Mother India's Cafe in Edinburgh, City of

This is a terrific Indian near Old college, beautiful cooked food, great service and fabulous value. Had delicious tandoori chicken, Makhani Daal and nann fkr about £20. Very popular, packed on a Monday night! Book ahead

Our first evening in Edinburgh and we loved the food here, it gets busy so book your table ahead. I would definitely eat here again 👍💯

It was our first time at "Mother India's Cafe", but we would go there again in a heartbeat 🤩 We really liked the shop - we were there a little early (around 4 p.m.) and were able to sit down straight away, there were enough free seats. The staff was extremely friendly and took the time to explain the dishes to us and make recommendations. The food itself was absolutely great, the portions were appropriately sized and super tasty. We can recommend both the naan and the rice as a side dish. The mango lassi was also very good and helps with the spicier dishes 😉

This place is super busy and I'm not surprised! We did not book and waited for a table for luckily only a short while before being seated in the downstairs floor. The food is delicious and the atmosphere is bustling. It's Indian Tapas, so you get to sample many dishes.

Every time I go to this place I love it more and more. Being able to have a try of a few dishes rather than just one main curry like at normal Indian restaurants is a big positive. They can also do fish properly. Lamb chops are banging too.

I went to him for dinner. To be honest, the food was delicious, the service was excellent, and the staff were helpful, especially the Pakistani employee whose name is Maithdar. I think I wrote his name correctly. I ordered: Chili Garlic Chicken plate 10/10 I ordered the butter chicken plate 6/10 I ordered plain biryani rice 10/10, raita salad 10/10, and garlic naan bread 10/10.

First time I’m trying Indian cuisine and now it’s a must to go!

Great food, good service and reasonable prices. Definitely recommend.

The curry was the best I have ever had. Full of flavour! Will definitely be back.

If there were 10 stars out of 10 they would have got it. Absolutely the best Indian food we have ever eaten. Absolutely fantastic flavors and friendly, fast and service-oriented staff. This place is a must!!! Takes just under 10 minutes to walk to from the Royal Mile.

Very busy but the food was excellent.

As a Scottish tour guide I’m always asked for great recommendations for places to eat in Edinburgh Many years ago I visited here and have recommended it to many guests. Decided to eat here again in August and yesterday. It’s still amazing. Great value, excellent food and the staff are very pleasant. Can’t wait to go back

Incredibly good Indian. Not the usual jalfrezi/vindaloo menu. Tapas to share. Exciting tastes and good service. No cobras was a downer, otherwise superb!

Magnificent Indian restaurant in the center of Edinburgh, simple in terms of offering and very busy. Prices within the average of the place

Called in for lunch. Got looked after . Food was excellent and the staff was better. If I lived here I would eat her regular.

We did a takeaway for 2 consecutive days...we never repeated a restaurant on consecutive days except this one...it says so much about the food, quality and our satisfaction with it...most of the things on menu are so delicious...wish this place was in our city Special mention to kheema naan, garlic naan and saag panner..while writing this review I feel like eating once again

I have previously enjoyed my visits here and often ordered delivery. This review is entirely for the very poor service. I brought two guests to have chai and lassis (the restaurant was busy, but not full). After we sat down, waited several minutes, and ordered our drinks, we were told we were not allowed to stay unless we also ordered food. I understand restaurants can be be busy. But for an establishment that refers to itself as a cafe, I am gravely disappointed at the manner in which we were treated today. Customers should be treated with dignity - whether they order a cup of tea or a full table of dishes. Staff created an embarrassing situation for all of us and we will not be likely to return.

Wow, nice vegetarian option and surprisingly tasty to the Indian palate. We thoroughly enjoyed the food. And I would recommend this to other restaurants that I have visited in Edinburgh

The amount is small. What kind of curry is given in a sauce bowl? It was so small that I snorted the moment I received it. It was lamb karahi, and it contained 3 pieces of lamb and 4 pieces of paprika.

A great place to eat. Food was top quality and they dealt with our party of 22 very efficiently.

It was my best indian meal so far! I absolutely loved all it. And I will totally miss that food.

Fantastic food. Decent portions and super cozy vibes. Would recommend for anybody to visit!

Tapas style dining so you can try lots of dishes. Such a good spot off the royal mile!

