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Dine In Chinese Restaurant Edinburgh
Dine in Chinese restaurant Edinburgh tables at 45 South Bridge: roast duck, dry pots and wonton soup, noon to 9.30pm daily. Book a table or just walk in.
DINE WITH US
Dine In at Jimmy's Express
Dine in. Chinese restaurant Edinburgh, 45 South Bridge, noon until half nine. That is the short version. The longer one involves a table, a pot of jasmine tea, and a duck that arrives before you have finished arguing about what else to order.
Family-run
Behind the counter since day one
Cooked to order
Nothing sits under a lamp
South Bridge
Six minutes from Waverley
Open daily
Noon until half nine
A dine in Chinese restaurant Edinburgh can take its time over
Duck is the argument for sitting down. It comes out with pancakes, leeks, cucumber and hoisin and it is assembled at the table, which means it takes as long as it takes. In a box it is never quite the same. Half a bird is £22, a whole one £40, and the skin is the part everybody reaches for first.
Dry pots are the other reason. They arrive still cooking, beef brisket and chilli oil ticking away in the pot, and they need a table and a few plates around them. A takeaway box holds them. It does not do them justice.
The dining room is a few minutes from the Royal Mile, so lunch can be a proper sit-down even on a work day. In and out inside forty minutes, bill paid, and nobody makes you feel like you have taken the table too long.
The dishes that only work at a table
Order the things that do not travel. The whole sea bass, steamed with ginger and spring onion for £22 or grilled with pickled cabbage for £28. The salt and pepper squid at £16.50, at its best about ninety seconds after it leaves the wok. The foo yung, which is a Chinese omelette and better hot than warm.
Then the sharing dishes. A dry pot, a vegetable, a plate of char siu, rice in the middle. Chinese food in Edinburgh is at its best when there are four of you and nobody owns a dish. Two people can do it with three plates and a starter, and it is not expensive.
Starters come out as they are ready. If the timing looks chaotic, that is a Chinese kitchen working rather than a mistake. Tell us if you want things spaced out and we will pace the meal to suit you.
The end of the meal, not the end of the night
Pudding is a short list. Banana fritters, £4.90, deep fried and dusted with sugar. Red bean ice, £5.90, which is a dessert and a drink arguing in the same glass. Ice cream if you want the easy answer. Tea and coffee are £2.95.
The Hong Kong milk tea at £3.95 is what most of the room finishes with, and a pot of jasmine tea lasts longer than the plates do. If you have ordered the duck, the dry pot and a vegetable, you will not have room, and you will order the fritters anyway.
The room at half nine is a good place to be. Last tables, first quiet, a pot of tea nobody is counting. The wine list is short and starts at £19.95 a bottle, and a Tsing-Tao is £4.95 for anyone who wants something cold and simple.
Booking, or taking your chances
Book through RESV and you can hold a table for up to eight people. Nine or more comes through us by phone on 0131 563 9054, because large tables need a person rather than a form. Walk-ins are welcome too. On a Tuesday you will get a table. On a Saturday in August, book.
Turn up without a booking and we will tell you honestly how long the wait is, rather than seat you somewhere cramped and hope you do not notice. If it is longer than you want to stand for, we will tell you where to go and wait instead.
Every table gets the same menu, the same kitchen and the same cook. Being two people rather than ten does not change what comes out of the pass, and it does not change what you pay.
In and out before a show
We are at 45 South Bridge, six minutes on foot from Waverley and two from the Royal Mile. It is a dine in Chinese restaurant Edinburgh can reach from most of the centre without a taxi, which makes it useful before a show or after a late finish.
Say when you sit down that you have a curtain at half seven. The kitchen will work to it. August is the exception and we will tell you so, because the room fills at six and stays full until eight, and that is not a night for a tight schedule.
Open noon to half nine, seven days. Ring 0131 563 9054 if you are running late and we will hold the table for a sensible amount of time rather than give it away.
Common questions
Questions we get asked
Do you take walk-ins?
Yes, and we keep tables back for them. Friday and Saturday evenings and August are the exceptions, when booking is the sensible move. If you walk in and the room is full, we will give you an honest wait time rather than seat you badly and hope you do not notice.
Can I book for more than eight people?
Not online. Our online booking through RESV stops at eight covers. For nine or more, ring 0131 563 9054 and we will arrange it properly, which usually means a different table plan rather than pushing two tables together.
Is there a dress code?
None. Come as you are, whether that is after work, after a walk up Arthur's Seat, or straight off a train with a bag. Nobody has ever been turned away for wearing the wrong thing, and you will not be the most casually dressed person in the room.
How long can we have the table?
There is no timer on it. On a crowded Saturday we may ask for a table back after a couple of hours, and we will say so when you book rather than at the end. On a quiet afternoon you are welcome to sit over a pot of tea.
A table, a pot of tea, and a duck
Book online for up to eight people, or ring 0131 563 9054 for a larger table. We are at 45 South Bridge, open noon until half nine every day.