Back to the Rice Bowl

Returning exhausted from Newcastle yesterday, I succumbed and decided to treat myself to my first Chinese meal in Scotland. I'd been tempted by the smell of Roasted duck when walking through Newcastle's Chinatown, and my Asian palate simply had to be satisfied.

Edinburgh doesn't have a Chinatown (not that I'm aware of), so I headed off for the next best thing - Kampong Ah Lee on Nicholson Street.

I swear for the past 4 weeks, this place has been calling out to me, with its bright red facde, and the newspaper clippings plastered proudly across the store front. The reviews did seem pretty promising, however sue me for saying this, but I'm dubious whenever I hear Western food writers who have never lived in the region praising Malaysian/Singaporean food as 'authentic.' Perhaps I'm a snob that way.

But in any case, my conversion started the minute I entered the humble premises of Kampong Ah Lee. Some surefire signs you're in good company? The clientale is Asian, the music is Jay Chou and the decoration is kitschy miniature Petronas Twin Towers. A bonus if general atmosphere is homely and unpretentious - loud talking, people using fingers to eat chicken wings etc.

The menu is quite extensive covering a whole gamut of dishes, including the usual suspects like Nasi Lemak, Laksa and Hor Fan. However, here I must express some regret that they also had Singaporean noodles on the menu. What on earth are these mysterious Singaporean noodles?? I saw them everywhere in New York's Chinatown but have yet to figure out what they are. Apparently some exotic concoction involving bee hoon, curry and other random spices, which can be found everywhere else except Singapore.

Price-wise, all dishes are about 6 pounds upward. It's definitely not cheap compared to their equivalents back home, but that's life abroad I suppose.

Because I had a craving for salted fish, I placed my order for the pork and salted fish rice dish with a young-ish Chinese waiter who spoke with a delightful Scottish accent, and then switched to Cantonese when behind the counter with his mother.

Sadly I didn't take a picture of the food because I was so hungry that I just tucked in the moment it arrived steaming hot on the table. However, for 5.80pounds you get a massive mound of Thai rice which is slightly disproportionate to the amount of meat and veg you get. But I'm not complaining - I finished practically all of it. In addition to pork and salted fish, the meal for some reason, was also accompanied by chicken and beef slices. The entire thing was garnished with sliced onions and green peppers, and rounded off with a generous topping of gravy.

It was in a word, shiok. I suppose it is hard to go wrong with pork, salted fish and rice, but in any case I enjoyed it. It wasn't fantastic but it was good enough to satisfy my craving for Asian food. The pork even had those fatty bits which are just mmmmmmmmmmmm....

Go when you get hit by that insatiable craving of good ol' home-cooked food! Throw in a bubble-tea as well for instance gratification.