of eating my grub while it was still hot.

My previous experience of eating calamari from a dodgy takeaway wasn’t particularly enjoyable, but this was completely different. 

The easiest mistake to make with when preparing squid is to allow it to get chewy, but I was pleased to find mine cooked to perfection.

The salt, spring onions and chilli really added to the taste and I polished off the lot.

I then moved on to the tenderstem broccoli, which was also bursting with flavour.

I’d never tried oyster sauce before, but I can safely say that I’ll be choosing it again on my next trip to a Chinese restaurant.

In a naïve move, I left about half the rice portion because I was so full of squid and broccoli, but I certainly didn’t have any complaints with it.

Including a can of water, my order came to £17.53.

When you consider the size of the portions and quality of the food, I found the price to be very reasonable.

I wouldn’t have any hesitations about returning to WOWO in future and look forward to trying more of its tasty offerings.