Aroma Chef Limited in Lancaster

Casual unassuming cozy Chinese restaurant in the centre of town offering fresh authentic cuisine.

well impressed with everything the food, the service, the staffs

Best authentic Chinese / sichuan food in Lancaster. I order the sweetheart cabbage dish every time 👌🏽 don’t bother looking at the British Chinese menu. Note they are always closed during summer holidays! (Also note that just because it’s a tofu dish doesn’t mean it’s vegetarian!)

Go to chinese food spot in Lancaster as a chinese person. Food is authentic and tastes very good. Lots of variety available too. Been here a few times with friends.

Really good Would highly recommend Cuman, beef, and and boiled rice, 10/10

Food is delicious and fresh. The soups are outstanding! Reasonable prices as well. There isn't much space between tables though, which may be an issue for waiters or customers, and it can get quite crowded and noisy, but the food is worth it.

Just order it and you will know how awesome it is compared to other Chinese restaurants.

Honestly not sure why this place is only rated as 4.4! They deserve 5.0! Personally I'm a big fan of sichuan dishes and I think they have pretty good selection as well as high quality. I also was seated where I can peak through the kitchen and seemed like every dishes were freshly made( where many fake chinese resturant in UK don't do). Staffs are also very nice. Honestly hope this resturant to be more famous in Lancaster :)

Best Chinese food we’ve ever had - tasty, authentic & fresh. Really friendly service. No special lunch menu but when they can cook food like this why should they do silly lunch deals. Lots of local Chinese people eating the scarier menu !! Excellent

The Kung pao beef I had was very nice

Probably some of the best Chinese food I’ve ever had. Firstly, the menu is extensive, the food cooking time is incredible fast- I think the fastest from order to table for us has been 10 minutes waiting. The staff are lovely, accommodating if we didn’t know anything on the menu, and overall pleasant atmosphere. Of course, Chinese food is expensive but it is worth the money.

Lovely place very nice food.. Excellent.

Visited last week for a spot of late lunch. Had very high expectations which soon went down hill. Food standard that everyone is raving about it being authentic is mediocre. Probably the only thing from our food order that we had that tasted authentic was the curry sauce. The chickens texture which I can only describe as sponge definitely wasn’t appreciated. Clearly the chicken was defrosted - but to overcook it to this standard does involve some skill. Service wise the staff couldn’t care less if they had customers or not. Not attentive at all. Adding the service charge you would expect some sort of a check back to see if everything was ok with the meal, haven’t even cleared the table before we left. Certainly won’t be coming back and definitely will advise people from visiting the premises.

Aroma Chef is the highlight of Lancasters food scene. The authentic menu left me speechless and the food was cooked to perfection. The staff were very friendly and there were no complaints at all. The black bean and oyster beef was a standout that will make me go back again very soon!

As authentic as it gets. A gem of a restaurant in a gem of town.

Decent Chinese food, I won’t say 100 percent authentic but quite tasty.

Spied this place on our last visit to Lancaster. They had been offering a meal deal (sadly not available this time). Food was brilliant. Plenty of choice and all freshly cooked. Came out steaming. Good value for money. Will be back.

The most authentic Chinese food I have eaten. The Brisket Hot Pot with added chilli was the steal of the day !

Delicious food, incredible range of choices and fantastic friendly, efficient service. Wonderful experience all round!

The best Chinese restaurant. Authentic and very delicious. Very fast service. We’re really impressed.

Amazing food and excellent service thankyou, quick and accomodating, we both had the beef noodles, bowl was bigger than my head, soup was fresh and flavourful.

One of the best Chinese restaurants I have been to. Very clean and tasty food, lovely staff. My family aren't big on Chinese food, but it was recommend so highly, they suggested it! You know when its always full of the overseas students, it must be close to their home cooking.

Came for my son’s birthday, great food and very reasonably priced! Very busy, which is always a good sign.

The most amazing Chinese food. Superb quality, highly recommended. Can’t wait to go back. Fantastic find in Lancaster

Fantastic food. Rated the best authentic Sichuan in the area by Chinese friends and they aren't wrong. Service was fast.

