Chinese restaurant hailed by food critic Jay Rayner to reopen four months after "emergency issue"

A Chinese restaurant lauded by food critic Jay Rayner has announced its reopening date, following a four month closure due to an "emergency issue".

Roasta, in Plungington Road, suddendly closed its doors on September 23, and until this week, there had been no update provided. At the time a Facebook post said: "Our apologies - we are closed due to an emergency issue, all bookings have to be cancelled. We will keep you posted as soon as it is sorted and ready to re-open. Sorry about the inconveniences."

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When is the reopening?

Now, the shop, which was opened in 2017 by husband and wife team Fai and Wai Tsang, has announced that it will be reopening on Friday, February 16. No further information has been given. The news has been welcomed customers, one of which called it "the best day".

What did Jay Rayner say?

Guardian food critic Jay Rayer called in at Roasta in 2022, after finding himself free at lunchtime in Preston.

In his review, he said Roasta was "an elbows-on-the-table sort of place, where you could hunker down by yourself over a bowl of something steaming and delicious that makes the world better, and all at an extremely good price."

He described the platter of duck wings, duck necks and duck gizzards as "delightfully compulsive" and the roast pork belly as "simply magnificent." He added that the menu "takes you far beyond comfort food and into a whole bunch of the Cantonese tradition’s intriguing ginnels, to use a Lancashire-appropriate word."

Roasta has been contacted by the Post.