Mother India's Cafe in Edinburgh, City of

This was our first visit and we were unsure about what and how much to order. I was able to get a dish that was not spiced with capsicum even though it was not on the menu. My husband's choices were not particularly to his liking but that was probably more a result of not knowing more about unfamiliar dishes.

We went because of all the great reviews. Unfortunately we found the restaurant and its staff not so great. Did not make any effort for a polite conservation. Did not even once ask whether we liked our meal. Did not ask is if we wanted some extra's or a dessert. Toilets were not clean. When we left they did not even say goodbay.

One of best curries if not the best ever. We liked it so much we came back the next day too and ordered even more! Great service and food sooo delicious we forgot to talk to each other lol

Go to Indian restaurant when out with friends in town. Staff helpful, friendly and professional. Tapas style dishes very tasty. Good value for money and always a great experience. Reserve table in advance as very popular especially on weekends.

Fabulous food and welcoming staff. The Butter chicken is delicious and as a signature dish has kept it the best ever!! Pakora of a great standard and thoroughly enjoyed the mushroom and garlic variety! Service very good and staff lovely! Due to a medical emergency when we were there we had to move tables! Nothing was too much trouble! Be back soon 👍

We called in one evening back in January on the off chance we could get a table, and we were in luck! What a banging concept of tapas-styled Indian cuisine, meaning you get to taste and share a number of different amazing small-sized dishes. Wow, we could have stuffed ourselves like little piggies. The food was really delicious, authentic, and of high quality. Although the time of evening we dined was early and the restaurant was far from full, there was still a good atmosphere with traditional Indian music quietly playing in the background. That said, the restaurant does fill up quite quick and by the time we finished and came to leave, the place was buzzing with diners. With this in mind, it is likely that as the season progresses, more advanced bookings would be prudent - to ensure you get a table. The decor has a retro style feel with the colours and the many old black and white photographs hanging on the walls. The tables don’t have table cloths on, which adds to the character. The small tables are quite smart actually, the 2-person table we sat at was made from a half cut-down panel door with a square glass top - the quirkiness works well. We’ve known of a few great Indian restaurants over the years, but this one certainly ranks very highly. The service overall was very welcoming and professional. The restaurant was clean and with a great atmosphere. There is a great selection of tasty authentic food on offer and a half decent selection of drinks. We felt this place was certainly great value for money. 11-01-2024 Many thanks - B & A

We were on a roadtrip of Scotland for 5 days. The fourth day, we had good food here. The service was good. It just has a limited food menu.

Honestly one of the nicest Indian restaurants I’ve ever eaten in. The food is all tapas style and is just beautiful. The staff are also very helpful. The price was very affordable considering the beauty of the food

Second visit today after one year. Same quality and same service maintained throughout. I don't feel adding more reviews to this place as it's already have good value over here but as a foodie when my plate gets over it means it is delicious. They are maintaining the authenticity of Indian food and I loved it. Super budget friendly and of course recommended. Don't think twice go there and get stuffed nicely.

Excellent Food and service, can't wait to go back!

Indian food is one of my favourites. Unfortunately, this venue fell far from the target. The starters were enjoyable but unfortunately the main dishes totally lacked depth of flavour and could only be described as one dimensional. The pilau rice was unusual, and the garlic naan despite being tasty was so thin that if it wasn't eaten quickly, rapidly dried out to a crisp. The price of the meal was not justified as per the quantity and quality. If we'd thoroughly enjoyed our meals then the cost would not have been an issue. Our visit was such a disappointment as we had been so looking forward to it after reading so many fantastic reviews.

Absolutely top notch. Couldn’t book online so called to book a table. Went here with my family including grandma. We ordered a selection of dishes and they were all delicious. The main dishes arrived super fast so don’t bother ordering popadoms. Super friendly staff and delicious. Spiced cod and railway lamb curry superlative. Up there with our favourite restaurants.

Not cheap, but definitely punching well above it's pricetag. Food was superb, and loved the tapas element that allowed us to try lots of different things. Paratha was amazing, as was ginger and garlic chicken. Definitely going again 😀

Great flavours, excellent sharing dishes, the Railways Lamb is a must (unless your veggie obvs). Worth booking as gets very busy.

We ate here on an Itison deal. Lovely,friendly staff. The papadums and condiments, pakoras were plentiful and so tasty. I had aubergine and potato curry and my husband had chicken , chilli and pickle curry ( Achari). Peshwari was the best we have ever tasted. Kingfisher beer on tap ( Husband was happy!)) My coffee was lovely too. We will definitely return.

