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50% OFF AT CHUNG YING
Any restaurant that's simply survived 40 years, let alone been at the centre of their community for that period officially gets "Birmingham Institution" status. And though nobody's handed James Wong (above, badass brown belt) the keys to the city, there's no doubt Brummies adore Chung Ying. To celebrate four decades since his father Siu Chung Wong and mother Yuk Ying Wong (you can see where the restaurant name came from) first opened the doors to the beloved Cantonese, they're offering all Brummies 50% off food from their 12 most popular dishes throughout the month of September (Mondays to Thursdays). The offer includes dining in only and is available only to those who subscribe to Chung Ying's newsletter. Simply head over to their website and scroll to the very bottom of their homepage where you'll find two boxes asking for your name and email address. Once you're subscribed, and between now and September 1, Chung Ying will email all subscribers (both old and new — so don't worry if you're already subscribed) with full details of the offer. This is likely to be a very popular deal so booking in advance is recommended and you'll need to show them that email when you arrive. Throughout their 40 year existence Chung Ying have achieved a huge amount, being pivotal in taking Chinese New Year celebrations out of just Chinatown and into vast swathes of the city centre, as well as donating more than 5000 meals combined to the NHS and Marcus Rashford's 'Meal a Day' campaign. They've fundraised for countless charities and are at the forefront of ongoing efforts to bring a beautiful Chinese arch to our wonderful Southside.The Wong brothers (James working closely with younger sibling Will) also helped kickstart the areas Safe Space facility, which provided young people with a place to go if they were in need on a night out. Dishes on the 50% off menu include salt and chilli chicken wings, sweet and sour chicken, crispy chilli beef, aromatic crispy duck pancakes, king prawns in panko, Peking spare ribs, salt and pepper tofu with cashew and more. The full menu will be on the aforementioned Chung Ying email. Bon apple teeth!
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Venue: Wingstop, Bullring, B5 4BE; Website
Choice: Duhrr, wings (£7.50) Chooser: Me, because I couldn't hear them
Walking into Wingstop, the global chicken wing chain new to Bullring, is the restaurant equivalent of going on the latest social media platform for the first time. That overwhelming feeling that you're too old for this, you'll never get to grips with it and you should stop trying immediately. TikTok, but with chicken. ChickTok, if you will. I couldn't hear a word the very smily woman behind the counter was saying because the music was, without doubt, the loudest music I've ever ordered to. There was a dizzying array of questions, none of which I knew the answer to (Flavour? Heat? Wings? Tenders? Dips? My mother's star sign? The name of my first year university housemate that I reckon regularly stole my Pilgrim's Choice?) each more anxiety-inducing than the last. But with pointing and polite shouting on both sides of the counter, I ordered two flavours of wings, fries, and a slightly worrying pre-midday Camden Pale Ale. The Coca-Cola Freestyle drinks machine, those fizzy pop fountains with over 100 flavours, was out of order, which would score as a negative in most books, but not mine. If I can't understand what a human is asking of me, and I've been speaking to humans for 41 years, there's no way I'm ready to make my bow on a machine that offers — literally — millions of different potential drink mixes. You get disposable gloves with which to eat your wings, attractive see-through numbers that gave me horror flashbacks to when I was 12 and I had to sleep with surgical gloves on to cure a hand skin condition. I don't remember what the GP called it, but my chums named it 'Tom's mango chutney', at sleepovers. Good times. Great pals. The fries were tepid but tasty while the wings were, I don't know, maybe a six out of ten? Just fine. The best wings in Birmingham are served at Original Patty Men's Wings Wednesdays. Those guys perform some sort of deep frying witchcraft to give a crazy crispy bite to the bird. But Wingstop, they don't don't do that. And though your life expectancy will probably be improved with Wingstop's version, they punch far below OPM (and, of course Bonehead's) poultry proficiency. Look, I like Five Guys. I have my guilty restaurant pleasures, and I sort of hoped Wingstop would be one of them. But the best (and most concerning) thing I ordered was that pre-midday pale ale and, honestly, I'm okay with that. I suspect Wingstop are too. This place was doing a roaring trade when I left, with three people working the doors to marshal the queues. "Like bouncers?" I said to another smily and charming young staffer on my way out, to which he burst into laughter. I wasn't kidding, though. It's so popular they need crowd control. And they don't need me. Menu
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