I tried dinner at this playful and cool new Edinburgh Old Town restaurant
There’s a new addition to Bristo Place
I recently judged the Scottish Street Food Awards for the fifth year running.
The job made me think of previous winners, and I was wondering about favourites Junk, who took home the Scottish, British and European prizes in 2022.
They eventually opened a restaurant in Edinburgh’s Southside, which sadly closed down last year. Anyway, it turns out that it’s not over for them yet.
I was excited to discover that their owner, Cameron Laidlaw, is now looking after the food at the capital’s vibrant new venue, Uncle Tiger.
There are other auspicious signs of a decent feed, when it comes to this colourful Wes Anderson-esque canteen of a space, even if it is situated in a bit of a white elephant address where hospitality businesses never seem to stick. It’s owned by the Òir Group - the hospitality team behind a few of my favourites, including The Captain Darling in Stockbridge, Broughton Street’s Lucky Yu, which has just earned a spot in the Michelin Guide, and Bodega on Leith Walk.
Uncle Tiger has a constant Asian-inspired theme, except with a menu that’s tweaked every six weeks. The first one was Hong Kong Nights, but I visited at the start of Golden Gai, which is available until the end of June and is named for the Tokyo precinct that’s full of taverns. Think booze-friendly finger food, like yakitori.
As suggested by the neon HOT BUNS sign inside the door, they also offer a bao bun station, which is open all week.
First, a cocktail, and I tried the kemuri (£12), with Toki Whisky, oolong tea, umeshu and smoke. It was a strong take on an old-fashioned that was topped with a very realistic-looking and eminently Instagrammable little gellified shubunkin, which sat on a big ice cube.
The shareable platefuls come as they’re ready. We’d been told to go for two from the Ippin, or single item, section.
I don’t think I’ve ever tried anything like the vegan dish of watermelon tataki (£5), which featured fanned petals of blackened edged fruit in a sweet sauce, with dots of preserved lemon gel and blackened whole shishito on top. It opened a new portal of intrigue in my brain. I never could’ve imagined a fruit being used in this way. It was like when Billy Connolly wore bananas for shoes.
The sashimi option (£6) was equally lovely and delicate, with strips of sea trout that were topped with cubes of grapefruit, peach and a moat of ponzu sauce.
Stuff on sticks was next, and we’d been told to choose four.
Both the meaty ones were back-of-the-net stuff. The set of two chicken thigh (£7) yakitori, with their intense charred flavour and white sesame and soy coating., made us drool like Cujo. While, the braised beef chunks in their chilli citrus yuzu kosho, which were threaded onto the stick with mushrooms, and came with sweet semi-dried tomatoes and a large silky dollop of Kewpie, were equally satisfying.
We probably would’ve liked more than two mayo and sesame seed-sprinkled asparagus spears (£8), when it came to our veggie option, though we enjoyed the quenelle of decadently rich egg yolk on the side. The skate wing (£11) was a thing of beauty too. We slid the copper singed meat off a bone with a knife, and it plopped into the huge bowl of miso beurre blanc. If only we’d had some chips or bread to dip in the fondue’s worth of sauce, though those extras probably wouldn’t fit the theme.
Our final two savoury dishes were from the Agemano, or deep fried list. There was a hearty and hefty tonkatsu sando (£10), with thick pork cutlet wads, as well as fermented cabbage and an umami mayo between two thick toasted white bread bookends. We also had the okonomiyaki (£8), which was an unlikely mixture of odds and sods, such as a Snickers bar-sized and cabbage-topped hash brown, and quartered pancakes. Any residual hunger, from an initially low carb feast, was instantly slayed.
In the interests of research, we thought we should try their pudding - a thousand layer apple cake (£8) with deep fried ice-cream that had a cornflakey batter, but it was rather forgettable and I don’t think sugary stuff is their forte. Thankfully, everything else is.
Junk may have closed, and this might be a strangely tricky address (though it’s a very cool and spacious dining room, to sit 100).
However, I think this colourful little cracker is going to stick. Hot buns indeed.
Uncle Tiger is open Wednesday to Saturday from 5pm to 10pm at 3 Bristo Place, Edinburgh (0131-287 8722, www.uncletiger.co.uk)
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