Hot Hot, Home Street, Edinburgh

Last Thursday we were out in town and looking for somewhere to grab some tea, we had initially headed for the Lee-On Chinese restaurant in Bruntsfield to stuff ourselves on their ridiculously good value set meal. But while walking up Home Street, we noticed a place we must have walked past hundreds of times but never thought of going in.

Hot Hot serve a kind of Chinese hotpot, each table has a heater on it on which is placed a large bowl of broth (we got a special bowl split into half normal, half spicy). You are then brought a lot of raw food and you cook it at your table in the broth. It costs a flat fee (around £15 per person) for as much food as you can eat. The food provided ranges from reasonably normal to the exotic. Thinly sliced beef, lamb, pork, raw prawns, scallops, razor clams, kelp, tripe, mushrooms, potato and all sorts of other stuff I can't remember. Once cooked in the broth, you take it out and dip it in a range of special sauces.

The whole experience is great fun and the broth and sauces made the ingredients taste amazing, even if there was a fair amount of stuff I would probably never think of ordering.

Overall, something a bit different, but still tasty and you get a lot of food, Hot Hot is worth a try if you want something a bit more fun than other restaurants.

Score: 5/5/

Bonsai, West Richmond Street, Edinburgh

After the show yesterday we thought we'd head out for something to eat and as we were over at the South side, we decided upon Japanese from Bonsai. Bonsai was one of the first places I'd had Japanese food in Edinburgh and I think it's also one of the oldest Japanese places in the city. I hadn't been for a while mainly because I'm not over that side of town very often and so Sushi-Ya on Dalry road and Tang's on Candlemaker row are both a bit more convenient and are both pretty good anyway.

So, between the four of us we ordered up a feast consisting of Dragon Roll, Sashimi Platter, Teriyaki Beef, Yakisoba, Prawn and Salmon Nigiri, Wasabi Peas, Char-Sui bun, Mixed Tempura, Rice, Kim-Chi and Okonomiyaki. Everything was excellent and although the sashimi pieces seemed a little small, we were still pretty full once we'd eaten everything. I can especially recommend the Char-Sui bun and the Okonomiyaki. We followed this up with desserts (I had a chocolate torte).

Overall, Bonsai is pretty good and definitely one of the best Japanese restaurants in Edinburgh, it's just a shame it's over the other side of town from where I live.

Levens - Thai Fusion

Levens in tollcross sits in what used to be Favorit, the restaurant has a big glass frontage with further seating in the back behind the bar. Modernly decorated the interior is bright and well presented.

While the menu is a little short, there were still a number of options which caught my eye, I opted for Umbrella Prawn to start followed by duck in red and green curry sauces. The starter consisted of a massive prawn served with a fried tofu sheet for the umbrella. There was a helping of some kind of sweet crunchy noddles on the side, overall very tasty.

The main course was more impressive, the dish was served in two halves, one with the red curry sauce and one with the green curry sauce. Each side had a helping of perfectly roasted duck breast as well as aubergine, pineapple and grapes. A portion of rice sat in the middle. The duck was excellent as were both the sauces which were different enough to warrant the separation and serving of both, highly recommended.

The dessert menu had the usual ice-cream/sorbet as well as some other desserts. I opted for the Taro creme brulee. The creme brulee was excellent and the layer of Taro (An oriental root vegetable) on the bottom complimented the sweetness of the top well, although there was a little too much of it for my liking.

Overall, in an area of town with a fair few Thai restaurants, Levens comes recommended, their blend of Thai and Western cuisine makes for some interesting dishes.

Shilla Korean Restaurant

Last Wednesday, Rosie and I went out for a meal for her birthday. We thought we'd try somewhere new and so I booked us a table at Shilla on Dundas Street. This Korean Restuarant is modernly decorated and seems to have a fair number of tables. At 7pm on a Wednesday it was quiet, but not completely empty.

The first thing that struck us was how extensive the menu was, I would happily have ordered pretty much any of the mains, and I feel like I have to go back to try some of the other options. We had grilled dumplings and Prawn skewers to start followed by a spicy prawn dish and some kind of noodle dish to follow. All the food was excellent and extremely tasty, my prawns were especially nice.

Overall, I highly recommend this restaurant and definitely want to go back to try more of the menu.

King Wa Chinese Takeaway

Another Chinese takeaway on Gorgie Road, we've been to King Wa before but I couldn't remember much about it. The don't do Kung-Po King Prawn, so we went for plan B, Shredded Chilli Beef, Boiled Rice, Chicken and Sweetcorn soup and Spring Rolls.

Delivery arrived reasonably quickyl considering it was a Saturday night and cost £13.00. No freebies, but we were probably just under the cutoff for prawn crackers.

The Spring Rolls were mid thickness, not the big fat ones, but not the little skinny ones. One each for Rosie and I and they were pretty tasty, if they'd come with a dipping sauce like Taste Good I'd go as far as to say they would be in that league.

