Hot, colourful and dizzyingly eclectic, the Wok Inn really does illuminate Blackpool’s seafront
Wok Inn Seaside Noodle Bar, 118 The Promenade, Blackpool FY1 1RA (01253 627 368). Snacks and starters £2.50-£6.50. Mains £8.50-£13.95. Wines from £16.50
Marcel Proust had his madeleine. For me, it’s the BBQ ribs at the Wok Inn Seaside Noodle Bar, Blackpool. They are long and slender and drenched in a glossy sauce the colour of the varnish on an expensive hotel lobby coffee table; it’s all shiny mahogany with a touch of gold and orange. They seem to come with their own internal stage lighting system. These are Cantonese spare ribs as they used to look when I was a kid, before fashion intervened and insisted that the dark sticky version of Chinese food with which we were familiar was somehow unsophisticated and unwanted. They are very much still wanted, mostly by me. The meat pulls from the bone with a gentle tug. The sauce coats my lips and cheeks. Sugar surges through my veins. All of a sudden, I am seven years old again.
I’ve had fabulous nights in Blackpool. I will not quickly forget my encounter with a 6ft 8in drag queen called Miss Zoe
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