Asian restaurant Lucky Yu relocates to larger Edinburgh site

The 80-cover restaurant, which was originally located on Leven Street in the Bruntsfield area of the city, has relocated to a larger venue close the St James Quarter on Broughton Street.

It serves a range of dumplings, baos and yakitori alongside a selection of cocktails and natural wines. Menu items include corn ribs with miso butter; steamed cockles with sake, seaweed, and mirin butter sauce; pork sando; crispy pork belly with chilli peanut crisp sauce; and BBQ aubergine yakitori with miso glaze.

Cocktails will include the Kyoto, made with yuzu sake, lychee cordial, Bodegas Sumarroca cava brut; and Soul Thai with El Sueno tequila, acid adjusted pink grapefruit, Thai chilli and topped with soda.

Lucky Yu was founded by owners John Howard and Meredith Wilkie, who are also behind Edinburgh taqueria Bodega, and has former Gardener’s Cottage chef Duncan Adamson leading the kitchen.

“Moving Lucky Yu to a bigger site means we can do so much more with the menu,” says Howard. “We have put in the same amount of focus into our drinks menu making sure they perfectly complement the food."

The restaurant has a mixture of banquette and traditional seating and a low dining counter at the bar with a stripped back design that is described as “wabi-sabi meets neon Tokyo, like if ancient Japanese artistry and urban neon glamour had a love child,” according to Wilkie.

“The space is designed to be immersive, to hopefully transport the customer to another place - making for a real experience, not just a delicious meal - without being a theme restaurant,” she says.

“The style is clean and sharp, but also weathered and sexy - when the lights are low and the pink neon comes into its own, the place has an intimate, seductive vibe.”