We tried Bury St Edmunds Chinese fusion eaterie Mings - and here's what we thought

It'll soon be a decade since Mings opened its doors in the heart of Bury St Edmunds.

I ate there then and pretty much every single year since - except for those pesky pandemic years which everyone is trying to forget.

And on each of the occasions I've gone up the elegant steps to reach the main wooden dining floor, I've been expectant; expectant of excellent Chinese fusion food which smells divine, looks like a picture and tastes divine.

And you know what? Mings always delivers on all three.

That was the case on a windy September Saturday night when we were welcomed off a busy Abbeygate Street in the heaving medieval grid. Luckily we had booked - diner after diner had hopefully popped their heads into the restaurant only to be told the place was fully booked. Be warned.

There are two floors at Mings - upstairs where we ate is the more regular dining area while the downstairs cellar is ideal for parties or celebrations.

Ming greeted us warmly, as did all his waiting staff; the nice part of any restaurant is the attention to detail and a simple smile and we received both which set the night off superbly.

I started with Chicken Gyozas (£6.30), which came to the table piping hot and with a sweet chilli dipping sauce. The dumplings were soft and crispy, full of flavour and full of filling which activated my tastebuds even further.

My partner went for the Satay Chicken (£6.80) which was both delicate in flavour and not overcooked. That's always a problem with anything skewered but these were spot-on. And if Ming sold the sauce which came with the skewers by the pint, he would make a small fortune - it was absolutely delicious.

Moving on to our mains and there's a good range of Chinese dishes which all come in at around the £12 mark, apart from the more expensive salmon options (£17).

My partner is a sucker for anything with the word ginger in the title - you could sell her a car if it was a ginger colour or a house if it was in Ginger Lane. So Mings Ginger and Garlic Special was a certainty (£12) and she chose the prawns option and soon devoured every morsel.

I'm slightly more traditional - the thought of a noodle soup always appeals for a few seconds until either a crispy duck dish (the one here with pancakes and hoisin sauce is a delight at £13.50) hits me or, as with this visit, a chicken dish. I plumped for Mings Capital Chicken (£12) which was packed with chicken, cashews (which I *love*), rice and a sweet and spicy sauce which held the dish together deliciously. It is gluten-free, too.

We were delighted with our meal choices but already noting the next items we fancied for a return visit - Green Lipped Mussels (£12) with ginger, garlic and chilli in a black bean sauce and the Malaysian Satay Beef (£12.50) with coconut milk.

Even in the name of research, we didn't have room for dessert so journalism had to take a hit in favour of our waistlines - but the cold Bury St Edmunds air was warmed nicely with the glow we both had inside from our visit to Mings.

It's another prime example why commentators are more and more routinely referring to Bury St Edmunds as the foodie capital of Suffolk, if not East Anglia.

Mings is at 44 Abbeygate Street in Bury St Edmunds.