Great service, food was awesome, no complaints here. Thank you! :)

We came for dinner on a rainy Monday night. It was busy but they found us a table for two. The food was absolutely delicious. I had the chicken butter and my friend the Dhaal. Their chutney was pretty Goff and their Naans were fragrant and delicious

Really lovely dinner here It’s tapas style and so tasty We had garlic chilli chicken , lamb curry , pakora , garlic naan , yum

Good and service was excellent! Really tasty food and a great way to try 2-3 dishes. A bit loud on the lower ground floor as it was busy, but no biggie!

Best Indian food we have ever had. Food was so fresh and cooked to perfection.

We had a wonderful meal! Samosas, chicken dish, a paneer, and a mushroom dish. A little too much for 2 people but we managed. Service was prompt, friendly and very helpful with answering questions and recommending dishes.

Absolutely fabulous food!! Service great too! Can’t recommend highly enough!!

Tasteless food! Firstly we got put on the side of someone else’s table, but we thought nothing of it because we were hungry. Food took 50 minutes to arrive for a Wednesday evening. When the food arrived we were very disappointed as the curry had no flavour and I asked for some extra sauce but this arrived when we finished our food. I’ve never noticed nann bread to be crispy at first I thought it was a popadom. It was the texture of a popadom. Rice was cooked nice, but again sagg aloo not much flavour. Overall extremely disappointing.

First time been excellent will be back

There are very few reataurants in Edinburgh where you will feel like in Mother's India Café. Efortlessly homey ans delicious.

Great place for Indian food - veg options are good and tasty

You'd better book as this restraunt is always busy! Went on a Monday night, it was packed. Food and service were top notch. Will definitely be back

Best Indian restaurant in Edinburgh

The server who took the order seemed disinterested while taking the order and was not polite at all. It seemed he was most disinterested in working and was being forced to do so. The chapati was not properly cooked .I am sure they can do better than this.

Wow! Yep, wow. Some of the best Indian food we've ever had. The quality was perfect, spices rich & robust. Loved it. We ate her twice during our 4 days in Edinburgh because it was simply that good. I loved the tapas style as it allows you to try multiple things easily. The garlic Naan was amazing, the vegetable pakoras were the best I've had. Saag Paneer & butter chicken were delicious, and we loved the aubergine & potato, minced lamb dosa, and dal makhani. The chutneys were fantastic as well. Everything we tried was perfect. Service was excellent every time. I can't recommend this place enough.

The food was excellent and liked the tapas concept. The staff were great which made the dinning experience even more a pleasure.

Wow! Yep, wow. Some of the best Indian food we've ever had. The quality was perfect, spices rich & robust. Loved it. We ate her twice during our 4 days in Edinburgh because it was simply that good. I loved the tapas style as it allows you to try multiple things easily. The garlic Naan was amazing, the vegetable pakoras were the best I've had. Saag Paneer & butter chicken were delicious, and we loved the aubergine & potato, minced lamb dosa, and dal makhani. The chutneys were fantastic as well. Everything we tried was perfect. Service was excellent every time. I can't recommend this place enough.

Friends invited us to join them for dinner as they'd been a few times and enjoyed the food. This was our first visit. Excellent venue, service, food & atmosphere. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening. First visit but won't be our last.

Visited here after Hamilton. It was extremely busy but the staff got us a table without reservation. Basement area was lovely. Very nice relaxed atmosphere. Food was really tasty. Tapas style dishes. Pakora, lamb balti and chicken dish. Service was efficient and professional. First time here but will return when back in town.

Lunch time in Edinburgh's Mother India. An Indian cuisine tapas bar. The bar wasn't very busy when I was there. The food was excellent and a very good choice. I had a gin too, well served. The service was very good, plenty of waiters so no waiting and the waiters were very polite. Gave lots of space but served then cleared away very efficiently. Go there and enjoy.

Great food, nice surroundings and excellent friendly staff. What's not to love

Absolutely the best Indian food I’ve ever had. The service was friendly with a welcoming feel, super fast! Cheers.

This must be my favourite Indian restaurant. Even my daughter, who normally doesn't really like spicy food loved it. The service was helpful, quick and attentive. The food was absolutely delicious and I can't recommend it enough. If you like Indian food, you won't be...