The Chicken and Sweetcorn soup was very hot, but loads of chicken, a fair amount of sweetcorn and not as gloopy as it could have been. Again, very good, things were looking impressive.

Finally on to the main course, the Shredded Beef in Chilli sauce looked a little daunting, the sauce was very very dark. Upon opening the lid we were hit with a pleasant aroma of garlic. Vegetable wise, the usual suspects, lots of carrot and possibly some green leafy stuff, later on I disovered dried chilli at the bottom.

Despite the overly dark sauce putting me off, the initial impression was that it smelled really good. Luckily, it tasted as good as it smelled, sweet, garlicky, a hint of chilli at first (which developed into pleasantly spicy as you ate more) and the beef was actually crispy unlike most Shredded Beef dishes which tend to be a bit chewy.

Overall, King Wa was a pretty good choice. In fact I'm going to say it's the best we've had since I started this regular feature.

Score: 4.5/5

King Wa: 388 Gorgie Rd, Edinburgh, EH11 : 0131 337 5864‎

I-Ching Chinese Takeaway

Nearly two weeks since our last Chinese takeaway and being a Friday night, who can be bothered cooking? We went with the I-Ching on Slateford road, literally a couple of hundred meters at the most from Taste Good. It's somewhere we have ordered from in the past, so thought we'd try it again in our quest to taste them all.

Our order consisted off duck spring rolls, spare ribs (we've not been feeling the love for the chicken and sweetcorn soup recently), crispy shredded beef and boiled rice. Total cost just over £16. No freebies.

The food arrived very quickly and we tucked into the duck spring rolls. They were pretty good, although not as good as Taste Good. A pot of sweet and sour sauce was provided for dippage, again the Hoi-sin from Taste Good is better, but the spring rolls and sauce were still tasty.

The spare ribs came coated in BBQ sauce and there were a lot of them, possibly meant as a main rather than a starter. The were tasty as well, although very messy to eat.

The crispy shredded beef was ok, not amazing, it wasn't really to my taste (could have done with being a bit sweeter). Also, there wasn't quite enough sauce and the rice seemed a little soggy.

Overall, good starters, ok main, nice enough but not the best we've had.

Score: 3/5

I-Ching: 83 Slateford Rd, Edinburgh, EH11‎ : 0131 337 9898‎

Taste Good - Chinese Takeaway

After coming back down from Ardtoe, we couldn't be bothered going to the shops and had no food in the house, so we decided to get takeaway. We didn't have any cash on us, so went for the one takeaway we know where you can pay by card when you order.

Taste Good on Slateford Road is one of the more up market Chineses in Edinburgh and has a sit in restaurant as well as the takeaway section. We ordered duck spring rolls, chicken and sweetcorn soup, Kung-Po King Prawn and Boiled rice. The whole thing came to around £13 and there were no freebies.

The spring rolls were probably the best spring rolls we've had from a Chinese Takeaway so far. 3 of the smaller thin kind, filled with duck, they came with a portion of Plum Sauce for dipping, definitely on to a winner there. The Chicken and Sweetcorn soup was a little tasteless, a fair amount of chicken though.

Finally, the main course, the Kung-Po King Prawn; while they have to be commended for the wide variety of vegetables and a huge portion of peanuts, the sauce itself is not as thick and sweet as we like and could have been a bit spicier. The odd pieces of celery in the dish also makes it a bit of a minefield if you (like me) aren't too keen on it.

Overall, awesome spring rolls but disappointing main course, nothing wrong with it per se, but not entirely aligned with my tastes.

Score: 3/5

Taste Good : 67-71 Slateford Road, Edinburgh : 0131 313 5588

BM - Chinese Takeaway

The closest Chinese Takeaway to our flat and we haven't ever ordered from there, so last night we put and end to this and gave them a phone. We ordered: Crispy shredded beef, Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup, Spring Rolls, Boiled Rice and two cans of Irn Bru. Total cost £11.40, but no free prawn crackers (maybe a good thing though since me eating an entire bag of prawn crackers is never going to be a good thing).

The spring roll was the first thing that caught our eye, wrapped in a grease soaked paper bag, we unpeeled it from its oily wrapper to be met with something that looked a bit burnt and possibly refried. Taste wasn't much better, a lot of bamboo shoots and a bit of meat (according to Rosie). Also marks off for there only being one and it being one of the big fat ones.

Next up was the Chicken and Sweetcorn soup, it looked a bit funny, but seemed to have a lot of chicken in it. That's about all that was going for it though, it tasted of very little, even the chicken didn't taste of much, we hardly ate any of it between the two of us.

Finally, we opened up the Crispy Shredded Beef. At this point, I wanted to hate it, but to be fair to BM it was actually pretty good. Big chunks of beef with onion and peppers in a fairly spicy sauce (only minor niggle, there could have been more sauce). The beef was crispy rather than chewy and the sauce was very tasty. The main dish saved the meal.

Overall, a bit of a dip after our strong run, avoid the starters, but the mains seem to be ok.