A very authentic Sichuan restaurant, recommended to everyone

Authentic Chinese restaurant with a huge menu and functional interior. The prices are reasonable and the food was generally very good. We had stir fried lamb with cumin and the salt and pepper duck tongues which were excellent. The sour and spicy soup was ok, I've had better. The service was quick and friendly.

Delicious Chinese cuisine with excellent staff and food

Excellent, authentic food... Will certainly return.

This is without a shadow of a doubt the best place to eat in Lancaster, if you enjoy the spicier side of life. A genuine and authentic (as far as I can tell) taste of Sichuan cousine. Many of the dishes with chilli use Sichuan peppercorn which gives you a unique numbing of the mouth without being eye wateringly spicy. We regularly go for celebrations of special events in life, or if we've been away for too long. I would recommend the pork chef special and ma po dou fu seen on the attached photo, with some rice and bok choy cooked in garlic. The portions are generous and between two sides and two mains you'll be completely stuffed. Other dishes we've tried are the hot pots (yum) and the dandan mian noodles (also yum and MASSIVE). Also the cold chicken in chili sauce from the cold menu is surprisingly refreshing! The 'chinese' menu has rough translations of the dishes so don't be afraid to reach for that one. Mind you Google tripe before you order it 😂😁 The servers are friendly and smiley, we've never had problems with the service.

Tasty food, curry very spicy ,rice a little stodgy but over all good.

The very tastiest authentic cuisine. Good value too. Order from the longer Chinese menu for the best dishes.

To say disappointed is an understatement. Went today at 1pm for lunch with my wife and little boy. Was asked to come back in 10 to 15 minutes as they were waiting for a table of 4 to finish up. When we returned as asked they had given that table to somebody else and palmed us off. Really put out to be honest and will make sure I tell all my friends n family to steer clear.

Really really disappointed 😢 I was here for 3 years and this was my fav restaurant, I left Lanc two years ago and came back just to have their food. But it came a bit over priced now. And the service is poor, I went there with my friend and was told to wait for 20 min, after 20 min we came back and was told to wait another 30 min, I told them I was told to wait 20 min already, then they said yeah there are 4 groups waiting before you. It just doesn’t have any logic, the 20 min should include the 4 groups before me and we could have been told to wait for 50 min. When we finally got a seat, we wanted to pack the left over. Only when we were paying the bill it says 1£ for one single box... 5 years in UK it’s the first time I see a restaurant that charges for boxes, it makes sense but 1£ for 1 box is a bit ridiculous. And they did not tell us about this at all when giving the boxes. Really sad...

Such a good menu choice but I always get the exceptional cumin beef!

My sister raved about this place, so visiting Lancaster, we decided to have lunch here.. Food was bland apart from the beef in black bean sauce. Had to ask for soy sauce to give it some flavour. Even my sister who has been coming to eat for years wasn't impressed. Forgot some of my order. Maybe it was just a one off. Will visit again and give it another try. Very busy and food was very fresh. Will post another review when I visit again.

Soulful food. I recommend the jasmine tea as the quantity and quality both will satisfy you. The servers are quite friendly and will help you out with the menu if you can't decide what to order. The food quantity is really good and will fill you up to the brim especially any item you order with the sauce. Last but not the least it has got a good and quiet ambience which you can enjoy with both friends and family.

Went there for my first try of Chinese food with friends. The restaurant has a rich menu of Chinese foods which can both be a blessing or a curse. Luckily the staff were helpful with providing recommendations. Had chilli chicken and white rice and although the chicken was a bit too spicy hot for my liking, I enjoyed the meal. Also got to try the beef and one fish stew from my friends plates and they were nice, especially the beef. My other friends who ordered noodle soups also enjoyed them.

Gorgeous food.....Gorgeous staff!

和儿子在英国一起吃的最后一顿饭🙁选在镇上的中餐馆，味道很地道！水煮牛肉用我四川人的标准都可以打8分以上（海椒面再辣一些更巴适）。用现金结账可以免服务费！

As you walk in you see mostly chinese students eating here. Which is an amazing sign. Food is as close to authentic chinese food as you can get. Only issue is the place is quite small so its safer to book if you want to eat here.

