I took Richelle out for an impromptu Indian meal tonight, and after Eastern Pavilion's average / reasonable curry, I opted for the highly recommended St Johns Curry Club, Corstorphine, Edinburgh. What a great choice it turned out to be!

We were seated at a nice clean table by an immaculate waiter who took our drinks orders, 1 diet coke and a large bottle of Cobra. We then had 4 popodums and a selection of pickles / sides, which consisted of chilli pickle, Mango Chutney, Onion Salad and Raita. Delicious.

After some consultation with the pleasant waiter, we opted for a chicken Bhuna and a north Indian chilli garlic garlic chicken, both served with pillau rice and a peshwari nann.

When they came out - perfectly timed, the smell was amazing. The waiter then swirled the warm plates around his clean tea towel and placed them on the table. I was really impressed! The rice was perfect. Long, elongated, soft dry grains, perfectly spiced with just a hint of cardamom. Our curries were great too, mine especially with the fresh chillies and large slices of fresh garlic peering through the delicious curry sauce.

I don't know what the best part was - talking curry with the welcoming manager who explained a thing or two to me (nothing practical, but still interesting), or the bill of only 35 quid.

We were so full after all the food that we couldn't finish our meals. To polish things off, the staff neatly packed away all our remaining food into discrete containers for us to take home and finish later. What more can you ask for?

If you happen to be in or around Edinburgh, this is the place to eat out. St John's Curry Club offers the best customer service I have received to date! ;D

Bobby

I was telling my mate, who lives in Costorphine, about your review (it was he and I who went to Mother India which I have reviewed). He said he hasn't has a curry there for a couple of years because he has has mixed experiences there. However your review is more recent so maybe it has picked up?

PS funnily enough, he mentioned Eastern Pavilion and said he prefers it so maybe it's a question of different taste buds. He's a chicken madras fiend by the way.

Hi everyone,

Just another lurker finally joining in. Fantastic website. I have tried several sauces & dishes & I must admit the quality of most have been awesome. I have booked a table here tonight for me, the wife & two good friends. I look forward to coming back to update this post with 'good news' fingers crossed. We will try a range of different dishes & swap tastes around. Watch this space.

Cheers,

George.

First impressions were not good. One row of tables left and right in a narrow restaurant. Takeaway clients hang around the tables near the door to await their order. The waiter's attire desperately required a wash as it was quite soiled. This was 5pm. so it must have been like this from the previous nights service. He was polite and smiling the entire time. Drinks order was taken.

After reading the menu everyone made their selections. Four different starters to pass around. Special aubergine pakora, chicken pakora, vegetable samosa, and 'spiced potato chop'served with salad. A pouring jug arrived with a yucky yellow pouring sauce. This was a sweet chilli dipping sauce normally red when encountered in the past.

Nothing special to be perfectly honest. I found it all very ordinary and a little bland. The only fresh kick I got was the coriander stalks in the salad.

Main courses Chilli garlic chicken, Bengali green chicken with Chana aloo side order, Navratan lamb tikka makhani with Anaros dall samber side order (pineapple in lentil with tamarind sauce), Tandoori king prawn mossalam with Aloo gobi side order (most expensive dish), 3 orders of basmati rice, Garlic nan and Peshwari nan.

We were all slightly disappointed with the quality of the main courses. They lacked flavour and were comparable to supermarket meals. The lamb in particular was slightly tough and tasted of lamb fat. The chicken was dry and I could not detect any marination that normally leaves the meats juicy. Prawns were tough because of overcooking.

I personally found that my own cooking was far superior in flavour, presentation. My own rice also knocks spots of theirs. I am not a chef but have a great interest in cooking thanks to forums like this improving my food no end.

To summarise it was nothing special. My expectations were probably set to high. I personally would not return.

Was there just last night with a friend (we're vacationing in Edinburgh for a week). The waiter was friendly enough and the rice that he recommended to go with my food was a good fit. We only had main courses but, my friend a chicken dopiaza and me a lamb madras with lemon rice. The madras was well-cooked, the taste good but could have been a bit better. The rice was a bit tarty on its own but worked well with the madras; however, I didn't have any naan and I suspect the rice would have overpowered the dish a bit if any madras had been sacrificed on naan-dipping. Overall I was satisfied.

Tasted a bit of my friends dopiaza as well, that seemed really good.