No 1 Chinese

There are two types of food I am really particular about: Mexican and Chinese. I think it has something to do with the fact I am a Californian by birth so I know how amazing both can be.
This place was a disappointing from the word go, but I was so hungry I didn’t care. The wait staff was rude, the food was horrible, the décor sucked. It was just a giant slice of lose. Oh well. One less restaurant I have to eat at in Edinburgh

Well apart from having my ears assaulted by the same song in mandarin on repeat. with the requisite ‘skip’ in the soundtrack… the food was really nothing spectacular and not the least bit authentic. tho the forks and spoons on the tables in place of chopsticks was a dead giveaway for the «authenticity».
The décor is ‘sparse’ to say the least. the one waiter put on some weird accent and tried to be all chummy. «how was that, pal? enjoy that buddy? etc.»… then proceeded to ask us where in America we were from. uhhh… we’re NOT?! Then he was like. so where are you from then? But threw in «Europe? Canada?» before we’d had a chance to answer. then when D finally managed to say «Edinburgh» the waiter seemed to lose interest completely and we pretty much got the cold shoulder for the rest of the meal… WTF?
He then proceeded to offend someone else at a table which was behind me, all I heard was him apologising repeatedly to the woman who at one stage slapped the table!
All the main dishes were far too heavily flavoured. the chicken & cashew in yellow bean sauce and mixed veg were far too salty. the sweet & sour pork too vinegary. it was a good thing the mixed fried rice was pretty bland along with the prawn & green pepper.
Highlight was probably the banana fritter for dessert although the nondescript syrup it came with was too sweet…
We ate here out of desperation & convenience. I’ve been right not to set foot in this place in the 4 years I’ve live in Edinburgh and I don’t see myself setting foot in here again…

OK, firstly a disclaimer — I can’t exactly understand British/​Scottish Chinese food (i mean. HOT CHIPS?!@()*!()#)!(*#)(@*$ _@($*_ WTF_)*@$_@($_#$()) … being used to your «more authentic» Chinese food from Hong Kong I was trying to keep an open mind
We had the chicken chow mein. beef and black bean, egg fried rice and I had the equivalent to mapo tofu (pork and tofu, spicy). Food was good — my Edinburgh-​born-​and-​bred friends said it was really good in quality and taste. Yes, it’s not traditional but I don’t think that’s what they’re aiming for (or what the local palate demands).The tofu dish I did have had small slices of pork in it (as opposed to the «more-​traditional» minced pork) however I’m assuming this is again a «regional variation :)» catering to local expectations.
Service was fine, as were the prawn crackers served before and fortune cookies served after our meal. Place was busy (with both eat-​in and take away orders) which is always a good sign.
In short, food tasty, hot and fresh. Service fine. Reasonably priced. Still don’t understand the hot chips at a Chinese restaurant. :P

Had lunch at this Chinese on Elm Row today! We’ve eaten here before & have not been disappointed! They do a 3 course lunch for £6.95, great value! Being a conniseur of Hot and sour soup I just had to try it! Very nice indeed! Not the best I’ve had but not the worst by far!!!
The Deep Fried Shredded Chicken with Chilli sauce was just right! Crispy, garlicky & gingery! Yum yum! Unfortunately my OH ordered Beef Curry which was Chicken when it appeared but it was soon whisked away & promptly replaced!
We opted for ice cream to finish & it was tasty too!
Great value for money & the one waitress who was serving was cheery & helpful!

Contrary to Stuart and Fiona, I actually thought this place was okay, but just okay. Having said that, I went in in person so I can’t comment on the speed of delivery. The place feels quite nice inside, it’s also a restaurant so it’s got nice music playing and pretty stylish décor. The menu seemed bit jumbled up and disorientating as there were so many different dishes, some of which with the same description?! Eventually I settled on the crispy shredded pork with egg fried rice which took quite a while to be prepared. When I got tucked into it it was certainly crispy, even tough. The sauce was quite nice and spicy, but the meal as a whole was pretty average. My mate ordered a bag of prawn crackers on the side for his meal and they were somehow soggy.
I doubt I’ll be going back, but I could have just had a sub-​standard experience as the restaurant itself looked quite busy.

Ugh, that’s all I can say. I’m current staring at the nearly full chow mein box on my kitchen table from No.1. I had a forkfull and I was done.
The food just tastes bland, inside each noodle there is a hint of flavour but its encased in a 2 mm thick layer of grease. Seriously disappointed.
I agree with Fiona about the amount of time they take, even though it was Saturday night, they still took like 25 minutes.
I don’t know what I should do with this tub, there is enough oil in here to solve our global energy problem. Might give Saudi Arabia a wee phone…

I was embarrassingly excited the first time I ordered a takeaway from here, mainly because of how much I love japanese food.
Which is why it was such a let-​down when it arrived… eventually. It took over an hour, which is pretty excessive for a weeknight, and especially since they charged for delivery.
That would have been ok if the food had been worth waiting for. I’m no expert on how to cook Chinese or Japanese food, but when you put the hot spring rolls that my flatmate had ordered in with the sashimi in the same box, the sashimi has a habit of having started to cook and be lukewarm and rubbery by the time it arrives.
I don’t think I’ll ever get a takeaway from here again.