Have visited a few times and never been disappointed. Love the small plates style of dining where you get to try lots of different dishes. Pindi chana and lamb karahi were particular highlights in a meal full if fantastic food.

If you love Indian food you will love this place , we were unable to get into the main mother India , but found this cafe version just down the road. The food is delicious and very reasonably priced They do not take bookings just walk ins

Busy resteraunt but always worth a visit as the food is delicious. It's a busy venue so there is pressure to leave when your reservation time expires. Service was efficient and staff so polite and helpful. Tapas allows you to try lots of different dishes. I can recommend if you like a hotter dish the chilli garlic chicken.

There’s a reason why it’s hard to get a reservation here…..ITS FANTASTIC FOOD! Read the reviews and your mouth will start watering! Service was excellent and its a nice restaurant! Don’t skip this one!

The lamb chop and dosa were both great. It’s too much salt for my own good but it tastes delicious.

Great food but it's a very rushed experience. We were done in about 40 minutes. The waiter keeps asking if we we're ready to order every minute. I'd recommend going to Mowgli's instead if you want nice Indian food in the city centre.

First visit to this restaurant. We had an itison voucher for 2 which was for popadoms with chutney tray, starters, mains, 1 rice and 1 naan. Food was excellent and plentiful, in fact we couldn't finish it all. Will definitely be back. Thank you Mother India's Cafe.

Very busy on a Friday night, but we got seated and dinner was amazing. Excellent tapas-style dining made it fun to share at our table.

Another visit and another amazing evening. The place was jumping. Great atmosphere. And the food was awesome. Was brought out in super quick time. All piping hot and delicious. 5 stars!

Very good food, often re visit this restaurant. Is slightly expensive.

Been meaning to try this place for a while and it was really good 😊 excellent food and service, clearly very popular, full on a Monday evening - booking recommended.

I would have given negative stars as well.. if I had an option. I have orderd in many restaurants in Edinburgh, never had such a bad experience, today I ordered food , and am 100% sure it might be cooked a week ago… very bad taste, stale rotten smell. Literally water in my eyes for such a bad worst food. Somehow I managed to eat little portion and now my stomach burns very bad.

Didn't know about this place until a friend booked a table here. Great food that felt, most importantly, CLEAN and easy to eat. You can tell that quality ingredients went into the food. The naans are not heavy in oils like most Indian restaurants. The basil curry chicken was good too and wasn't overly spiced and salty. Great prices as well compared to other restaurants. I'd come back!! :)

Good/Tastey Indian Food and Beverages

Great menu and really good food - not your run of the mill Indian restaurant. Friendly helpful staff. Recommend booking or go before 6pm as the restaurant is very popular

Worst biriyani i ever had in my life… seeing the name of restaurant it’s indian food .. but after having the food , i felt anywhere in india might have this worse biriyani..

Fantastic food and fast service

Super Indian veg food and service. Perhaps best in Scotland.

a warm ambiance and lovely comfort indian food. service was great as well. the rates are decent costed us 10£ per head.

Delicious Indian food restaurant. 👌👍👌

Masala tea is a rip off. £4.50 and they give you a big tea pot but only 1 small portion of tea in it. It's a quarter full. Food was delicious.

Excellent as usual. Love the Nann bread.

The food and service were terrific.

My husband and I were visiting from NYC and stumbled upon this place during our visit. It was so delicious, we came back again after an intense day of hiking. Delicious food with reasonable prices. The staff was attentive and kind and appreciated that it's "tapas" style so you can get a few items and share. 10/10.

We loved eating at Mother India’s cafe!! The service was so so good and the food was exceptional!

The name does not give full merit for the quality of the food. The best Indian dishes I have tasted in as many years as I can remember. Exceptional food and great value for money. We visit Edinburgh regularly and this will be on our planner on each visit . 11 out of 10

Excellent food and a charming spot just off the main road - my only mild complaint is that we unknowingly ordered a couple things that were nearly identical and also over ordered rice - I wish the server would have recommended we switch our dishes around a bit but in the end that was on us. I also wish there were more paneer options. But the food was absolutely excellent and unique - I highly recommend the Rara Gosht!

