Topic: The Shezan Tandoori Edinburgh

[Bobby Bhuna]

I went along for a curry - got a chiken Madras and Pilau rice to take out. It cost about 8 pounds. I got home, opened it up and was disappointed with the smell and yellowish colour. I had also been given a couple of popodums and three small tubs, one containing the worst spicy onion ever, and the others containing red and yellow gloop respectively.

I tried the curry and it was poor. Very strong taste of chicken stock and little else. Level of spice was right but the chicken was so so dry. It was a large portion though.

The staff were not particularly friendly either. I looked on google an it looks like many people share my view. The sad thing is that it is large and has a great location, just across from Edinburgh Play House.

Score: 3/10 - not recommended

[Garp]

Visited this restaurant on Monday, having spotted it on Sunday evening after the Kevin Bridges gig at the Playhouse.

I think Bobby does it a bit of an injustice (though many years have passed since his review and, by his own admission, he was very drunk and pestering the staff to get in the kitchen).

I'd give it a 6.75/10.

We went on a night when there was nothing on at the Playhouse so it was quiet, but not empty. Nice, spacious restaurant with pleasant staff on arrival. Offered us a window seat at the big glass frontage, which I declined.

Anyway - the food: I had Chicken Tikka Achari and Mrs G had Punjabi Garlic Chicken Masala; Naan, rice and chips. The food was very nice but not amazing. The tikka'd chicken didn't have much colour but they do say they use no artificial colourings. Having said that, it was well cooked and very tasty. The Achari sauce was good but didn't blow me away. Mrs G's Punjabi Masala was also lovely and had a hint of smokiness which I couldn't place.

Overall, I would go back, but not walk 500 miles.

[Naga]

Good result for you and Mrs G, Garp, especially considering BB's historical post. Just goes to show that nothing stays the same, but a personal, contemporary recommendation is worth its weight in gold. If I'd read BB's report today, I'd have crossed that restaurant off the list.

Don't know if this will be of any interest to anyone, but I always like to take a look at the curry blog at http://curry-heute.com/ as the author is a serious connoisseur of all things curry and writes extensively of his experiences.

I also have a look at TripAdvisor, but it's hard to know if the reports are entirely genuine. In fact, I was down Dumfries way a couple of months ago, and I avoided the Indian restaurants just on the strength of the reviews. Maybe I should have been a bit more adventurous...

I missed the Kevin Bridges tour this time around, so I'll just have to wait on the DVD which is released on 23/11/2015. I was reading that he has been suffering particularly badly from serial hecklers on this tour. Shame for those audience members who paid to listen to the comedian and not the clown up the back.

Anyway, you got a half-decent curry and that was a result!

[Peripatetic Phil]

I always like to take a look at the curry blog at http://curry-heute.com/ as the author is a serious connoisseur of all things curry and writes extensively of his experiences.

I like his recipe for Chicken/Lamb Bhuna -- no base, which I regard as a Very Good Sign

[Garp]

Bridges was good, Naga. Looking forward to the DVD too. Only a couple of heckled at our gig but he handled them superbly 

You should have said you were down Dumfries way, bud, could've had a curry. Only three sit-in restaurants in the town but the Palms is pretty decent and the Jewel perfectly acceptable. I read the reviews of the Shezan, before we went and they ranged from horrific to fantastic. Like you say, TripAdvisor has to be taken with a pinch of salt. I tend to ignore the really good ones and the really bad ones and see what the rest say.

Just to add a couple more points about the Shezan....the portion sizes weren't fantastic; I don't have a huge appetite but could have done with a two or three more pieces of meat and a bit more sauce. The menu isn't very extensive either. I think they cater mostly for the theatre audiences so most of the more popular dishes are there, but could do with a few more specials.

On the plus side, the description of my Achari included the words 'liberal amounts of coriander'.......but when I explained to the waitress that I didn't like 'fresh' coriander (it's ok if cooked into the dish, but not just added fresh and definitely not added fresh then stirred in), she said "No garnish then"?....I nodded. True to her word, any coriander leaf was stirred into the dish and cooked.

[Onions]

I think Bobby does it a bit of an injustice (though many years have passed since his review and, by his own admission, he was very drunk and pestering the staff to get in the kitchen).

I must be blind but does he say that?

[Peripatetic Phil]

I cannot help but feel that any debate taking place on 04-Nov-2015 as to what an occasional contributor might or might not have said in a message dated 03-Jan-2008 can only be a further indication of the terminally moribund state of this forum ...

** Phil.

[Onions]

 ;D

[Garp]

I must be blind but does he say that?

He does in this thread

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,2196.msg18459.html#msg18459

[Onions]

Thanks Garp, well cross-referenced! -but does that increase or decrease the moribundity of the forum I wonder