On the inordinately large Hemel FB group, whenever someone asks for recommendations on Chinese takeaway, a lot of people say Station Cafe. Having a group that does our work for us is rather helpful, so when we were feeling lazy on Sunday we decided to give it a go. Station Cafe certainly did the job, but that was about it.
As the name suggests, Station Cafe is right next to Hemel station and they do deliver. We ordered at peak time and got our food around 45 minutes later (which is 15 minutes earlier than their estimate). We ordered mixed veg & king prawn, sweet & sour chicken Cantonese style, beef in chilli sauce, Peking beef (two beef dishes because I didn't know which one was shredded beef), and rice. That came to £27 - which is pretty good going.
At its core this was a perfectly acceptable Chinese. The veg in the king prawn was fresh, the meat servings were generous and we enjoyed all the dishes, with the exception of a rather bland Peking beef. If you want a cheap Chinese, this is something we'd be happy to suggest. I particularly enjoyed the sweet and sour chicken Cantonese style. The chicken was cooked well, had a nice consistency, and the batter worked perfectly.
But, if we're going to get into why this isn't in the same league as say, the excellent Pin Wei, there are a few key watch-outs.
The sauces were thin, watery and full of MSG which makes them very salty. They hadn't seen a fresh ingredient in some time and tasted pretty mass-produced. The beef in the shredded beef had clearly been frozen and then reheated, and the beef to batter ratio was pretty far off from what you'd be ideally looking for which made it very tired, dry and chewy. And it also wasn't terribly chilli-esque despite the name.
As we said these things these things didn't prevent us from enjoying the meal, but they are things that sort an average Chinese from a good one.
I guess it's ultimately down to what you're looking for - if you are looking for comforting, familiar flavours at a reasonable price point (which I think everyone wants at some point), you can see why people recommend Station Cafe.
Service:
Ordered via phone, via a menu on their website. They were lovely and delivered within their expected time. Food arrived hot.
Quality:
Some elements let it down - particularly the crispy beef that was from frozen.
Value & Price:
Priced very reasonably, mains are around £5-6.
Overall:
ACCEPTABLE- If you're craving a Chinese that has thick, salty familiar flavours, that won't break the bank, this is well worth a go - and I can see why for many in Hemel it is their go to. It's nice and comforting, with familiar flavours.