Excellent restaurant serving Indian cuisine tapas style. There is a wide range of dishes to choose, many suitable for vegetarian appetites. Two or three dishes per person is plenty to eat when combined with rice and naan breads. For two of us we choose five tapas dishes which proved to be plenty, when eaten with rice and bread. Service is excellent and the premises are bright and clean. It can get very busy in the evening and booking a table is essential if you don't want a long wait outside. It's next to the Royal Oak pub in Infirmary Street, where a great beer selection is available.

First time in Edinburgh and fancied an authentic curry. This place did not disappoint! 10/10 would scran again.

Good tasting food - subtle flavours in my lamb biryani. Polite, prompt service.

Heard a lot about this place so glad to have booked during our Fringe visit. Food was great. Love the tapas style sharing vibe. The recommended 4 dishes between 2 was perfect amount for us though we don't have massive appetites. The Kurkure Aloo Chaat was my favourite, stunning dish. Sweetcorn and paneer masala was also excellent. I was going to say the ice-cream was better than in any Italian but looks like it was from an Italian company so that would explain it! Annoyed that I forgot to order popadums- no 'shall I be mother' here!

The staff are kind and the food is delicious. Best Indian food in Edinburgh

A favourite lunch spot for a catch up with friends. Always feel welcome. Over the years it has as never disappointed. The menu is varied and the portion sizes although not large lend themselves to sharing. Plenty of starters / mains to choose from. Great to taste several different dishes when we decided to share. The restaurant is busy at lunch time but the service is prompt without feeling rushed. Appreciate that the tables are cleaned after each course.

We had a nice time , good ambience and tasty food

A cozy place for Indian curry. My fav dish was railway lamb curry. It was the BEST lamb I’ve ever had in my life. It was extremely tender and juicy, and there were four HUGE chunks in it. The curry itself was very flavorful. Butter chicken was very mild, ppl who expect to get strong flavor from Indian curry can avoid this. It was just full of sweetness for me, not with enough layers of taste. The chicken chunks were huge, but over cooked so they were quite dry and tough. Mango lassi was just ok. Good but a bit too expensive for the quality. Their nans were quite good, but very oily (probably the most oily I’ve had) Peshwari nan was good, sweet but not overly sweet, with some shredded almond on top. Garlic one was quite GARLICKY, highly recommend for ppl who love garlic.

After we stood in line, they told us we had to make a reservation 🫠

Food was delicious and fantastic service .

A really hard working and special Indian restaurant. Lots of very tasty small (but not tiny) dishes you can share with friends. Highly recommended.

so we were fringing and in the area, so I had made a booking before the fringe began. So glad I did. My friend hadn't been before, he lives down south. So there was a queue when we arrived, but soon we were taken inside to our waiting table. Great meal. Lovely waiting staff who were very helpful. We had a great meal, loved the railway lamb, loved the chicken in basil sauce, but will make sure we don't order that with a spinach veg dish the next time. Lovely rice and naan bread - clearly they make their own. Lovely indian brand beer, and a very clean place. Staff dusting the tables after we left rice and bits on the table, always carefully wrapped the crumbs up so the floor was still spotless. Toilets were similarly spotless - a hard challenge to do when the festival and fringe are on and so so busy everywhere. Well done team Mother INdia. Only 4 stars because it was noisy, but nothing the restaurant can do about that at this time of year, and we are older people!

A bustling spot with friendly service and a focus on milder flavors. While the portions are on the smaller side, the quality of the food is good.

So many great things about this wonderful restaurant. Last night we walked by and it was completely full. The gent inside offered us a table in 45 mins or alternatively suggested we should book to secure a table. Unfortunately they were booked all weekend for dinner so we decided to book for lunch. WOW! The service was excellent and the food fantastic. It was like eating home made Indian food. The dishes are made with care and an abundance of flavour. We tend to go recommendations but I’m glad we trusted out instincts this time. Looking forward to returning.

Fantastic place, we really loved it.

10/10 would recommend. Food was very tasty. This is a tapas style place. However, the portions are substantial and what we ordered was sufficiently shared between 3 people. Great service - the staff is courteous and friendly. The place has a wonderful ambience.

A bustling spot with friendly service and a focus on milder flavors, none of the curries were spicy and flavors were extremelymild. While the portions are on the smaller side, the quality of the food is consistently good. A great choice for those seeking a welcoming atmosphere and a taste of local cuisine

The food was delicious little spicy for my taste but amazing, I ordered the cheese naan and eggplant with baby potato. You got to try the cheese naan .. it’s so crispy and full of cheddar cheese .. I also ordered the jeera lassi ( yoghurt drink with salt and cumin) it was amazing 😍😍

Queue with little waiting time. Good Indian food, but certainly not the best I've eaten.

