Chino Ercilla - Bilbao

Having read the reviews I was sceptical. We passed this place at lunchtime and it was packed, so decided to ditch the tapas for one evening and try something different. The place was very clean and colourful , lots of yellow and orange. Menu was in different languages, great choice of red and rose wine. Nice touch was the bridge over water at the entrance. We chose 3 dishes, special fried rice that was tasty and had a crunch to it, chicken with mushrooms , lacked a sauce as was a little too oily for my taste, sweet and sour prawns which were nice , but sauce maybe too orange, these weren't for me as I cannot understand the batter then the sauce concept, hubby likes them though! Having been to China several times , this was a western take on tradition , nonetheless it was a nice meal.

We were unfortunate enough tonight to eat at Restaurant Chino Ercilla. We walked around the area between the Guggenheim and Metro station for an hour and couldn't find a decent restaurant that was open. Eventually we stumbled upon Ercilla. It looked seriously cheap and tacky but we didn't have much choice. We hoped the food would be nice. The staff was awful bordering on downright rude. Everything, it seemed was deep fried the won tons contained no meat or fish. The prawn crackers were inedible. The spring rolls were tasteless and were saturated in oil. We chose 2 chicken dishes and 2 beef dishes. All 4 were equally vile and in edible. The meat was slimy and grizzly. The best bits of the meal were the fried rice and the almonds in one of the chicken dishes. 95% of the food was untouched. I really don't think I've ever had a worse meal. The place was (unsurprisingly) empty.

This restaurant is quite elegant. The tables have turquoise and white colored tablecloths and the chairs are also covered with turquois fabric. At the entrance there is a small pond with goldfish and a small bridge goes over the pond. There is a large variety of food and many dishes cost only between 4 and 6 euros. The food is quite tasty. Service is friendly.

Typical Chinese resturant, my mate claims. We were greeted more or less with a smile, given that we were trying to have dinner at Aussie dinner time, not Spain dinner time and clearly the family that owns the restaurant was just about to have their dinner. We ordered the Menu Especial what we would call a banquet back home. It was delivered promptly and all dishes were good (although a couple were too salty). For the price (32 euros for 3 pax), it couldn 't be faulted.

After a day of sightseeing we just wanted somewhere we could have a quick meal in relative quiet and this was it. Really enjoyed the food, the wait staff were unobtrusive, highlight was the lemon chicken. Don't be tempted to order a lot as the portions are generous. Liked it so much we visited it twice.