Imperial Dragon

Imperial Dragon trades from a small shopfront on Shardlow Road, a couple of doors along from Alvaston Balti, and has built one of the strongest review books of any south-east Derby Chinese takeaway over the last decade — around four stars across more than two thousand reviews on the aggregator sites, with seafood dishes in particular singled out. The kitchen runs the full Cantonese list — soups and appetisers, spare ribs, sweet and sour, foo yung, chop suey, satay and curry, with longer house-special and chef's-recommendation sections than most neighbourhood takeaways carry — and a noticeable amount of attention is paid to the seafood side, with the kitchen running a wider fresh-fish and king-prawn list than the area average. Service is collection and delivery, evenings only, run out of the same compact kitchen unit; there is no dining area. The shop is firmly the destination-Chinese end of the Alvaston takeaway parade, and the recurring praise from regulars is for the freshness and depth of flavour of the cooked-to-order plates rather than the price, which sits slightly above the cheapest end of the local market.