Good authentic Sichuan cuisine , really good service.

My partner and I visited today and we both agreed it was one of the best Chinese meals we've ever had. The salt and pepper chicken was incredible, tender chicken and tasted fantastic. The interior is lovely and very clean. Will definitely visit here again next time I'm in Lancaster!

We had our lunch or dinner in this place for few times. Normally we will order more dishes to take home. Before today, every time we take out leftover food( which we asked for containers, they never charge for the container fees). Today when i am home and I noticed they charge me for container fee). I don’t mind they charge for container fee but please show at your cashier or let the customer know there are charges for container). Overall the foods are very good.

Nice nice.. authentic Chinese taste.

One of the best and most authentic Chinese restaurants around, don't leave Lancaster without eating here! If you don't eat too spicy food, go for stir fried pork with coriander and/or lamb stew with ginger..

What attracted us to this place is the Chinese clientele. It was packed with people! Friendly but not very attentive staff, they obviously are short of staff. They didn't give us chopsticks, assuming we don't know how to use them. The noodles were yummy, big portions and plenty of large fresh prawns in. The sweet and sour pork delicious but the vegetables spring rolls were fresh and crispy but hardly any vegetables in. Will definitely come back again. Extensive menu but a little confusing having 2 of them.

Absolutely love it. The ambience, the food, the service. The place was so clean.

Food was delish. Atmosphere was great - and so was the service. The restaurant is great on a whole. Would definitely recommend.

What a great place. Yes it's small but we managed to get a table for 9. Food came out very quickly was red hot and perfect! Plenty of it as well. Not one of us could have any complaints. Staff were friendly and polite and didn't pester us either just checked and left us to it. Will definitely go back again when back in Lancaster! Thank you folks

Small informal restaurant. Really delicious food. The menu is large but the vegetarian options are limited, especially starters (spring rolls and one soup). Centrally located. Reasonably priced.

Absolutely phenomenal. One of the best restaurants in town

Best chinese restaurant i ever went to. Great experience. Totally recommended

Food was OK but when it came to paying the bill they wanted to add an extra 10 percent for paying by card. Obviously I wasn't prepared to pay it and adding a surcharge for paying by card is now illegal.

Poor food, congested seating and overpriced dishes.

This hidden gem never fails to impress. Excellent food generous portions so dont be afraid to ask for foil dishes. I always eat from the authentic menu and have had my eyes opened to true szchezuan cuisine. Thanks a million see you soon

We came here on a whim, but were really pleasantly surprised. The food and service were excellent, we will definitely be back next time we're in the area.

Super nice and authentic Chinese food, very friendly staff!

Not been to a Chinese restaurant as good as this for many years. Food and service were both excellent. Highly recommended.

I write this with a heavy heart as I booked into this restaurant planning to have a great meal but sadly it didn't work out that way. Bookings are done over the phone only , very old school as no emails or through social media but it's easy enough to pick up the phone. There is no online menu unlike most Chinese restaurants but I have been here in the past and loved it as they have what you would call a English friendly menu and the authentic menu which I order from everytime. Its a small restaurant but good use of space. Service was not attentive as we had to call the staff member over each time and he seemed to not want to be there. We were disappointed no white wine , only red and no spirits. No spirits was very confusing as there were bottles displayed but they no longer sell them..... At this point we were still looking to stay at this point as my friend had water and I had a beer. Our other friend was running late so we wanted to have some prawn crackers to nibble on while we were waiting and the staff member very bluntly said we do not them or fortune cookies here. With lack of drinks and staples such as prawn crackers I then asked them if they are offering the full menu , he at this point smirked and said you are better to order off the English friendly menu , why give both menus if you are not willing to let people order off them both. I booked a table here to authentic food so with not providing the service I would expect and not having the good I would expect I just paid for the beer and left. I was so disappointed in the service and I hope it was just the restaurant having a bad day as this member of staff clearly didn't want to be there , we had to ask for his help each time and he was rude. I will try this place again but it won't be for a long time. Such a shame!!!

I love eating here, me and my partner always go. Good for people who like spice and others who prefer milder dishes.

