Dragon Way, Newington, one of Edinburgh’s most popular Chinese restaurants has just received a quality Halal Seal of Approval, to become the capital’s first certified Halal Chinese restaurant.
Since receiving his Halal Certification on 26th September 2010, Edinburgh businessman Michael Yip, who owns 6 restaurants across Edinburgh and the Lothians, is re-launching his Newington restaurant, Dragon Way, as fully Halal.
This is not the first time the inventive businessman has spotted a gap in the market. He recently launched Halal noodle bar WaWa, which offers customers the chance to “slurp and surf” on one of six iPads whilst eating takeaway Halal noodles. The bar, on West Causewayside, has proved such a hit with its customers, it looks set to role out to other UK cities.
Michael Yip, Owner, Dragon Way Group said: “It was during the summer, at a charity event to raise money for the Pakistan disaster, I was asked if I could make the organisers a Halal Chinese meal. Edinburgh is famous for its restaurants, however Halal diners a very restricted in terms of where they can eat out.”
Halal and its focus on ingredient purity, traceability, product content and production excellence is only part of the reason for the change at Dragon Way. Halal meat has a longer shelf life, arriving at the restaurant fresh rather than frozen. As there is no added water, the meat soaks up the marinade giving a more authentic depth of flavour.
Dragon Way, Newington may be leading the way as far as Halal Chinese restaurants are concerned, however industry estimates suggest strong demand has resulted in about 40% of poultry and 25-30% of lamb consumed in the UK meeting Halal specification according to Farmer’s Weekly. Halal meat is sold in many of our high street retailers including Tesco, Boots and McDonalds as well as leading Scottish food producers Crombies and Burton’s Biscuits Ltd.
With food from a range of Chinese cuisines, including Peking, Lar Chee, Kon-siu and Szechuan, Dragon Way caters for students, families and business diners. Following their recent refurbishment the decor is a mix of marble columns, gilt-framed faux oil paintings, ceiling ribbons of coloured lights, a cowboy with a guitar and the ubiquitous fish tank.
