Popadomadingdong....lets eat Indian food

My man Rob likes his Indian food and rumour has it he is doing yoga in a leotard with a room full of wumins all giving it the lotus potion on a mat...anyhoo I digress.....

Every so often Rob throws in the "you fancy Indian food" or "We are all going for Indian food but you can choose something not spicy hot" low and behold the man has me eating some delicious meals!!

Rewind to last summer and Rob says "Glen Miller tribute band playing at the Festival Theatre" so we got tickets and Rob decided Mother India was the place to go, he was not wrong. The show was blooming marvelous too....

Anyhow I cannot remember the names of the dishes or how to spell them..so here's are what I remember...

Baked haddock...lovely and nicely seasoned with a hint of sweet herbs and citrus
Chickpeas
Samosas, they were class
Lamb and spinach, very succulent
chicken curry, curried just enough succulent meat

Service is very prompt from nice friendly staff who will help you get what you want if you are unsure.
Might be best to book for an evening meal...my colleague recommends the Glasgow version too. For lunch we walked in and got seated without waiting. Remember it's an Indian Tapas bar so order a couple of dishes.

In a previous post about Brew Lab I mentioned Aston Martins...one was parked outside...Brew Lab is just the other side of the main road...where is Black Bess when you need her???

Middle Eastern Treasures

Palmyra

22 Nicholson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9DH http://www.palmyrapizza.co.uk/

This is a cracking wee place. Looks like nothing special on the outside but the magic happens when you walk in. Really pleasant and friendly staff. Decor is entertainment posters and some Persian rugs and menus all around you with some posters of the middle east thrown in. Utilitarian seats and chairs...everything is pretty decent actually. If you like your music and are a bit eclectic, then you'll love some of the Eastern beats coming out the boogie box, some damn good tunes and rhythms.

Now...the food..the mains....I've had a chicken keebab, chicken shawarma (shawarma=wrap but not anything like a fajita!!) and I also tried the Kofta shawarma

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawarma

...as a starter the Hummus and the Eajah.

The Hummus is excellent, served with a drizzle of olive oil,black olives and pitta bread...you cannot refuse this!!
The Eajah is a type of pakora, it's gooey, with a lovely deep fried crust and is cracking with the chilli sauce and mint yogurt..oh yeah that works baby!!!,it just works...comes with a salad and citrus dressing...MAGIC!!

The Kebabs and shawarmas are just to die for really are, succulent meat with the right weight of eastern seasonings...oh the kofta is lamb...it's a bit hot spicey wise, but keep the mint yogurt handy and give it a wee dousing now and then you should be fine. The first kebab I had was skewered chicken...it was melt in the mouth with a real nice salad and pitta bread on the side. Fast becoming a regular joint for lunch.


Some pics....

Seafood diet any one??? See food and I'll eat it more like!!!

The Mussel Inn (Edinburgh)  On the WWW

Ok..something went fubar with my last post...so here we go again.

I really dont usually eat seafood, ask my Mum if you don't believe me it's driven here nuts over the years!!
Anyhoo my colleague suggested that we go there for a seafood lunch one day....Mussels are their specialty he cries...

I've not had mussels since I received a dose of food poisoning from a wee Italian restaurant off Regent Street in London. I was down on a training course and went out for a walk one night, spied this we place and thought...ach go in there...mussels having that!!! Was seriously ill for days after that and man...you don't want to feel that bad on the London-Edinburgh shuttle....

Anyhoo I'm talked in to going...my colleague was like a 5 year old because he loves this place....1kg of mussels for him and a large seafood chowder for me...all I heard was slurp slurp slurp as my colleague buried his face in a pot of mussels. I swear he needed a bib....so...the mussels are good!!!
Seafood chowder is too...take the bay leaf out though...anyway I now have the chowder regularly for lunch, it is good and nice and creamy, warming on a winters day.

I met up with my sister and brother in law there before the Scotland V England 6 nations rugby game ( aka The Calcutta Cup) less said about that game the better.....anyway I had steak...it was class!! Nice grilled flavour succulent melt in the mouth beef...it was class and I thoroughly recommend it...followed by delicious cheesecake....

For a week day lunch we normally try our luck at the door,so far we have always been seated. For a pre-match rugby meal I would book as early as you can, the toon is always bumping when the rugby is on in Murrayfield. When I phoned I was almost refused as the table beside the kitchen was deemed to be unacceptable by the chap on the phone, and it was the only table available...I said it would do and it was fine. You can book via the website too, give them time someone will call you back to confirm your web booking.

It's a no nonsense restaurant, utilitarian tables and chairs. Always found the staff approachable with good service even though they are run off their feet most of the time. This place is always busy and that is a good sign in my opinion...seafood lovers enjoy...you'll love it.

