On Thursday me & a good friend ,went to check out the food at the Yum Yum Hong Kong Diner in Edinburgh. I had walked past this place a few weeks ago and it looked very authentic, so I picked up a menu & called my mate Jason. I explained to him that this was not going to be your average UK chinese food experience as they had deep fried pigs intestines on the menu. We agreed a day to check out this cuisene and used it also as an excuse to dress up. Me in oriental silks and Jay, well he is always exceptionally well dressed. I also said that I would probably  have something on the menu that was not too hard core, but Jay reconed he would go straight to the most outlandlish thing he could find. When we got there I decided to do the same.

We went for:

Duck egg & pork congee::

The most edible of our choices, a soup with the consistency of wallpaper paste ,and with rice being the ingredient to give it the thick glupiness. It was really nice at first & the smell was enticing. I was unsure at the blackish green ( vegetable ) on my spoon, I guessed it was a type of aubergine and as soon as I put it in my mouth I realised it was a quarter of a duck egg. Of course! Thumbs up for the congee.

Parsnip cake:

I thought that this would be the easiest thing to eat, but to the contary it was not at all. This was cubes of steamed or boiled turnip which seemed to have been fried in pig fat & possibly marinated  as the pig fat taste was very intense. I ate a half cube and I don’t think Jay even ate that much. The piece of duck egg at the side of the plate did get eaten of course, but was put there to photograph the colour of it.

Deep fried stuffed pigs intestine:

The waitress was fantastic to us from the minute that we walked in. Very helpful indeed. She pointed to pictures of the items that we asked about, and the picture of the stuffed pigs intestine looked better than I had imagined, so I eagerly tried it when it arrived on the table to the shock of my rapidly kicking in gagg reflex. I had to decant it from my mouth to a nearby napkin. It wasn’t until we had finnished that I found that the stuffing was prawn.I had guessed chicken. I love prawns but did not detect a hint of what the stuffing was as the intestine was so overpowering. I had more congee and then tried again to eat more intestine, I still had to decant it, but less rapidly than the first time. I had not dipped the second piece and then dipped my fingernail into the dipping sauce to see how it tasted and was a stronger piggy flavour than the intestine itself. I wrapped 2 pieces into a napkin to give to my dog. It got yogi’s approval.

Salt and chilli duck tongue:

Again I thought that this would be interesting and easy enough to eat. Oh, how wrong could I be. The plate arrived with a pile of possibly 60 duck tongues with a crunchy coating. I picked one out with my fingers and put it in my mouth, not very much taste ( except the lingering pig!)  salt & chilli. But it was hard. It seems that the tongue itself was pretty small and it was the beak that I was trying to eat. Jay was surprised as he had eaten a few yet he had not come accross any beaks. Well, he was swallowing them whole and then continued to eat but extracting the beak before swallowing. I don’t know yet how he got on in the toilet the next day but I am glad I did not swallow any beaks myself. I should have left some stripped beaks at the side of the plate for the photo.

The service was great, portions large, prices cheap & atmosphere like a mini Hong Kong holiday as the huge tv was showing some Hong Kong soap opera and clientelle prodominantly Chinese. This restaurant is on West Regent Street in Edinburgh. It only seats 20 people & closes at 8pm every night. There is no alcohol licence and you cannot take your own bottle. The drinks are sodas and a large selection of teas. Jay’s tea was honey and it made his expression change when he tasted it more than any of the food did. Mine was almond and honey. All the teas come cold in a sealed plastic cup.

The night did serve its purpose. We planned to get dressed up and have some food ,culture shock and we got it. My brother now wants to go when he comes to visit. I think I will have sweet and sour king prawns with noodles next time, my usual chinese favorite. I think this will be a safer way to a full belly but I am sure that it will be unlike any sweet and sour king prawn that I have ever ordered from a take away.

I would recomend this eatery to anyone who wants some true Hog Kong food. My dog would also recommend the cuisene.