Great service, great food ,butter chicken and nan was delicious

Sadly quite has gone down past few years. Gave 5 stars a year ago, now downgraded to 3. Very average food.

disappointing experience Overrated The quality was really bad, Probably one of the worst and the restaurant I have been to in my life. The test was below average and the service wasn’t that good. For example, I have ordered one cheese and garlic naan but he brings for me a chili nan When I ask him that this is not what I have ordered, he said OK I will fix it for you He took the plate. He put it in front of the kitchen and I was looking into it and he brings it back (the same plate) then he said that’s your order. When I told him, it is the same, he said, by mistake. then he didn’t bring what I have ordered. He just put garlic on it and brings it with the chili on it. Also, the chicken and the butter chicken wasn’t cooked fine and wasn’t in a good condition to eat The lamb biryani was very bad as the lamb quality was the worst and probably it’s very old. Out of 5: butter chicken 1/5 Prawn gravy 2/5 Lamb biryani 1/5 Cheese naan 4/5 Cheese with garlic naan 0/5 Fish tikka 3/5 Chicken tikka 2.5/5 Service 2.5/5

Excellent service, the food was very tasty, the beer was lovely and chilled. The atmosphere was nice and relaxed , permitting at great opportunity to talk with a old school mate of over 40 years

Really great food, very tasty. Service was very quick despite the place being full. I had starter and main to me in less than 30mins. Staff were friendly and efficient.

It's worth eating. I enjoyed the lamb curry.

We visted here for a meal and cannot recommend it highly enough. Service is excellent, staff very polite and efficient and most of all the food is some of the tastiest, fresh Indian food we have experienced.

Food was good generally but panoramic were overcooked

Busy, but great food. After reading some reviews, I was slightly concerned about 5 of us going on a Friday. It was lovely. Food was tapas style, as it is advertised, and comes when ready, so make sure you are prepared for that and not...

Food is awesome here. One of the best for Indian cuisine experience outside India. Right from Starters till desert all were extremely delicious. Must visit if you are in Edinburgh and wherever it has branch.

The service is fast The food is delicious

Dropped in out of the heavy shower, and was realky hapoy with rhe tapas suze indian meals, and the lovliest thin farlic naan! Perfect

Great place to eat with small plates of food, designed as tapas style. Food was fresh, tasty and staff were friendly. Recommended

Great food. We live in West Yorkshire, so used to a more spicy curry from Bradford but it was plenty and tasty.

This place is great because the service is so bad that you don't have to feel bad for not leaving a tip

Had dinner with a large party. Lovely food and service. Highly recommend

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

I ordered Aaloo kulcha as it was Chef"s special, had no salt in it and then the manager replaced it with another piece of the same. It was having salt but not in the stuffing instead over the bread of that kulcha, can you imagine. Being a restraunt chain, is such a shame, if you dnt have tandoor then you should have told us like we can offer you some another alternative. I ordered mushroom gravy and asked it to be served the most spiciest which they can do, again it was also served as almost blande for me. Wont recommend the taste at all, definitely need to meet the taste expectations of their Asian clienttele too who spend minimum 20 mins on google looking out for an authentic Asian restraunt.

Top quality food. Nice fresh poppadoms and good quality chicken in the curries. Only downside is mains came out before we had even finished our poppadoms. Recommend saying leave a bit more time in between courses

Quality and quantity important and not delivered. Chicken Pakora, 5 wee bits of Chicken. There were 2 of us, go on, give us 6 wee bits. Chilli Fishcakes, 2 smaller fishcakes. Lamb Karahi, lamb was tough and fatty. Have to say the Chillie Chicken was...

Everything here was great, food was amazing and the service was attentive. The only thing I wasn’t impressed with was the basil chicken. Just a personal thing but I’ve never seen that on an Indian menu before so got it on a whim. Wasn’t that good, kinda just tasted like pesto.

Looking at the full crowd inside, we first thought that the food might not suit our Indian taste buds but we were wrong. The dal, bhindi everything was full of flavours. It wasn’t hot, but all tasted really good!

Really good, smallish menu but some very tasty and authentic dishes. It's small plate style, our group of 4 got 2 each, a naan and two rice and it was easily enough. Fast service and very attentive staff.

Absolutely fantastic food, fabulous staff and a lovely place to eat. Just one thing I’d mention is that we were sat downstairs, given it was a Friday night, and it was filled with larger parties and the noise level was incredible to the point my...

It was my first Tapas experience. So they have a tasting menu but the quantities are enough to fill your stomach. The food tasted amazing and the staff behavior was also very nice. We ordered a portion of Biriyani and a roti and curry. in drinks we had a Lassi. There was great flavour in the food and it tasted great. Highly recommend.

Our 4th or 5th visit here and always a ‘must’ when we come to Edinburgh. The food is absolutely excellent. It’s a busy place but the service is always good.

Very good meal with friends here last night. Packed out so was good atmosphere. Great attentive service, and the food was lovely. Many thanks again.

Phenomenal food. You must try this place

Very enjoyable meal. Food was fresh and very tasty, we liked the Tapas style and enjoyed sharing several dishes. With poppadoms to start and iceream to share, we were pleasantly full! Attentive and friendly staff. Hadn't booked but they were able to accommodate us on...

Our waitress Jomol was fantastic. The food was fresh, great sized portions and just all around lovely.

