Loon Fung

This is good, pretty standard Cantonese fare with a particular focus on seafood. Service is very prompt and the standard of the cooking is great. Portions aren’t huge and the pricing therefore seems a little expensive for what you get, but by and large if you want to eat at a good Chinese restaurant in Edinburgh, Loon Fung definitely fits the bill.

It’s been more than ten years since I had a sit-​down meal in a Chinese restaurant, there’s no real rhyme or reason as to why, I guess Chinese food, to me, has always meant take-​away. In our house growing up we had one Chinese we always ordered from, but we never actually went and had a meal there. This weekend however, we decided to change that.
Walking into Loon Fung, the first thing I noticed was how busy it was. I guess this is kind of a given at the weekend, but it was clear the restaurant was popular. The second thing I noticed was the smell — I was starving and it smelled heavenly in there. Unfortunately, we arrived a good twenty five minutes early and our table wasn’t ready yet, so we headed to the pub next door for a quick drink. When we returned, we were quickly seated at our table, given menus, and had drinks orders taken. I should point out, if you’re worried about spending too much on booze, Loon Fung is a cheap option with decent bottles of wine priced at around £16.75. A down side to Loon Fung is that its size is a little on the small side for its popularity and the tables are all rather close together so you might feel a little cramped, but the staff are friendly and happy to explain any dishes to you.
We started perusing the menu and the gruelling task of getting four people to agree on what dishes to order began. In the end I think we went a little overboard, ordering three dim sums to start, five mains and two portions of egg fried rice.
Our Dim Sum included Roast Pork Buns, Shiu Mai (pork & prawn) and Har Kow (prawn). The pork buns were quite large and for that reason, only two. There being four of us and me not being a fan of seafood, I got one big one all to myself and I was so happy I did! The dough was soft and perfectly steamed and the meat inside was tender and full of flavour — most likely char siu style. My only criticism would be that the filling to dough ratio was a bit off, there needed to be a bit more pork and a little less bun as the dough is quite thick.
I also had a taste of the pork and prawn Shiu Mai dumplings because I was so darn hungry and I figured well, it’s only half prawn! The pastry was lovely and silky smooth and the filling tasty, although there was definitely a distinct prawn flavour but it worked well with the pork.
Our starters were taken away, hot plates put on the table, and we were brought our fried rice for the mains, which were placed in the small bowls we had already been given. Yes, one small Chinese bowl and spoon and a set of chop sticks, that’s what you eat your food with here. There’s no cutlery unless you ask for it so we all decided to soldier on.
Our mains were Shredded Beef, Sliced Pork in Barbecue Sauce, Cha Cha Chicken, Salty King Prawns and Chilli, and Singapore Noodles. We had originally ordered Char Siu pork but the staff recommended the dish we ended up with, describing it as more of a hoisin style sauce and it was by far my favourite. It had strong Asian flavours, tender pieces of pork drenched in a sticky, sweet and salty sauce.
Another favourite was the Shredded Beef. One of the down sides to ordering this dish from the take away is that by the time it gets to you, the beef is no longer crispy. The dish in front of us however, was exactly the way it should be. Super crisp strips of beef in a sweet chilli sauce with sliced carrot, onions and other veg.
The Cha Cha Chicken, which was described as being served in a mild, sizzling ginger sauce, was rather bland. As my mum so eloquently put it, it looked «rather anaemic.» There was very little colour to it and next to the other dishes it just sort of paled. On tasting the flavour was nice and the vegetables were crunchy, it just didn’t excite me. Personally, I wanted to go for their Special Lemon Chicken — a dish they are known for — but in all honesty, we didn’t really need it, we already had so much food.
I can’t comment on the prawns because I don’t eat them, I’m told they were tasty but had gone a little soggy. The noodles were great — a lovely taste from sesame oil, soy sauce, lots of vegetables and varying meats. By the end of the meal we were all stuffed and there was very little left on the table. What we were all surprised by was the bill. For four people, two bottles of wine, two beers, three starters, five mains, two sides and a tip, the bill came to £108. This, in my opinion, is very reasonable and great value for money because the quality of the food is high and the service was good.

This was pretty good Cantonese food, for British/​Scottish standards I suppose. The dishes were on the small side but the quality of the food was good. We had the seafood bird’s nest which, on first glance, I thought it only had seafood balls in it. But eventually we uncovered some scallops and shrimps. The bird’s nest was done nicely, crispy but not too heavy dough. We also had the sweet and sour pork which was fine, lots of pineapple chunks which my toddler son always loves to eat. The staff were friendly and helpful. They seem to be from Hong Kong but have lived in the UK for quite a long time now. So I think that’s probably why the food is slightly westernized and not truly authentic Cantonese anymore.

Going to a Chinese restaurant is a tricky prospect for me. After eating so much Chinese food in Hong Kong and Singapore I have a lot more questions: is this Cantonese? Do they serve shark fin? Is it more American Chinese or Chinese Chinese? Luckily, we had a friendly patron waiting out front of Loon Fung ready to answer all these questions and profess that it was the best Chinese he had eaten in the city. That was good enough for me.
When we sat down my sister and brother-​in-​law and I compared our must haves: i need extra vegetables, they needed the aromatic crispy duck with pancakes (Peking duck) and hot and sour soup, we agreed on fried rice and bean curd and black bean sauce. It was all so good. The duck especially was a much larger serving than I am used to and we could make our own pancakes. The fried rice tasted just like home.
As dinner wore on and we worked our way through the large amount of food the dining room slowly filled up. When we had arrived there was only one other table but when we left it was full. Before leaving however we ordered the toffee banana and lemon sorbet, served in a frozen hollowed out lemon. I would give the banana a miss but the lemon was cool.
All in all, it was a pleasant reminder of what Chinese food is outside of China.

