Mera Lahore — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

The restaurant signage is nice, the large chandeliers used to attract customers are nice, however, the most important things such as food/customer service are severely lacking. I went in on Sunday evening on the 13th August 2023 with 3 other people.

We placed our orders pretty swiftly after being seated from the sticky menu's provided. The lady who took my order asked me about my preference regarding one particular dish. She asked whether I would like it mildly or moderately spiced or the usual way the chef makes it. I specified my preference and we all assumed that since she never asked us about how we would like any of the other dishes then maybe these will consist of a tolerable level of spices.

She took back the menu's and we waited in anticipation for food that we thought will be amazing. We sat there waiting for 30 minutes in a restaurant that had no atmosphere (e.g. no music, no smiles on a single face, no tea-lights or candles). Most importantly, not a single member of staff came over to our table to apologise for the delay while we were waiting and offer some nibbles or even tap water.

When we eventually grew tired of the shoddy service we were told our food was on its way and will only be 10 more minutes. We were provided with some poppadoms and dips in the meantime which were disgusting. Another 20 minutes to half an our later was when our orders actually arrived. By that point, we had waited roughly an hour.

Unfortunately, none of us could eat it. The rice dishes were all stodgy and everything lacked flavour. It was as though spice was just thrown into everything excessively with no skill used to balance and develop flavours. When we informed a member of staff we were not offered a partial refund. We were simply compensated with two gulab jamuns and a bowl of kheer which did not contain any of the other ingredients that are normally present in a good kheer such as pistachios, almonds, a bit of rose water etc. It was just rice cooked in milk with some sugar. That's it!

'Taste of Lahore'. More like 'Taste of a Monkey's Backside'. And as far as 'Mera Lahore', well yeh...you keep your Lahore if this is what it's all about.

Although my words may seem harsh. I hope that the criticism will be used to better the customer service and improve the quality of the food at this place. Only then will they really be able to represent the cuisine of Lahore and do the...

Hi I went to Mera lahore this afternoon with my family after travelling for a hour to get there. My daughter is anaphylactic with wheat and we regularly go to other desi restaurants where she will have some rice and chicken tikka. Once I explained to the young front of house guy he refused to serve us claiming that there is "wheat everywhere in the kitchen." I know the restaurant trade well as my family was previously involved for many years. I said to him that surely you don't add wheat to rice or chicken tikka? I mean nobody does! His reply was that he couldn't guarantee anything and seemed disinterested in serving us. I asked him how he could guarantee that the chicken pakora on the menu labelled gluten free would be safe for a celiac if they had "wheat everywhere in the kitchen." He seemed to have no awareness of allergies and his reply was that he would ask the boss to remove this from the menu. Let's see if they do that or if its just a convenient fob off. When I explained to him that I know how desi kitchens work and that some rice and chicken tikka would be safe as long as they were careful, he then claimed that he doesn't know anything about the kitchen and that he's front of house. I mentioned to him that it's his job to know as he is the one dealing with the customers and not the kitchen staff. Anyway we ended up all leaving hungry and having to go elsewhere. Worst thing was that my 7 year old felt the need to apologise to me as we...

Extremely underwhelming and very expensive.

Being one of the few Desi/Pakistani restaurants available in Edinburgh town center, the taste is not up to the mark.

I ordered the Butt Karahi, Chicken Malai BotiI and mango Lassi.

To start off with the Butt Karahi it was very bland just like any other Karahi, nothing special. Even though, I ordered the lamb dish but still, it was just average and the price is extremely high.

Malai boti was extremely dry and avoid it like the plague if you can. It felt as if they re-used a chicken from a different day or just heated the pre-made chicken, but there is nothing Malai about the Malai boti and I would definitely not recommend it.

Finally the mango lassi was good but I don’t think anybody can go wrong with mango lassi, because if you cannot even get that right then you should probably close your restaurant.

Given that there aren’t many options available in Edinburgh, town center for Desi food you can give it a try but be ready to be disappointed.

Also, the servers need to learn some manners when you would ask them for a recommendation rather than telling you their personal opinions about some thing and how they would like to have it.

Also, we were sitting outside and the owners and his friends came over, and without even asking us whether we were still sitting they took over the tables. That was also a bit silly, given that you are running a business, not a place for your friends to...