Bite East Stirling - A Delicious Dream or a Fusion Flop?

Admittedly (why does it seem like I always start off my blog posts like this? I need to start going to confession or something, for real) I've never been one for fusion restaurants. In my opinion, if you're going to make and sell food, it usually works out best if you stick to one type of food or cuisine and really master it. So fusion restaurants, at their basic premise, have always made me a little wary as I never expect them to get it quite right, y'know?

Well, that opinion was recently challenged when I dined at the one and only Japanese restaurant in Stirling. The catch to it being the only one? Well, it's kind of obvious, but yeah. It's a fusion restaurant, offering both Chinese and Japanese cuisines, which is basically my worst nightmare as there's the potential to ruin two things I love.

But I caved because, well, I live pretty close to Stirling, and it's a lot more accessible than Glasgow or Edinburgh for a casual dinner. That and it's the closest takeaway to my boyfriend's flat and after the Beast for the East hit, it seemed like the safest option to ensure we weren't waiting hours for our food as a frost-bitten delivery driver battled through the snow to get it to us.

To be fair, it wasn't actually too bad. We ordered Vegetable Spring Rolls, Salt and Chilli Chicken Wings, Ginger and Spring Onion Shrimp with Noodles, Chicken Satay, and as a wild card, Meat Dumplings in Spicy Soup.

The spring rolls were pretty standard. They had a nice, crispy skin, and the fillings were actual vegetables as opposed to Chinese-flavoured sludge, which is beginning to seem like a popular substitute around here... While nothing stood out about them in particular, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were eight in the bag, as it's all too common to order them as a side and get a meagre amount.

The Salt and Chilli Chicken Wings, I have to admit, were not the best I've had. They were alright, but there was an odd taste to them which reminded me of a spice used in Indian cooking (though I can't think of the name). While it didn't make the wings taste awful or anything, it did throw me off a little and I didn't enjoy them on this occasion as much as I have when I've ordered them from other take-aways, which was a disappointment as they're a firm favourite of mine.

I decided to diverge from my usual order and try something new with the Ginger and Spring Onion Shrimp with Noodles, which was fine. Tasty enough, and the noodles were your standard chow mein ones that you'll find at nigh every takeaway in Scotland (aside from the really shit ones, anyway). I did find the prawns a tad 'fishy tasting', which yeah, I know, sounds ridiculous, but I suppose I'm used to eating them in Japanese cuisine where the fish taste is removed during the cooking process, so I admittedly found that a little jarring. Still a nice meal though, and if you're used to prawns tasting fishy, then I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

I didn't eat much of the Chicken Satay, but the few mouthfuls of it that I did have were very tasty, with the chicken being tender and well cooked.

Finally, we come to our wild card. The Meat Dumplings and Spicy Soup. I'm a huge dumplings fan, but have never had them in a soup, so I decided to try them out and WOW. I don't know why I always underestimate it when the menu says 'spicy', but the broth was HOT. So much so, that when it was still warm, I could only manage a few mouthfuls at a time as my throat quickly went up in flames. It was still delicious though, and probably my favourite dish of the night, as the dumplings were succulent and juicy, with the meat easing some of the burning pain of the soup itself. I definitely recommend this dish if you're into dumplings (and even moreso if you like spicy food. If not, BE PREPARED.)

Price wise, at £28.35 for five dishes, Bite East is 'alright' for its value. The noodles and rice were both paid for extras, but the two main dishes were only slightly over a fiver each, and the sides were of a reasonable price, excluding the dumpling soup, which came in at £7.95, the most expensive dish of the meal.

Overall, I would say Bite East lived up to my expectations. It was 'okay', and while all of the dishes were satisfactory, the majority of them were missing that 'special something'. I wouldn't go so far as to say that Bite East was a fusion flop, but it wasn't a delicious dream either.

© Photos by A Scottish Dumpling