Chinese restaurant Firecracker in London named UK's best takeaway

It also has karaoke rooms, and can be found just down the road from Big Ben

The leafy streets behind the Palace of Westminster are hardly the first place you’d expect to find a knockout Chinese takeaway. Indeed, the politicos meandering between Party office and Commons frontbench normally tend to opt for a Tesco prawn sandwich, eaten al desco.

That may all be about to change, however, as this week online takeaway order site Hungry House rated Firecracker – a modern Chinese restaurant-cum-karaoke-bar – the top takeaway in the UK.

Firecracker, based only metres down Millbank from the Houses of Parliament, was voted number one takeaway in the UK amongst 10,000 restaurants. With consistent 5-star ratings, the highest customer return rates over the last 12 months, and tip-top hygiene standards, Hungry House’s algorithm analysed millions of customer reviews to give Firecracker the top spot.

Firecracker had to fight off some stiff competition from all over the UK, including two further East Asian restaurants that made top ten, Noodle Street and Slurp, both in London.

The competition wasn’t an all-noodle, all-London showdown, however, with handmade burger joint Smoque Grill in Brighton placing second, and Get Stuffed, a fast food outlet in Halifax, rounding off the top three.

David Yeun, Managing Director of Firecracker, commented: “​Firecracker serves the traditional family recipes that I grew up eating as a kid. The inspiration for setting up the restaurant was to provide food that we personally enjoy eating, and it’s the best!”

The first Chinese restaurant in the UK – called, imaginatively, The Chinese Restaurant – is thought to have opened in Piccadilly Circus, London in 1908. The presence of three East Asian outlets in Hungry House’s top ten suggests that customers are no longer willing to accept below­-par standards when they order food to go.

Scott Fletcher, hungryhouse.co.uk CEO comments: ​“Our customers want to enjoy top quality cuisine in the comfort of their homes, and we know which restaurants keep people coming back for a second helping.”

Firecracker’s website says it caters to ‘Westminster’s foodies and business executives alike.’ With a noodle place of this calibre, not to mention karaoke, so close to Government, David Cameron can now pop out on his lunch break with impunity to chillax with the UK’s freshest Kung Po Chicken and a side helping of Clean Bandit (or whatever it is the cool kids were listening to two years ago).

The UK’s top 10 takeaways, rated by Hungry House:

1. Firecracker, Chinese (Westminster, London)

2. Smoque Grill, Burgers (Brighton)

3. Get Stuffed, Fast Food (Halifax)

4. Square Pizza (Queen’s Park, London)

5. Noodle Street, Chinese (Docklands, London)

6. Simla, Indian (Northfield, Birmingham)

7. Slurp, Chinese (Streatham, London)

8. Poppy Hana, Japanese (Bermondsey, London)

9. Golden Palace, Indian (Bletchley, Milton Keynes)

10. Maroush, Lebanese (Marylebone, London)