The Little Panda

Unassuming and not easily spotted. This Szechuan Restaurant is located on the top floor of the Ocean Terminal in Leith. Just after passing the entrance to the Brittanica you’ll find their entrance.
We had a voucher and decided a midweek visit (i.e. date night) would fit the bill.
It took a while to get through and book a table over the phone, but Anita managed to book a table at 7 pm — sunset time: o)
On arriving we found the place nearly empty. Well it is midweek September, but the Ocean Terminal location and the top floor entrance is not helping to get walk ins after shops closing time.
We took a seat at the Window near the fire escape. That has the best view over the setting sun and the Royal Yacht Britannica. — Top view!
I couldn’t help the idea that I was sitting in a canteen. 2 ply paper napkins, no salt or pepper. Just the menus and cutlery (no chopsticks)
I advised the waitress that we are both used to spicy, Asian food so if the chef could refrain from making things too bland and spice/​hot things up. She took note to pass that on.
Or voucher was for 3 courses. Starter, seconds and main.
For starters we had :
Hot & Sour Soup — tasty, thickish, sweet, not hot.
Szechuan Pork Rice ball — bland, sweet.
BBQ Chicken Wings — very sweet, not very bbq-​ey.
Szechuan Ribs — sticky, tasty, not spicy.
For main we could assemble our own choices of meat, sauce and 4 vegetables with a selection of rice or noodles.
I like that concept as that way you can avoid receiving vegetables you don’t like eating. The execution left a lot to be desired though.
My duck sliced breast fillet was served with its own sauce. No choice. This was again very sweet and Szechuan pepper taste was dominant. I asked for additional chili oil — which was brought an was a mixture of sweet chili oil and. Szechuan pepper. Not very helpful and didn’t do anything to lift the dish’s sweetness. The duck and the vegetables were nicely cooked though.
Anita beef and (soya?) sauce was tastier and had fresh chili (as opposed to the dried once in mine) — this provided the required kick I was looking for in ALL dishes — so I stole most of those from her dish to spice up mine.
In all I am a little bit disappointed with the meal, but I can see what they are trying to do /​achieve. As they have just opened up it could be just the jitters getting established and getting the dishes right.
I think that they could do good business from the tourists visiting the Brittanica, but that is a limited supply and as the place isn’t advertised through the Ocean Terminal — people will not know it is there.