SABZI — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

Poor service or good food is usually the only thing that makes me leave a review. We ordered quite a couple things, including a butter chicken and two garlic naans. Only one naan came and the other was always said to be “coming”. When we finally wanted to cancel it, the waiter told us that the tandoori chef was on a break and just coming back to make us a fresh hot piping naan. Hm, wish the waiter had told us this earlier. I really wish for more transparency. It’s okay for us to wait, just not to be lied to that the naan was being made when it wasn’t! We were so full already and our butter chicken was already cold. The food is good though but I’m quite dissatisfied with the service. Even if the naan was already done, I believe they should’ve just cancelled it for us. We’re not cancelling an entire dish, just a naan. Oh well.

Edit: After reading the restaurant’s response, I feel the need to clarify my perspective. My review was meant to provide honest feedback about my experience. While the food and atmosphere were good, I was disappointed by the lack of transparency. I don’t need to know what happened to the tandoori chef — I just wanted an honest apology upfront that there would be a wait for the naan, rather than being repeatedly told “it’s making” when it clearly wasn’t.

I also want to clarify that we said we were full and asked to cancel the second naan, but it felt like we were forced to take it anyway after being repeatedly told it was “almost ready.” This left us eating something we didn’t even want anymore, which added to the overall frustration.

The restaurant’s response, however, feels dismissive and unprofessional. Instead of addressing the issue constructively, they accused me of “throwing a tantrum” and wanting a free naan, which I never asked for. This comes across as gaslighting, as it minimises my valid frustration and tries to shift blame onto me for speaking up. All I wanted was clear communication from the start, not excuses or accusations.

I also want to address the restaurant’s claim that I left happy and then wrote a negative review. While I did not voice my dissatisfaction in the moment, that does not mean my experience was without flaws. I chose to enjoy the rest of my meal despite the delay and miscommunication about the naan, but upon reflection, I felt it was fair to leave honest feedback about the service. Reviews are a way for customers to provide thoughtful, after-the-fact assessments of their experience, not just emotional reactions at the table.

Updated Rating: 3/5 While the food and atmosphere were enjoyable, the service experience was frustrating. A simple apology and honest communication about the wait would have made a big difference.

I’m truly sorry if my review appeared to be “throwing a tantrum” rather than expressing valid feedback. I apologise if being shy and non-confrontational at the table and leaving feedback after reflecting on my experience makes me the villain here. I’ll be sure to manage my unreasonable expectation for basic communication in the future. I also hope 2025 treats small businesses with the same professionalism and respect they show...

I worked hard trying to support local businesses during 2021, and I had fun doing it.

Sabzi is easily in my top three discoveries. The little family restaurant might be my top one.

The food here is delicious. I've tested the menu often. It changes every week and every week I want to go back. I'm yet to find anything that wasn't perfect.

Sabzi is great for vegans, vegetarians and even better for flexiterians like myself. The menu is small, as the food is fresh, made in sensible quantities, and there is one thoughtful meat option each week. I love the constant to the one token veggie option that's still too common elsewhere.

This is authentic Indian food, often street food. It can sometimes be hot but I've only once thought "Wow, that was spicy!", it's never been too hot, and just to stress again - I've thoroughly examined the menu for you.

The staff here at great. They are friendly, helpful and thoughtful.

I've even had a Sabzi delivery, which I got through their app and it means I'm just a few orders away from a bonus meal. I was able to order when they added one test mile to their very narrow delivery range, so that bonus order may be a while coming. Even the delivery driver was great!

Tip: As word of Sabzi gets out, it's getting busier and busier; I'd book ahead for Friday and weekend nights. Instagram gets a faster response than email.

I don't blame you if you need to be convinced. I walked past Sabzi a regretful number of times before going in. I wasn't sure what to make of the Bollywood posters and paper plates... but then the food arrived. And, as it often does, the food arrived quickly.

I'm only puzzled as to why I hadn't written a review before. Edinburgh needs to know about this Ferry Road wonder. I thought I had but Google says otherwise. Worse case; you have two 5/5 reviews from me here and take that to mean 10/5, as Sabzi deserves it.

Update: May 22 - Even better!

Update: October 22 - Continues to be superb

Update: March 23 - Spot the trend! Awesome place

Update: July 23 - They open early on the weekend for breakfast which is a Scottish fusion delight

Update: February 24 - Now open untill 9pm, an hour longer

Update: October 24 - I've now eaten in the backroom and can confirm the service is just as good. I wasn't forgotten!

Update: February 25 - Bring a friend and order one...

This is in response to your reply to Neha's review as Google does not let us respond to your reply. We visited you as a group on Sunday. We had called in advance to make a booking so we ' did not come in and asked for a table'. You have most definitely mistaken us for some other group. Quite frankly how embarrassing to write a long review defending yourselves about completely different family. We did not order the dishes you have mentioned in your response eg. butter chicken, nutella bombs and second portion of the chaat. We were not rude at all and in fact I started off by congratulating you for being on the show on BBC. We left you a standard 10% tip because of the service. Definitely not because of the food. A suggestion for future might be to keep a sales receipt of your orders before falsely accusing them of so many types of vile behaviour ( eg of being 'uncomfortable around women in charge') Not that there is a need to mention this here but we were there to celebrate success of a women in our group being appointed to a prestigious job position. And one of the reasons we were there was to support a local business run by an Indian family. So supporting lot of communities. Lastly, I find it so disappointing that as a new business you are unable to take genuine criticism. Your reply is very hurtful and extremely personal. We did not like the food and hence we gave an honest review. You have then gone a bit too far in your reply by saying 'carrying that much hate since Sunday afternoon is unhealthy'. If a customer does not like your food and wants to leave a review that they did not enjoy the food then it is not because 'they hate you', it is simply because they did not enjoy the food. It is as simple as...