The little row of cafes and takeaway shops, huddled round the corner of Dundas Street and Henderson Row, boast quite an impressive array of eating options. I still have Finnegan’s, Cuckoo’s Bakery, Caffeine and L’Alba D’Oro to visit, but I’ve been impressed, so far, by Lezzetli, Club Sandwich, and the New Town Deli.

Exterior

On a sun-kissed day, I chose to visit Zen Kitchen, an eclectic pan-Asian place, which promised an interesting sounding lunchbox selection, on the blackboard in their window.

The extremely helpful counter woman explained the set-up, which was essentially that there were a selection of lunchtime dishes, and you could basically have whatever you wanted, as long as it fit in their small (£3.90) or large (£4.90) lunchbox. Included within this cost was a portion of their soup of the day, too. That sounded like a good plan to me.

Soup

Walking me through things, she first started with rice or noodles (rice), then a selection of main meals, from which I chose Filipino chicken and beef satay, then a choice of chicken wings or spring rolls (wings).

I was soon tramping up the road, with my soup and main course tubs swinging gently at my side.

Lunchbox

They didn’t win any prizes for neatness of presentation, but both courses tasted rather good. The soup was a fairly standard chicken and sweetcorn, but had good flavour and plenty of chicken chunks.

Both the beef and chicken dishes were lovely. They were distinctly different from each other, but both featured flavour-packed sauces and tender meat. The chicken wings were pretty decent, too, and the rice a good source of sustenance.

So overall, I was really pleased with Zen Kitchen. Their high-value lunchtime offering keeps things simple, and provides a nice range of filling options. Next time I’m looking for a substantial lunchtime feed, I’d be happy to pop back and sample their ever-changing daily delights.

Scores
Blythe scores Zen Kitchen
3.5/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
4/5 for service
3.5/5 for setting
giving an overall 14/20

Today’s quester was: Blythe

I ate: lunch box, featuring chicken and sweetcorn soup, Filipino chicken, beef satay, chicken wings, rice

I wore: navy three piece suit

Total bill: £4.90