Came for lunch, bought along friends that aere visiting. It was great. We booked for 1pm, which was well timed as it was soon packed. Great food and service. The portions are suited to tapas style sharing so you can get a good range of dishes. We'll be back!

Very tasty selection of dishes. Good portion sizes to share.

Tapas served now instead of main meals, selected 4 and rice and bread between 2. Didn't need the bread.

We went here on our first visit to Edinburgh and had an amazing experience. Came without a reservation and they kindly found space for us. The guide to how many dishes you should order on the menu was useful. Staff were very pleasant and welcoming. The chairs were comfortable and decor was nice. The food came quickly and we spent only an hour there! Naan bread was very nice and so were the curries we ordered. I would also like to recommend the aloo gobi as it was very nice. Thank you!

Great food and service. Highly recommended! I missed indian food so much.

Thank you see you all next year xx

All the great reviews were absolutely right. Such an authentic joint with great dishes and super efficient service. The first place in Scotland that didn’t make us wait a long time between dishes. And the idea of “tapas” is great. We were able to share a lot more. And it ia also an option to try Indian food if you have done so yet.

Amazing trip here over this weekend!! Loved the food, good portion sizes! All of the food and drinks were served very fast. Will be returning

Always loved this place, superior Indian food, I can't think of a better Indian in Edinburgh, and I've visited most!! The tapas approach is inspired, visit, you won't regret it!

Good food, friendly service, prices ok. A bit loud.

Great evening. We arrived early for our booked time, but we're catered for really well. The food was amazing.

Bloody delicious! That's all that can be said... And good service as well.

Decent Indian food. Busy, so book ahead.

Four of us had lunch on a Sunday. Our group included a vegetarian, a pescatarian and two omnivores. The food was outstanding, we especially loved the broccoli with almonds and the daal. Service was very good. The place itself is bright and cheerful but we were able to have a conversation without shouting. We'd gladly return.

Modern Indian food , that is fresh, beautifully tasty and served like tapas in small bowls . Perfect. Definite for our next visit to Edinburgh! . One to remember.

Stunning Indian food - something for everyone, even the kids.

It’s one of the best Indian restaurants available in Edinburgh. I have been to lot of Indian restaurants in UK, but this is one of the best. Taste is really awesome but quality is little less for the price. Definitely coming back!

Very good food and friendly service.

First time excellent b back soon

Tasty and spicy food. It was quite busy on Tuesday evening, so making a reservation is highly recommended.

Nice atmosphere, quick and friendly service. The food is good Indian standard (No surprise on the menu). What we ordered was authentic, tasteful and fresh. One starter and three main courses (tapas or thali sized) with nan and two kinds of rice for about 50£ are really okay for Edinburgh. I recommend this place.

Delicious meal and lots of gluten free options as well. The waiter was very knowledgeable about which items on the menu were gluten free and free from cross contamination (shared fryer). Overall we had a delicious meal in a nice atmosphere. Very highly recommend

Brilliant chefs, excellent & super active service staff (Jessica & Amal served us). Decent portions for the price they charge. Especially the breads were made really well. Cheers!

Good Indian restaurant. We could easily come back again.

Lovely Indian food with pleasing and super fast service. Centrally located.

Some of the best Indian food there is around Edinburgh. Great flavours and subtle spice level made our visit to Mother India’s Cafe a remarkable experience. Highly highly recommended!

Very tasty. Great prices. Enjoyed it very much!

Great concept with the Indian tapas, unfortunately they don't come around often. The food is really tasty and seems authentic, the service is very attentive and friendly. Prices are fair for Edinburgh.

Curries were flavourful and the concept of Indian tapas means that the portions are small but great for trying several dishes. Our server was helpful and suggested options for my son who is picky and prefers non-spicy food. In the end he had butter chicken and chicken pakoras and was happy with the food. Make sure you bring your appetite and save room for gulab jamun and masala chai for dessert!

Good food and flavors. Small portions. The decor was very plain compared to most Indian restaurants I have been to. Attentive and fast service.

Really enjoyed the food and dining experience.