Rarely do you read about new openings on these pages. I think it's unfair to established businesses and also unfair to the just opened businesses who are still finding their feet. On the other hand, they do need the publicity, especially if they occupy a site with practically no passing footfall on the upper floor of what is variously called 'The Village' or King's Walk.

But the long eclectic menu from Asian fusion newcomer   Take Your Time was something I could not resist. 

The name, the menu and even the location amongst a lot of pretty good largely Oriental restaurants in this most tucked away of locations made me curious.

When Jollibees opened offering spaghetti and burgers I realised that the old borders count no more. You can get burgers in Carluccio's and Thai curry in most pubs.

And remember the 'English dishes' part of Chinese restaurant menus from the 1980s? After all Cosmos has been offering something for everyone for decades.

The very attractive menus are long, and I cannot resist but print them here for you in full. 

So here's the question - can a kitchen that can throw out a wide range of ecclectic  Oriental dish also do decent gastro pub mains, fusion burgers, risotto and pasta ?  

I have only ever been on one cruise and the menu was a bit reminiscent if that, but the best food on that holiday was the southern Indian vegetarian dishes - guess where most of the chefs were from ?

Most dishes have a fusion element. Many of the burgers use 'pinapple bread' - a Hong Kong speciality that is like a brioche bap. The name comes not from the ingredients  (it contains no pineapple or any other fruit) but from its look, which is similar to tiger bread.

The menu did make me think of what an accident in the international ready dishes sector of  M&S might end up as. . 

So, Take Your Time had to be tried in my bi-monthly meeting with fellow inReading hack Phil Creighton, who has long covered the visicitudes of eating out in our town.

The room has been nicely done up with a mix of high tables, dining tables and comfy chairs with coffee tables giving it more the feel of a bar than a restaurant.

The location has a great terrace and I suspect this will be a good place to eat in summer. A couple of months after opening on a Thursday lunchtime it was around a quarter full with everyone seemingly from our ever growing Hong Kong population 

I was early and welcomed enthusiastically by the young man and woman serving (I suspect that they may have been a couple and the owners).

When Phil arrived we set about tackling that menu. Eating any representative segment of the dishes in offer over a two person lunch was impossible.

I was tempted to go to my standard measure of any oriental restaurant, that ubiquitous dish that is Singapore Noodle where YY Restaurant recently took the crown off Good Old Days for the best version in town.

But I decided to be a tad more adventurous and ordered the Hunanese chicken lakhsa (in other words. Southern Chinese chicken with Malaysia's national soup.)

I was warned when ordering that it was 'very hot' but it really wasn't - the chilli oil nicely balanced the coconut brothbwhich is traditionally made of Laksa paste that contains dried chillies, shallots, garlic, galangal or ginger, lemongrass, candle nuts or peanuts, shrimp paste (belacan), turmeric, coriander and cumin seeds (or you can buy it all in a pot ready made!), along with chicken or prawn stock and a touch of sugar and fish sauce. It came with thick udon style noodles, lovely Hunan chicken, some overcooked besnsprouts, spring onion and puffed rice cake that soaks up the lovely sauce. 

The balance of broth against chilli oil wasn't perfect - the coconut stick could have had a bit more taste and maybe a bit less oil. It also could have done with some crunch and freshness - often raw besnsprouts, coriander, fresh limes, crushed peanuts and even cucumber are served for this purpose. It also lacked the ever present boiled or fried egg that seems to be de facto in many Malaysian meals. But at £15 it was a massive bowl of food and I managed to eat just over half of it

Phil decided on the Pork Loin Cutlet Baked Fried Rice. Apparently this is a Hong Kong standard - a comforting fusion dish made of rice, tomatoes and pineapple baked with mozzarella on top. Yes, it really does sound like that dish you made when you got back from the pub after an all sayer, using up everything you had in the fridge and cupboard.

Here is came with a chunky breaded pork loin steak. Phil loved it and cleared the dish, reluctantly giving me a spoonful of rice and a chunk of pork. I could see why he was reluctant to give it away - tasty, fillingband comforting on a late autumn day.

I could not resist ordering some of the pineapple bun (菠蘿包, bolo bao) as a side.

As I mentioned, despite the name, this doesn’t actually contain pineapple as the waitress reminded me.

It’s a soft, fluffy Hong Kong–style milk bread roll with a crunchy, sugary top and came with a large wedge of milky non salted butter - sometimes it's also filled with custard, or red bean paste. At TST it is used as a burger roll and I must come back to taste the chat siu 'burger'.

Our dishes were large and we really didn't need it, but it has whetted my appetite for a fusion burger on a future visit.

Phil was already telling our lovely waitress that he was coming back with his wife as soon as he could.

There is a very short but reasonably priced wine list and a good range of alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks including some Hong Kong specialities.

We never got as far as the dessert menu!

This is a great, eclectic addition to eating out in Reading that totally assuaged my preconceptions. The next time you're with someone who doesn't share your taste in food, TYT may be your perfect solution.