No pancakes, waffles or eggs. At Edinburgh's Pomelo, it's Korean hot-dogs for brunch

Brunch without eggs.

It's a tricky concept to grasp, but Edinburgh’s modern Chinese restaurant, Pomelo, has gone there.

Their take on the meal doesn’t feature Benedict, Florentine, or sunny side ups. No waffles or pancakes either. 

Instead, it’s just a mix of hearty and shareable Asian-style dishes that are served on a Sunday for walk-ins only, noon until 3pm.

I visited them on the official day of rest, since my taste buds have decided they’ll sleep when they’re dead. 

This isn’t the first time I’ve reviewed this place. I also popped along, and loved it, when they first opened, back in 2022, on Strathearn Place. 

Since then, it’s moved along the road and into the former premises of hipster cafe Elliott’s. This space is better - bigger and more grown-up. They do dinner now, and serve booze.

They may have evolved, but the brunch menu features a familiar signature - their amazing hand-ripped noodles with braised pork. I’m sure there would be an outcry if these were ever taken off the food list.  I’d be there, with a placard reading “Me luv noodz”, as I can certainly vouch for those glorious ribbons of savoury joy.

Been there, done that, but I’ve never tried their drinks before. 

Thus, we had a couple of excellent summer-y - for it is still that season, who knew? - cocktails.  There was the pink and effervescent watermelon sake spritz (£8.50) and a green tea Martini (£8.50) that was super dry, earthy and ice cold. It went to my head faster than a well-delivered compliment.

Our food adventure started with the so-far-undiscovered chilli garlic hash browns (£7.50) and the pickle tray (£7.50). 

I was visiting with my sister, who used to eat whole jars of beetroot, then drink the residual vinegar as if she was downing a pint. I think she must be deficient in something. 

Whatever it is, her acidic pH was rebalanced by the chunks of sesame-seed-sprinkled smacked cucumber, and a large pile of fiery kimchi.

The set of eight hash browns were excellent, too - steaming hot and golden, with crumbly edges and tender middles. Any potato would be proud to be an ingredient in this brunch delight, especially as they’d included all the garlicky and crunchy pan scrapings, which were discovered with the same enthusiasm as gold nuggets.

When the Korean chilli dog (£14.50) arrived, we knew we’d over-ordered. Still, we bravely divvied up this giant baton of a Frankfurter, which was served in a long and soft bun, and saddled up, like a rodeo bull, with fennel kimchi, coriander and chopped spring onions. And it came with skinny fries.

The crispy fried chicken (£14.50) featured three escalope-sized pieces of poultry, each encased in a thick and shingle-y russet crumb that had been sprinkled with lip-tingling Sichuan peppercorn powder, and this had a pulpy and carrot-studded Japanese potato salad underneath. We kind of wanted a sauce with it, but that’s just nitpicking.

As we waited for a second wind to strike, so we could finish those hash browns, we were told that our table needed to be turned, so we were shuffled out the door sooner than we would’ve liked. To be honest, I could’ve hogged that spot all afternoon. Still, we could see a fresh round of expectant beaks standing in the doorway. 

We took the rest of our bottle of orange wine away in plastic cups, and ordered two desserts, to eat on the grass in the Meadows nearby. 

The puddings were slightly idiosyncratic.

I think the sweetcorn tart (£7.50) was more of a challenge than a pleasure, and we weren’t keen on its accompanying ‘cereal milk ice-cream’, which was sprinkled with toasty buckwheat but tasted like onions. The peach and mango cream cheese choux (£7.50) was very pale, soggy and low on sugar. Perhaps they’re an acquired taste. 

Sweetcorn tart | Gaby Soutar

Still, I’d only ordered dessert for review purposes. In the real world, you wouldn’t get that far, after noshing all those top notch savouries. 

Who needs eggs (or, in fact, pudding), when you can have a Korean hot dog for brunch? Not me.

27 Sciennes Road, Edinburgh, www.pomelocafe.co.uk

We're offering 40% off an annual digital subscription to The Scotsman, so you can enjoy a summer of amazing content for less. Checkout using promo code SUMMER40. Subscribe here.