Score: 2.5/5

BM : 193 Balgreen Rd, Edinburgh : 0131 346 1834

Delicious China - Chinese Takeaway

In my bid to sample every Chinese takeaway in Edinburgh, I picked another random one to order from on Sunday night. I used to cycle along Dalry road everyday and there are a fair few takeaways on the mile and a half or so between Haymarket and my flat. Delicious China is one of these, but not one we'd ever ordered from before.

We ordered a fairly standard order (for us), Spring Rolls, Chicken and Sweetcorn soup, Kung Po King Prawn and Boiled Rice. Total cost just over £10 and for that we got a free bag of Prawn Crackers (which is always a bonus because Rosie doesn't like them so I get to eat them all :)

The Spring Rolls were the two big fat kind rather than the skinny kind. I'm not a big fan of these massive Spring Rolls, but the ones from Delicious China were pretty tasty, stuffed with Bean Sprouts and other vegetables. Rosie really liked them.

The Chicken and Sweetcorn soup was sweet and full of chicken, we thought it smelled like Roast Chicken, a winner there.

Finally, the Kung Po King Prawn. No battered Prawns, but a fairly sweet and relatively spicy Kung Po sauce with an assortment of vegetables and some cashew nuts.

The menu is available here and you can even order online.

All in all, another success in the world of Chinese Takeaway. Possibly a little better than Hui which I reviewed last time, but not by much, more vegetables in the Kung Po was definitely a winner.

Overall 4.2/5

Delicious China : 261 Dalry Road, Edinburgh : 0131 346 8383

Hui - Chinese Takeaway

There have to be at least a hundred Chinese takeaways in Edinburgh, if not more and there seems to be a menu for a new one through my door every month. Trying to remember which ones are good and which ones aren't so good can be a bit of a challenge, so I thought I might as well document it here.

I had never heard of Hui (123A Corstorphine Road) before until they delivered their menu and since we were going to get a Chinese anyway, we decided to go for something new. So we ordered pretty much our standard Chinese takeaway order to put them to the test.

So, Kung Po King Prawn with Boiled rice and Spring Rolls and Chicken and Sweetcorn soup to start. The food arrived pretty fast (we weren't timing, but it seemed fast). At just over £10 it seemed reasonably priced too. No freebies, but since we had only made a small order, that is to be expected.

The spring rolls were the 4 thin kind rather than the two fat kind which is always a plus in my book, they were cripsy and very tasty. The chicken and sweetcorn soup was very hot and also pretty tasty without being too gloopy. There was quite a lot of chicken to be found in it.

On to the main course, the prawns were battered which is also a favourite of mine and while there was very little vegetables in the sauce, it was very tasty and there were cashew nuts aplenty. I did spot a couple of pieces of water chestnut, but aside from that and some chillies there were no other vegetables. The sauce was a good consistency, more of the spicy sweet and sour style, but nice and sweet and reasonably hot.

The rest of the menu looked pretty standard, although there did seem to be some exotic seafood options (squid, scallop and more).

Overall, Hui was a pretty decent meal, not quite as good as our regular, the Magic Kitchen (which also has the benefit of sharing its name with an Andy Lau movie!) but nice for a change and definitely one I'd order from again.

Overall: 4/5

Hui : 123A Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh : 0131 346 2888

Ju-Ichi, William Street, Edinburgh

Ju-Ichi, William Street Edinburgh, is one of the newest Japanese restaurants in a town which has now got a good few. Not having been yet, Rosie and I met some friends to sample their menu.

Hidden downstairs in a basement off William Street, Ju-Ichi is well decorated and looks clean and modern. Tuesday evenings obviously aren't where it's at in Edinburgh's West End as our group of 4 were the only customers we saw the whole night.

The menu has a reasonable range of sushi and other japanese items, helpfully arranged into hot and cold. We started off with Tuna and Tamago Nigiri, Mixed Sashimi, Mixed Tempura, Gyoza, Futomaki roll and Katsu roll.

The rolls were quite good as were the fried things, you can never go wrong with Gyoza and Tempura. The mixed Sashimi was only Tuna and Salmon (I found out later that they were out of Mullet and Mackerel), both were reasonable. I felt that the Nigiri had a little too much rice. After finishing off these dishes, we got a few more items, more Tempura, Chicken Katsu and Mixed Seafood Yakitori.

The Katsu was nice, but the sauce served with it had a strange taste, it was peanut based and possibly contained some sort of alcohol. The Mixed Seafood Yakitori consisted of grilled Salmon, Tuna and Prawn and was nice, coming with a sweet Yakitori sauce.

Overall, Ju-Ichi was alright, but not amazing, there are definitely better Japanese restaurants in Edinburgh. I found the menu to be a little on the boring side, most of the fish choices being Salmon or Tuna. The restaurant also lacks authenticity, which wouldn't be a problem if the food was outstanding, but when combined with the middle of the road food it doesn't feel like a "real" Japanese restaurant.

All in all, passable and nice for a change of scenery, but there are better Japanese restaurants in Edinburgh which feel more authentic.