Dishoom Edinburgh — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

I know my opinion will be against the current and maybe we just caught Dishoom on an off night (so please consider that and still try for yourself), however the food taste was only kind of average for me. Nothing we ordered was "mind-blowingly" good that would make this restaurant stand out compared to other premium Indian venues.

For details, we ordered: Fish Amritsari (Fried Fish) - this starter was excellent, arguably the only memorable dish of the night. Chilli Chicken - very tender chicken but taste was nothing special or memorable, considering it was the "must try" recommendation of a waiter staff. Salli Boti Chef's Special - as a signature dish, this was only kind of average in taste and really clever marketing (to make it sound different) as it was basically very similar in taste to a normal 'Lamb Rogan Josh' that you can order in any other restaurant. Clever Marketing is a key under-pinning to Dishoom. Masala Prawns - well presented and overall great taste. Can recommend this dish! Chicken Ruby - quite disappointing. Taste was truly average if not slightly less and again, clever Marketing as this dish was basically a 'Butter Chicken' in more colloquial language, but I suppose "Chicken Ruby" makes it sound more special, which unfortunately it wasn't the special in taste. House Black Daal - to reiterate, this is my opinion only (so please consider that) but this dish was really not great. Taste was bitter and semi-burnt. Kinda strange texture too.. Chilli Butter-Bhutta - again....clever Marketing....this was basically 1x grilled Corn cob that was slightly burnt on outside yet the kernels were somehow still somewhat undercooked on the inside. Taste was nothing special. House Chai Latte - this was a great drink and can recommend!

Look, the above is probably just personal preference and opinion. I would still recommend everyone who enjoys Indian cuisine to give Dishoom a try anywhere as the atmosphere and restaurant decor was fantastic. Service was also quite decent, but very clear that you are on a time limit and they mainly care about turning the tables over, which is fair. I also applaud Dishoom for their smart Marketing as it seems a number of "everyday" Indian dishes have been cleverly renamed into more "premium" titles, further elevating the impression of their food.

I was just personally rather disappointed considering Dishoom was basically universally recommended by friends (back home Internationally) whom had visited other UK locations before. I personally think you can get better 'premium' tier Indian food elsewhere, considering the...

We came here based on a recommendation from friends.

I’ll start by saying I eat Indian food all the time but probably not from Bombay region so could just be the style I’m not used to OR it could be that the seasoning and spices are toned down to accommodate European flavors/ spice levels.

Let’s start with the kids Paneer Tikka. I don’t know many kids who will eat green bell pepper the way it’s prepared here. In general because the menu didn’t explain much we went for it. It was ok, a bit sweet from the green sauce and cheese was lightly grilled and soft. But our daughter who does eat most everything didn’t care for green peppers that are slightly grilled or the cheese. So total miss and probably the least liked dish from all of us. (I also think we expected something with sauce not just paneer and bell pepper. )

The black daal was good, I was hoping for some different flavors as it sorta reminded me of BBQ beans. But it could just be the Smokey flavor that sometimes is done by having a coal sit on the daal after it’s done.

The Vegi Samosas were also a bit sweet, the crust was too thick for my liking I ended up breaking it off and focusing on the filling. I’m used to more spice and curry leaves. I didn’t see any curry leaves and as mentioned it was sweet. I used both the spicy and cilantro dips to help these go down.

The Olra fries were also good. Very greasy but good. No additional sauces needed just ate them as is. This was my wife’s favorite.

The rice was just normal rice nothing to say about it, it would be nice to have complementary rice with a meal especially if spending over 50 pounds.

The Murgh Malai was OK, it wasn’t as tender as I hoped especially for a dark chicken meat. The flavors here were on the weak side. For a dish that says it’s steeped in garlic and coriander overnight I was expecting more flavor. For this, I couldn’t actually taste it if I ate the Daal or Ruby Chicken. So we ended up starting with this but lost interest quickly. Wife liked the onions that came with it though.

The last dish was the Chicken Ruby, the best way I can explain this is that it’s not a chicken tikka masala and it’s not a Butter chicken. It’s sorta a blend in between with little to no spice(heat spicy). I mixed this and the Black Daal together with rice and ate on the garlic naan. It was probably my favorite.

Images are from today the 26 July.

I think for the quality of spice and food it’s 3 stars. It was expensive and to me not authentic to what I’m used to. But maybe that’s the...

Amazing Indian food that lived up to my expectation!

Finally tried this popular restaurant that va been recommended by so many people!

I ordered: The Edinburgh special: Salli Boti 8.5/10 The lamb curry is super flavourful and tender, it is a bit spicy as well. There’s so many lamb pieces in it. It has crispy crunchy salli chips on top of the curry. It is my first time trying a combo like this and the crunchy texture works with the curry so well! I went for the half portion and it comes with a buttered roomali roti. Some lamb pieces is a bit dry but the overall flavour is amazing.

House Chaat 10/10 Big portion, the sweet potatoes are fried to super hot & crispy and with the cool yoghurt is just amazing. There’s crispy pieces in the chaat that really elevates the dish, highly recommend !

Basmati Kheer 9/10 Caramelised rice pudding with blueberry compote. The caramelised sugar works so nicely with the cooled rice pudding, the contrast in texture it’s just amazing.

Khochia & chundo The crispy snack are thicker than popadoms and they’re a really good appetiser. Surprisingly I really liked the mint dip and I don’t like mint at all.

House chai 10/10 I’m blown away by how nice chai tastes. It is a very comforting drink with the right amount of spice, it is cosiness in a glass. If this is how chai meant to tastes like then I don’t know what I’ve been drinking all my life.

The menu has great variety, there’s something for everyone, they have a big range of vegan options too. All the dishes are nicely presented. The restaurant has great decor and have a bar downstairs too. It is very popular and waiting for tables takes around 30-50min at dinner time, totally worth the wait! I can’t wait to be back to try more dishes!

Shout out to Sebastiano Trovato who gives the best service I’ve ever seen! He totally deserves a raise, he explained to me how the menu works since it’s my first time here and he’s great at recommending dishes. He’s very thoughtful and remembers your dietary requirements as well. Fantastic...