Where to eat in Edinburgh – Two new Indian restaurants
FROM FINE DINING SIGNATURE DISHES, TO A TASTE OF AUTHENTIC STREET FOOD, NEW INDIAN RESTAURANT DUO HAS IT COVERED IN THE CAPITAL!
- Fine Dining Venue, Mumbai Diners Club, at Atholl Place, is joined in exciting new business portfolio by Mumbai Street Food in Assembly Street, Leith
One offers a fine dining experience with linen table cloths, private dining room, beneficial new Membership scheme, and stunning Indian Cuisine featuring duck, venison and scallops. The other capitalises on the current craze for authentic street food, with a taste tingling, colourful, and very informal eatery and bar, which will transport you straight to the streets of Mumbai. Both are a sociable and sensory pleasure to visit, whether for lunch or dinner, and will have you returning for more.
Both operated by the same business owners, Mumbai Diners Club, the fine dining restaurant at Atholl Place, and sister firm Mumbai Street Food in Assembly Street, Leith, are ready and waiting to cater for every taste and occasion that diners from the Capital, and beyond, may have. Both are setting out a new and ambitious offering to excite all lovers of the cuisine of the Indian Sub-Continent.
With Mumbai Street Food having been trading for the past few weeks, Mumbai Diners Club has just opened its doors to the paying public, following a redesign of its interior and exterior, with new windows, flooring and lighting having been installed, to get the mood and feel of this new luxurious restaurant, just right. A new logo, of elegant blue peacock feathers, has been chosen as an apt image for the business.
Situated in an elegant Georgian building which befits a fine dining establishment of this nature, the location of Mumbai Diners Club could not be better. The impressive stepped entrance entices customers into the stylish reception hall, where they are greeted warmly, and led into the main dining hall, which has up to sixty covers.
Downstairs is a private dining room seating thirty people, an ideal proposition for the many potential corporate customers in the nearby West End offices and shops, who can hire it out for a private event. It can also cater for birthdays and anniversaries.
“We look forward to welcoming customers and are confident they will all be very impressed with the offering here at Mumbai Diners Club,” said front of house Merwyn Pereira. “We offer many more unusual and elevated dishes on both the a la carte and main menus, and have two vegetarian tasting menus, an eight course and a nine course, which were recently rated by Google as Edinburgh’s best tasting menus.”
Examples of taste tempting dishes on the main menu at Mumbai Diners Club, many available as either starters or main courses, are Fillet of Sea Bass with coconut crust grilled on tawa; Venison Boti, a venison dish marinated in honey with a hint of pineapple; Scallops and Mussels, tossed and served with aromatic fresh coconut and curry leaf sauce, and Salmon Karahi, a dish of salmon cooked in a tomato, onion and mixed pepper gravy. Also of note is a stunning signature dish of Breast of Gressingham duck marinated with ginger, garlic and cardamom. This is roasted on a charcoal fire and served with a delicious coconut sauce.
Desserts wise, Mumbai Diners Club has its own pastry chef, creating decadent Indian desserts, such as the popular trio dish of rice pudding, carrot halwa and lime cheesecake with caramelised dumplings, along with zesty sorbets, meltingly delicious parfaits, and ice creams flavoured with cardamom and saffron.
“We’ve invested in our own Pastry Chef to elevate the whole dessert experience,” said Merwyn.
“There’s a lot of choice across the various menus – you can stick to something you are more familiar with, given a new MDC twist, or try a completely new dish. Everything is freshly prepared with the highest quality ingredients,” he said.
Down in Assembly Street, Leith, with its altogether more laid back, yet still incredibly foodie orientated vibe, Mumbai Street Food has found its spiritual home. The bright orange and green signage outside the building proudly proclaims that this energy filled new business has arrived! Enter through the door and you’re confronted with exotic tiger statues, elaborate tapestry chaise lounges, decorative tables and a “beating heart of the business” bar area where you can enjoy a pre dinner drink and some nibbles, or wait for your take out order.
Through in the main dining area, large framed photographs of Indian street markets – the inspiration for the burgeoning street food concept – adorn the walls. You can eat your food off one of the artisan crafted wooden dining tables – intricacy carved and featuring beadwork with a glass top – which have been imported straight from Bangladesh to add extra authenticity.
The menu is presented as a quirky trip through the streets, from “Curry Close”, “Thali Terrace”, and “Grill Grove”, featuring chops, chicken, salmon and kebabs, to “Biriyani Boulevard” and “Speciality Street”, which offers delicious tastes of Dahi Balle (soft dumplings dipped in yoghurt and tangy tamarind chutney), Aloo Tikki potato cakes, Dal Tarka Lentils, Fish Pakora, Squid and Mumbai’s famous roadside snack of Pav Bhaji, the spicy and rich mixed vegetable puree served with warm bread.
“We wanted to make the menu as varied, colourful and fun as the restaurant itself – hopefully we have achieved that,” said Merwyn.
As it grows in popularity, Mumbai Street Food sees potential in tie ups with bus tour companies as a stop off for hungry tourists and visitors, and wants to further utilise its mobile street stall for events in the City.