A steady stream of delivery drivers, insulated bags open and ready to receive brown paper packages of food, approach the fire exit doorway of Bourbon nightclub, tucked away on Edinburgh’s Rose Street North Lane.
As I chat to co-owner of Ozen Street Food Mahdi Ben Hamou AKA Mezzo, I do my best not to salivate as the deep, spicy aromas escape their kitchen and persistently reach my nose.
Ozen opened its somewhat less than salubrious door to the public in April and judging by the aforementioned stream of delivery drivers it has become an instant hit with Edinburgh residents.
Pad Thai
Ozen offers a contemporary take on pan-Asian cuisine to take away. The food is certainly colourful and beautifully presented in brown paper boxes, perfectly instagrammable, but far removed from style over substance.
We had a tough job choosing from the menu, which seemed full of impossibly yummy delights, with lots of vegan and veggie options. Thank goodness we had to preorder, or I may just have stood in the street salivating all night. Here’s a rundown of what we had to eat.
From the bao bun section of the menu (two for £10), we plumped for The Prawnstar; tempura prawn with sweet chilli jam and kimchi salt. The bun was fluffy and positively bursting with big, juicy prawns, and Ozen’s sweet chilli jam is to die for. We were incredibly happy that we’d ordered an extra wee pot of this to have on the side.
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- Bao buns
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- Dumplings
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- Summertime dessert buns
The Hello-me bun was packed with halloumi cheese, hoisin sauce and pomegranate seeds, what’s not to like about a lighter-than-air bun full of salty cheese?
The dumplings (£8) were deliciously rich and meaty, with a deeply flavoured, salty dipping sauce. Just make sure you count them out if you need to share to avoid any pitched fork battles over the cardboard box (I won, in case you were wondering).
Next on the hit list is Cauliflower love, my absolute favourite dish of the night. So much flavour packed into this Korean fried cauliflower and served up with Ozen’s own sticky sauce, which is sweet and irresistible. We had also smugly ordered a side pot of this and I unashamedly admit that it was all I could do not to spread it on toast and gobble it up!
Cauliflower love
The generous portion of Pad Thai noodles (£9) were almost too much for us and I hold my gluttony when it came to them responsible for the fact that I couldn’t manage to eat the subtly flavoured summertime dessert, orange blossom cream-filled buns with coconut flakes (£4) for a good couple of hours after! But I will say that they were certainly worth the wait.
If you’re a fan of street food and Asian flavours then you need to pop Ozen on your bucket list. The team behind the restaurant are young, talented and undoubtedly one to watch.
Ozen Street Food, 52 Rose Street North Lane, Edinburgh, EH2 3DX.
Open Thursday to Sunday, 4pm to 10pm.
Full menu available for collection or to order for delivery via Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber
Eats.
For more information, head to www.ozenstreetfood.com or follow @ozenstreetfood on Instagram.
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