Hundreds of Edinburgh foodies have flocked to a new Asian-inspired restaurant inside the St James Quarter - a day before it actually opens its doors.
Massive queues stretching from Itsu at the front of the £1 billion Leith Street shopping district around the corner to Princes Street were spotted as fans scrambled to be among the first to sample the eatery’s extensive menu at a special preview launch.
The restaurant - which boasts outlets across the UK and Europe - offered 500 hungry locals the opportunity to sample some of their fayre on Thursday afternoon prior to the official first day on Friday.
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However, there was little sign of any in attendance being deterred by potentially missing out as food fans crammed inside for the hour-long event.
It comes just weeks after another eatery inspired by Asian cuisine, Jollibee on Princes Street, attracted dozens of customers to its launch day.
Itsu offers "healthy, hot & cold Asian inspired dishes for both grab & go and eat in customers."
The brand can also be found in grocery stores, where their most popular products include noodle pots, topped rice cakes and crunchy seaweed bites.
Bosses boast of the ‘steamed never fried’ approach to their food - which includes a third of its menu being plant based.
The first 500 visitors were be provided with fan-favourite dishes such as sushi festival, veggie sushi collection and klean’katsu chicken rice bowl completely free of charge.
Students also had the chance to win a semester of free Itsu products by sharing photos of the experience on social media.
Speaking ahead of the launch, a spokesperson for the chain said: "We can’t wait to open our first restaurant in Scotland in the St James Quarter.
"Our itsu supermarket range is already selling a record number of noodle pots in Edinburgh, so we’re excited to offer oodles more, freshly made hot noodle dishes, packed with veg and protein in our brand new purpose-built restaurant."