Rose Street, Edinburgh

Lets do breakfast....

Gourmet Grub     Facebook Page
Now here is the thing....sometimes you just want a fry up in the morning...Haggis, eggs, bacon..maybes a sausage?...maybes not even in the morning...how about for LUNCH!!!!

Well this is the place to go!! Gourmet Grub on Rose Street...the food is class. Simple no nonsense food with quality ingredients...

I've worked my way through the fried breakfasts, they are all good.
My favourite is the the Ultimate Breakfast..... any how creamy scrambled eggs on a muffin,bacon, venison, sausage and Haggis(best in the toon breakfast haggis)

It's a dinky wee joint with a basement too. The wire chairs can be wobbly and I think it's best to try for a bench seat...which cannot be had all the time since you have to wait to be seated...Frankly the food and the service makes up for all that...the burgers and sandwich ranges just give you a sore fist carrying it from the plate to your mouth....just good grub!! all I can say really....now who wants to see some pics....???

Hey there babe my name is Johnny B hows about having a coffee with me?

Razzo Coffee  
On twitter at Razzo-twitter

Oh it's just a wee goldfish bowl in St Andrews Square but it serves good coffee!!
Had a cracking Latte and blueberry muffin and a wee sit in since it was raining...cracking snacks and the lunches look good too although I've not had lunch in there yet.

Good service the staff always bring your order over to your table which is a nice touch.

Coffee...their coffee can be bought in bean or ground to whatever you are gonna brew your cup of Joe in be it stove pot or cafetiere...and its cracking coffee!!

Found out today that Razzo does have guest coffee blends, and that the standard blend has Mexican,Guatemalan and Indian coffee in it...I'll take a pic next time I'm in..

Good bacon rolls
Good Muffins
Good home made tablet for a sugar rush when you hit that low energy point in your working day!! Just like Gran made!!

Brew Lab

http://www.brewlabcoffee.co.uk/

My quest for a decent coffee started at The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,of all places, a staff member advised me his mate worked in here....thought I'd give it a try.

Never tasted a real coffee until I had my first latte out of here, it was like drinking warm coffee flavoured carnation milk...so I always stop in for a latte if we are doing lunch up that end of town..

The staff are pedantic as hell as they make your coffee, the house blend is a closely guarded secret. They will not tell you what is in the blend, and they must have taken an oath from the knight templars themselves not to reveal anything about the bean blend or where they were grown. There must be a mad scientist, like Christopher Lloyd from Back to the Future, hidden away somewhere because it works... it really does. They do guest coffees that they will grind to what ever caffeine fixing tool of choice that you have. And they will sell you a rather expensive tools from their display rack...but I just drool over the packs of guest coffees that they have....they will never sell the house coffee in case someone steals the formula.....

It's a student place...not just any old student...but the upper crust ones that have Mummsy and Daddsy or Pappa, looking after them...You get the idea, the ones that you really want to slap in the coupon because they just get up yer nose...Now that being said, you could make a fortune doing an armed raid on the place and stealing all their Apple-Mac laptops and other Tech Device must haves....and because they will have their thesis on them...hold the Tech for ransom and sell it back to them!! From the amount of Hi-End tech on display they must have WiFi...I've never used it so ask the staff.

The odd Aston Martin parks outside and that really gets me jealous!!!

Anyway they do good cake, and I had a Pecan thing that I'm sure was crossed with almonds,dates and figs...full on sugary gooey stuff...narcotic like substance...(I would Imagine)

Anyway don't let the spoiled students and Aston Martins put you off this place. Just imagine yourself as Dick Turpin walking in to the place shouting "Stand eh ok...sit and Deliver...Your Apple Mac or your Life!!!" and you'll be fine....Imagine Black Bess standing taking a dump on an Aston Martin....now your feeling good when you drink that latte....

Texican Mexican....

Tex Mex II
Ah!! For the Texican Mexican food lover.
Dinky little restaurant in Thistle Street... that's the street that runs parallel to George Street and Queen Street.
Excellent service excellent food, sometimes I feel a little uncomfortable in the seats, but hey!! They have to give you the hint to leave!! No where to park so you will need to find somewhere to park and walk from there.
It is worth it and one of my favourites....the flaming fajitas are just excellent!!! They always leave wee jelly babies with the bill....I'll fight to the death for them!!

Dishes consumed
Burger- home made and really is to die for!!
Taco Salad with shredded beef- Class, comes in a massive taco shell, terrific flavours
Flaming Fajitas- One of my regular dishes, drenched in tequilla then flambayed at the kitchen door class
Chimichanga...same as the rest of the dishes just full of flavour and class!!

Website Tex Mex II

Here come the Fajitas....could get messy!!