Little gem in Lancaster City centre, very tasty food, little bit more expensive than the other Chinese restaurants but worth it, staff very polite and helpful

We returned to Aroma Cafe after the end of the lockdown restrictions. Food and service are as good as our first visit. Will be back again.

Great food but poor Covid safety arrangements no track and trace as qcode has no website linked to it and didn't take any details even after this was pointed out. Customers not wearing masks when moving around or entering or sanitising hands. A pity as service and food was great. Wouldn't return unless track and trace arrangements improve.

First visit here, called in for lunch whilst in Lancaster. Unfortunately for the staff the restaurant was empty when we arrived but another three people came in prior to us leaving. Have to say this is a real gem of a place, the food was superb and the staff really nice. Such a shame to see great places like this suffer through no fault of their own. We will definitely return and I urge people to visit it is fantastic.

Friendly staff and cozy feel. Reasonable prices, good food

Delicious food, spotlessly clean, great service

Delicious food :) the crispy chicken was fantastic! Huge portions, I wouldn't be able to finish it myself :)

Well after reading some other reviews I wasn’t expecting the warm & friendly welcome I received. We were greeted at the door, shown to our table & asked if we wanted help choosing our food. Good start! There are 2 menus, as others have mentioned; a westernised ‘HongKong’ style menu & a second authentic north Chinese menu which you may have to ask for. I understand this approach as the full menu contains quite a few dishes that are unfamiliar and the English translations sound a bit challenging, e.g pigs intestines, boiled tripe etcetara. We chose from the latter menu with a bit of help & it was fabulous. The prices on this menu may seem a little more expensive but the portions are intended for sharing & are plenty big enough for 2. If everyone in a group were to choose a dish each you really would be over-ordering. We ordered Ma Po tofu with garlic Choi Sum & rice. Delicious, piping hot & freshly prepared. What a great place.

Ate here a while back. Food is very good. Small restaurant but nice decor and very clean. All the food we had was well prepared and very tasty!

This is the best restaurant of its type anywhere in the Lancaster area. Authentic dishes. Very well prepared. Make sure you get the menu that is not primarily in English for a more accurate taste of Chinese and Asian cuisine.

We were greeted promptly upon entering and seated with menus. We asked for recommendations and they asked the sort of food we liked and then matched to good/popular dishes on the menu. We were not disappointed as the food was delicious and reasonably priced.This is NOT takeaway style chinese food, this is authentic home cooked meals that the owners would make for themselves.

Good food despite the staffs don't know information about the food when we asked about the ingredients, etc....

Much better than the rest Chinese restaurant in the town

They make an effort for customers here, even to the extent of moving those already at tables to make room for single arrivals. The decor is refreshing too, post-modern bare lighting, local artworks and not a lantern in sight. A cheerful hubbub of mainly young custom also makes this an agreeable place to be.The food is not exactly gourmet Chinese but perfectly OK. Starter of bean curd and pork slices was a bit watery but had plenty of both main ingredients. Special chowmein was what it usually signifies - a bit of everything, but none the worse for that.As for the service. Well, as a middle aged (OK, Old) single Englishmen, the assumption that I want knife and fork instead of chopsticks is only mildly irritating, likewise, the arrival of the main course already on a large plate instead of the usual hotplate and bowl which everyone else seemed to have. What is rather more irritating is the arrival of the main course plate before the soup is even half finished. So, food is fine, the place is fine, service is generally friendly, but no diner likes to be rushed. Even if there are other potential customers outside.

My friend Rachel introduced me to this place and the dish of schezuan spicy fish (C33 off the Chinese menu). They have two menus so do ask for both if you're feeling adventurous. I also like the broccoli with oyster sauce and salt and pepper squid. The spicy fish comes in a bowl big enough for 3 people to share. I enjoy the act of sharing food from the same bowl, feels very family oriented. Also observe all the people who are eating with there phone in their hands. Don't do it! Enjoy your food without your phone.

他位於蘭卡斯特博物館前廣場邊,交通很方便! 我們這次點了水煮魚,炒類似青江菜,辣子雞丁,麻波豆腐--其中只有水煮魚最好吃,其餘都是很鹹喔! 我們邊吃邊灌水, 其實可以不要放那麼多鹽巴菜應該是不錯吃,有點可惜!

