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I AM a big fan of Japanese food.

And when I got I got an invite for an alternative Burns supper at YO! I was sceptical to day the least.

Person opening an IRN-BRU can at a sushi restaurant.
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The mash-up is on for a month
Sushi restaurant conveyor belt with diners.
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YO! was decked out in Irn_Bru colours
Haggis menu with prices and descriptions of various haggis dishes, including nigiri, sushi rolls, and curry.  Also shows sides and Irn-Bru.
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The menu is available in six restaurants
Haggis katsu curry in a bowl with rice, radish, and bok choy.
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The haggis katsu was a revelation

But I am here to tell you it works.

The ever creative minds at Irn-Bru have teamed up with everyone's favourite conveyer belt sushi brand to create a Scottish fusion menu in time for Burns Day, which falls this Saturday.

A few special dishes will be available to diners in Scotland - as well as a couple of restaurants south of the border - for a month.

The idea is that despite one in seven Scots enjoying haggis, a fifth don’t celebrate Burns Night because it feels ‘too traditional’.

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And I got the chance to head along and try the totally non-traditional take on the staple supper.

For the event, the whole restaurant was decked out in the familiar Bru orange with cans of Scotland's favourite fizzy drink twisting their way around the conveyer belt.

There was a DJ playing a dubious mash up of hard beats and Highland dancing tunes.

And a brilliant young musician - Kirsteen Harvey -did a surprising modern take on Burns' Address to a Haggis, to the tune of Sabrina Carpenter's Espresso.

But the real event was the food.

First up we tried teriyaki haggis nigiri. Little cubes of sticky rice were deep fried then topped with crumbled haggis and glazed with teriyaki sauce, mayo and sesame seeds.

Huge US TV star visits Wetherspoons in Glasgow as they try favourite Scottish dish

This was a tasty combo with the soft haggis perfectly complementing the crispy rice.

Next up was haggis and prosciutto sushi rolls. The haggis was encases, along with with red onions, teriyaki and carrot, in rice before being wrapped in prosciutto.

I loved the flavour of this one but wasn't such a fan of the texture.

Finally, was the star of the show, in my opinion - haggis katsu curry.

Katsu is one of my favourite Japanese dishes and I love the more traditional verison with chicken or veg.

But this Scottish version is a revelation. The bread-crumbed, peppery haggis was super tasty alongside the mild curry sauce.

Two pieces of sushi on a plate.
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I wasn't keen on the roll texture - but the flavour was delish
Chopsticks holding a piece of breaded, yellow-colored food with a brown sauce, served with sliced onions.
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The pumpkin is my fave thing on the whole meny

No Burns supper is complete without neeps and tatties and Yo's version was their classic fries and pumpkin korokke with tonkatsu sauce, the latter being my favourite thing on the restaurant's whole menu.

All in all this is a seriously tasty twist on the staple supper - and I'd encourage any haggis fans to get along while the special menu is on offer.

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In total Six YO! restaurants across the UK will be serving up the menu - each perfectly paired with Irn-Bru. These are Glasgow - West George Street & Braehead , Edinburgh - Princes Street, Aberdeen - Union Square, Liverpool One and London Selfridges. 

To book a table at your nearest participating YO! visit: 

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