Restaurant Review: Wok and Wine

I'm not ashamed to say up front that Wok and Wine is a huge favourite of mine, so I was looking forward to visiting it last night, as I hadn't been for a while. I'm pleased to say that once again it loved up to my expectations!

Wine List

A great range of reasonably priced and very drinkable wine (although the website is slightly out of date - both range and price).

Food

There were seven of us eating last night, so we were able to order a good selection of starters. For those who have eaten there before, it goes without saying that the chicken moneybags were almost an automatic choice for some (including myself) - minced chicken in a coconut cream, deep fried in filo pastry: delicious! Also on the menu was a won-ton platter, thai fish cakes (spicy but lovely), chicken and corn soup, deep fired aubergine, and a starter sized king prawns in black bean sauce: the prawns were perfectly cooked.

The main courses were of an equally high standard: shredded duck, beef udon, chicken and cashew, whole sea bass steamed with ginger and spring onion, crispy beef, and, the star of the show for me, sizzling hong kong style beef.

Overall Rating

Great service: very attentive and friendly, all the staff seem genuinely happy to be serving you. Excellent food. Lovely basement restaurant, clearly full of return customers. They also operate a takeaway service. Highly recommended.

Tailend, Take Away

A short post on what is rumoured to be the best fish and chip shop in Edinburgh. The Tailend is a restaurant and a traditional chip shop - 2 separate rooms keep the queue at the fish bar away from the diners.

We decided to eat at home, so popped out for a takeaway. 3 Haddock Suppers, and 1 Scampi supper, we headed home. The haddock was freshly cooked and very tasty, the chips were also cooked to order and not greasy. The only disappointment was the scampi: it came in a packet, frozen. In fairness to the restaurant they didn't try to hide the fact as they poured the fish straight from the packet into the oil. When it was eventually unwrapped, the batter was overcooked and dark brown.

Overall Rating

Pretty good for a chippy, but considering their emphasis on fresh fish, I was very disappointed to get frozen. Recommendation: ask about the scampi before you decide to buy it. The fresh fish, however, was very good.

La Tasca - Great Value Tapas

3 months since the last post - what can I say? I've been working hard, doing a bit of running, and sadly, not eating out. All this is about to change though. In the next few weeks I'll be eating at Tail End (acclaimed chippy - can it live up to the hype?), Cafe Andaluz (I've just heard great things from a friend so am very excited), and Wok & Wine.

The more observant amongst you may have noticed that there are no high end dining nights out here ... I'm dropping hints with a view to going to 21212 (I can only hope).

In the meantime, I visited La Tasca last week with the in-laws, so a quick review.

I love tapas, but I haven't tried too many restaurants in Edinburgh recently, apart from La Tasca - see my review from earlier this year.

The Tapas Tree always used to get good reviews, but didn't impress me too much. So far (and this may change soon) my favourite has been in Newcastle - El Torero. It's been a few years since I've been, but if you're in the area I'd recommend giving it a try. La Tasca, for me, has always been good, serving all the favourites and doing a reasonably good job. What elevated this visit for me was that all food was half price (again). If you want to keep abreast of offers on national chains like this then www.vouchercodes.co.uk can send you a weekly email with all the best offers (not just restaurants).

Wine List

Pretty standard list with a good range of value wines and beers. I especially love the cava (!) and the sangria.

Food

Nothing adventurous, nothing spectacular, but pretty tasty and great value. All the usual favourites were there: meatballs, croquettes, prawns, calamari, chorizo ...

Overall Rating

Needless to say the place was filled to the brim. We were on a small table, but all that made us do was order the tapas in stages, which is a good thing. At half price you can't go wrong: 8 or 9 tapas, 2 bottles of wine and a tip for £60. I would highly recommend it for a relaxed meal with friends.