While Chinese takeaways might be spread far and wide across Co Tyrone – one family has been instrumental in serving up oriental food in the county since 1974.
Jeremy Chan’s father Tai Hei Chan moved from Hong Kong to England in the 1960s, before setting up shop in Cookstown a few years later.
The family first moved into premises on the Fairhill Road before moving into their now home on Church Street.
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Since then they have been serving people from the town and the surrounding areas, and while his father sadly passed away in 2019, Jeremy is continuing its tradition of being one of the best around.
That claim is backed up by the fact the takeaway has taken home the Best Oriental Takeaway at the NI Takeaway Awards for the last two years running.
“My dad was a fisherman by trade, and he ended up saving enough money to start the business and bring my mum over,” Jeremy told MyTyrone.
“They had been apart for seven years as my dad had been in the merchant navy before ending up in England.
“Himself and a few friends started to get the money together to open up a Chinese restaurant in Cookstown.
“The sacrifices my parents had to make for the family won’t ever be forgotten.”
Jeremy revealed that they when the family moved to Cookstown at the height of the Troubles, their home was mistakenly targeted by a car bomb.
“Where we were staying at at the time, there was a car bomb parked outside it because they wanted to put one in the town.
“We used to live on Monkey Lane in the town and it as the closest one to the car bomb.
“So our first experience here was a strange one, but thankfully we never got involved because we were just interested in feeding local people and putting food on the table for ourselves.”
After the recent award win, Jeremy paid tribute to the local staff and customers which have kept the business successful over the years.
“There are so many good Chinese restaurants around and people are changing the standards of food all the time.
“My dad had this thing where you are only as good as your last meal and it’s so true, because there are no cutting corners, no giving out your second best.
“The support of the customers and the team here have been so important, it’s not a one man show and I’ve needed the team behind me all the time.
“We pride ourselves on being the local Chinese in the town, we are now feeding second and third generations of families and they are still coming to us.”
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