Went to Loon Fung yet again for another team lunch this week. This time a few of us decided to order off the main menu, rather than the £8 3 course lunch menu. And I’m glad we did, as I thoroughly enjoyed my satay beef! Therefore I have upgraded my rating from 2 stars to 3 stars as my previous rating was really only based off the more limited 3 course menu. The main menu is very extensive, so you couldn’t not find something you liked.

Our Chinese restaurant of choice, don’t expect «fancy schmancy» décor, instead find great food and fabulous staff, well worth a visit.

I’ve eaten here and enjoyed the food, but will not be going back after noticing shark fin soup on the menu. Sharks have their fins removed while alive, and are left to die in the water. Not only is this cruel, it threatens entire ecosystems as the main predator is removed from the food chain.
I will not return to this restaurant until this dish, already banned in some countries, is removed from the menu. I’d urge anyone thinking of eating here to read up about shark finning beforehand.

Good all round Chinese with all the usual favourites. A tad pricey but defo the best Chinese in the Cannonmills area.

Best Chinese restaurant I have ever been to. Mind you I am not chinese and it might just suite my pallete. I love their soft shell crab, their fish pot and fresh fish. I have dreams with their Korean beef. I also find the staff to be some of the best trained and friendlier staff in Edinburgh. They are superb with Children.

This is my local Chinese restaurant and it’s nae half bad. The restaurant doesn’t look like much from the outside or inside, the interior is pretty naff and looks dated — I would definitely rather eat their grub in the comfort of my own living room. I get the feeling that people don’t come here for the décor though, it’s the food that has this place full on a Friday or Saturday night. My sister will tell you that it’s the best Chinese in Edinburgh: I don’t rate it quite so highly. I always go for the shredded chilli beef and this is a dish that they have down to a tee: succulent pieces of beef, fried until it’s nice and crispy then coated in a fiery chilli sauce, mmm mmm mmm. The prices are a little higher than average for a take-​away and they haven’t realised that some people would prefer them to not use MSG, but all in all the food is quite good as far as local, neighbourhood Chineses go.

We ordered takeout in July 2009. We ordered two vegetarian hot and sour soups, dumplings, and a chicken dish. When we got home we had 3 soups and one dumpling — one soup was filled with shrimp. I have a shrimp allergy, so this was not appreciated. There was no chicken dish.
The soups were mediocre. The dumpling was tasteless and I threw it out. Thankfully I found the shrimps before eating them. Overall this was one of the worst meals that we have ever had at a Chinese restaurant.

One of my favourite Chinese restaurants in Edinburgh as it is near to my home and always generous portions of food that is reasonably priced. Parking at the weekend nearby the Botanic’s with a gentle walk around to the restaurant and then some nice food that is well served in a pleasant enough enviroment and in good time.

The Loon Fung will always have a special place in my heart. Every year my family and I spend a long weekend in Edinburgh taking in lots of shows at the festival and without fail we stop in here to have an enormous Chinese feast. We always over order but I never learn to recognise my own limits. When you a stitch from eating too much food that’s when you know you’re enjoying yourself!
Salt and Chilli Chicken wings are my favorite starter although the King Prawn version is also pretty good. Make sure you get some Chinese tea to help you pace your drinking and cleanse your body (am I kidding myself by thinking this minus’ calories?). Crispy duck is a must for mains but it’s also worth getting a noodle dish too.
If I had one warning I would say that the Loon Fung is the kind of place where you need to get to know the menu. A few of the dishes can be a bit too sweet or greasy and some the descriptions are a little misleading. Nonetheless this is still one of my favourite restaurants. I’m really sad that I can’t remember the name of the lovely woman who owns the Loon Fung but you’ll be sure to know who I mean when you see her warm smile. If there is even the smallest mouthful still left in your bowl she’ll offer to wrap it up in a doggie bag for you to take home as she really hates to see food go to waste. Great service, great food, great fun. Well recommended!

I was able to take my family (full people with a collection of interesting food allergies here) as this is one of the least toxic chinese restaurants I have been too, reassuringly low in MSG and colourings. The cashew chicken is excellent and the seats upstairs are best.

I’ve been here several times with my extended family and had a great evening. In a large group it’s very easy to order too much food as the portion sizes are enormous. It’s very common to see people leaving with doggie bags of leftovers.
The food is gorgeous especially the fish which is boned infront of you at the table and the seafood is very fresh. Ensure when you book that you are not downstairs as that area can have the feel of a funeral parlour, and overall the service is quite stiff and formal.
That all said it’s the food that you go for, and the food is fabulous.

I agree the food was excelent! But service does lack a special something, but if you start to say something to you they will always reply back in a kind manner and a smile! Easy to access and there are often taxis going past in the evening. Quite alot of buses running along the road too. Not much of a walk from the city center though.

although the food was spectacular the service lacked any kind of personality, we were pointed to our seats, the menus were slapped onto the table and the waiter took our drinks order with our food order. after about half an hour! the satay prawns were gorgeously presented as were the ginger and lemongrass giant prawns, one huge bowl of sticky rice, two desserts and two bottles of rose later we got the best surprise of the evening when the bill came in under £60