TRYING to persuade small children to eat seaweed was never going to be easy.

We had bundled into the Parasol Chinese restaurant on Commercial Road for some respite from the freezing Sunday afternoon drizzle and what had started as a nice bite to eat was in danger of slipping into a battle of wills.

Before us was an impressive selection of starters, spring rolls, glistening spare ribs, prawn crackers and the controversial seaweed but absolutely nothing they wanted to eat.

However, things soon cheered up when Tom, six, and Tabitha, four, had a go at using chopsticks to tackle their food creating a mess, it seems, is always more fun than eating.

The starters were served piping hot and the food was beautifully prepared and universally delicious.

For main course, we opted for deep fried shredded beef in chilli, special fried rice, diced roast pork in sweet chilli sauce, a bowl of noodles and chicken with cashew nuts which we shared between us, filling small bowls using chopsticks (with doubtful expertise).

We could have gone on to tackle the range of puddings based on all permutations of the word fritter...pine-apple, banana, apple and toffee...you get the idea. But frankly the main course was more than enough.

Wonderful oriental food in pleasant surroundings.

Parasol also provides restaurant quality takeaway food for a 15 per cent discount for cash orders. The restaurant has also launched a taster menu for £14.80 a head, which gives diners two hours to try out as many dishes as they like.

Parasol 96-97 Commercial Road, Swindon (also branches in Abingdon and Bicester) Open every day Tel: 01793 533188