A great place to get traditional Chinese food with the atmosphere of authenticity well recommended

Literally just finished my last mouthful and had to come straight on here to write a review! Absolutely delicious and will be coming again!

Ended up in here to get put of the rain. And the tapas place next door was closed for renovation. Wait staff really helpful with us and our 2 year old. Really accommodating. The food was fresh came quickly and was absolutely delicious. Couldn't ask for more. Thank you, we will be back.

Authentic Chinese food with a large variety of options on the menu. The food was good, with alternative options to suit your level of spice tolerance. It also opens until 22:00 which is an added perk. However, it's slightly overpriced and the waiters and waitresses come across as slightly impatient.

Nice smallish Chinese restaurant in the town square , serves really authentic real Chinese dishes. You can tell that its authentic by the fact its always full of Chinese students. The food is all fresh , the staff very friendly and efficient . Great ambience , noisy but fun!

I've been here several times now, at lunchtime and always ordered from the Chinese menu (which you have to ask for). The food is great. Really good, although not cheap, and that's fine by me for the quality. The service is varies from frankly, and I suspect purposely, rude to friendly and helpful. Last summer i went in on a very hot day and was greeted by a lovely smile and a glass of cold water. First class. They do takeaway, and couple of months ago I went in to ask if they have a takeaway menu and was met with just the word 'No' and a scowl at which point she turned away and resumed her conversation with the other waitress. I've also been abruptly told 'there's no room' when there clearly was (maybe because I'm a solo diner and they were feeling optimistic).But they'll have to try harder than that to keep me from eating there, because the food is very, very good.

A very nice little restaurant with delicious Chinese food! The menu has a really long list of various dishes! I had problems to choose one, would have loved to try everything! Also really loved the decorations. You should definitely give it a try when you are in Lancaster!

Food tastes good and the portion size is good.

We had good food but two meals and two cokes cost £26 ! I won’t go back at those prices. Kinda got the feeling we were a bit ripped off .

Si te gusta la comida china te encantará. Excelente el pollo con curry!

Fantastic food. Literally some of the best chinese food I've ever had. Highly recommend this place.

Restaurant cold. Small portions. Waitress doesn't try and understand English. Meals come out at different times. Over priced. Go to noodle bar on common garden street instead. Seriously don't bother.

I visited Aroma Chef with a work friend today for an early dinner. I had the crispy chicken in plum sauce, and we shared some pak choi with garlic, and some pepper and chilli squid. The food was beautiful, the service was great and reasonably priced menu. I think this will become a regular spot for me!

Fantastic Chinese cuisine, some of the best we've tasted in a long time. Highly recommended.

Some of the best places to have Chinese food in town.

I went here with my finace and friend last night and really enjoyed it. We all ordered from the authentic menu. The salt and pepper fish was great as it usually is. I tried the beef brisket one pit which was outstanding. The staff were very friendly and attentive. Very good Chinese

Nice food always ask for the both menus

Nice little place serving flavorful food. Had the garlic and white wine chicken with noodles which was delicious and highly recommended.

Very tasty and reasonable prices

打電話的時候叫我稍等，過了沒多久就直接掛我電話。服務態度實在是有失水準！應該要好好訓練再出來營業而不是這樣造成大家的困擾

Had food here last night and cant fault it best chinese ive tasted to date, staff were friendly and helpful.

Heard really good things about the food here. From the moment we walked in we were made to feel unwelcome. Staff ignored us. Obviously given the ‘English’ menu. Unable to get the attention of the staff to view the other menu. Left at our table for 20minutes and two other tables filled and served during this time. Never made to feel more unwelcome.

I went here the other night with my finace and it was amazing!!! I learnt that they have the menu they always hand out and then the other menu you ask for with all the authentic dishes. I had the salt and pepper fish and the hot and chilli lamb with boiled rice, both dishes were so full of flavour and just really good. My partner had the beer chicken and a chicken stir fry style dish. The only thing that made him like them instead of love them is that there were bones in them so you had to be very careful. The staff were lovely and very attentive. Wonderful place!!!