The Mother India’s Cafe was recommended to me, so I rocked up on a Friday night as a Single diner. The restaurant was fully booked, but they were kind and let me have seat at the side bar, which was just fine for me as a single diner. A good choice of dishes on the menu, I made my choices, forgetting this was tapas style and the dishes came when they were ready. Next time I will not order all at once! I ordered a Keema Samosa, Chicken Tikka Lababdar, a garlic nan and some popadoms and pickles. The Lamb Samosa was delicious, full of flavour and made with a short crust pastry, giving it a different texture. The chicken Tikka Lababdar was very good fuller flavour with a creamy texture. This was the first time I had had this dish. The staff were very attentive taking care I had an enjoyable evening. It was a little bit noisy for me, but the food was perfect and I had a fine experience as a lone diner. Next time I will book in advance and not come alone!

We looked forward to this all week after a recommendation From my brother who lives in Edinburgh. Oh wow he was right it was Amazing!! It gave me the curly. Best Indian I've had outstanding !!

N/A I ordered from their Uber Eats take away menu & which not to the usual standards the resteraunt is known for - not only was it overpriced vs the quality - the garlic naan was raw, cold, flat & inedible let alone not worth its high take away price point - this was an order as a treat for dinner on Friday 2nd Feb 2024

I've been here many times and it remains my favourite curry house. This time an itison lunch deal and the railway lamb curry was the best I've had. Aromatic sauce and tenderest lamb. All round, fab as usual.

Fabulous food, and quick service

Food was excellent with great vegetarian selection, luckily we had booked our table as restaurant was busy. Service was quick and friendly. The peshwari naan was unreal!

Staff is super friendly and helpful. The place is very nice. The food delicious. The reason I'm not giving the 5 stars is because there isn't an accessible toilet.

Overbearing service . Had hardly sat down when we were asked to order. Ordered drinks first , they arrived and then asked to order again , less than 5 minutes from arrival. Ordered poppodums to start, had not even eaten half of one when the...

Comimos la chicken pakora, samosa y un plato de pollo, realmente increíble y recomendable!!! Amazing!

We arrived with the wrong day on our booking as we made a mistake, after a little confusion on our part the front of house kindly gave us a table on a extremely busy Saturday night which was very kind of them. We sat down and had a beautiful meal, the lamb chops was of very high quality and good size a rarity in most Indian restaurants. Overall we had a beautiful meal in this restaurant and we would recommend to anyone visiting Edinburgh. Kind staff, fresh cooked food beautiful produce, fairly priced and quite big portions we found. 5 stars from us thank you very much

Was looking forward to our visit as this place is a bit of an Edinburgh institution. Food was okay but expensive for what you get when you need 3-4 options plus sides for 2 people. The naans were disappointing. We were running 20 mins late and when I phoned to see if that would be okay they were a bit unfriendly. Bill included a service charge and then when paying with cash we had to ask for the change! Won’t be back as many other better Indians in Edinburgh.

It's a bit noisy, the shrimp doesn't feel too fresh and the portions are small

We booked a table for lunch and glad we did as it was very busy. Food was great and the service was good too. If I have 1 small complaint it's that we ordered starters and everything came out at once when I said we ordered starters we were told they don't do starters so everything comes out together. This is a very small complaint as the food and service were awesome. Thanks team for an awesome lunch😁

Here the King Prawn Karahi is so delicious and a must try. It contains 7 prawns and the flavours are so good. Railway lamb curry is great as usual. I have tried Peshwari Naan in four different Indian restaurants in Edinburgh, and this is the only one that contains milk and almonds - which make it so much more delicious! And when it turns cold from hot, it becomes crispy (thin and crispy)! Very impressive. One star for the bad delivery packaging so far amongst Edinburgh’s Indian restaurants - curries are sticky liquid, how they can use paper covers and foil boxes to contain the curries! Gosh! See the pictures. They are so hot when delivered and they already soaked through the takeaway paper bags. I cannot hold one anymore so it fell down all the way through and spilled everywhere. Hope they find a better way soon for delivery services. Seems this restaurant is better to eat in.

Second time visiting. Great service and fantastic food and very reasonably priced. Would highly recommend.

Don't normally write reviews but Mother India was exceptional in terms of food, service and atmosphere so had to break the habit. Hadn't been for over 20 years can't wait to go back and will be taking Indian/Sri Lankan friends as a thank you for looking after our cat!

Good food well presented, good advice on what food to order,tasted really nice and excellent value for money lovely friendly not pushy staff, enjoyed the tapas style idea

It was first and worst experience. I ordered Dal makhani and naan without butter. Naan was full of flour dust as you see in the pictures I spoke with manager who was working and taking care of the restaurant he explained if you will order naan without butter then naan will be like this 🤦🤦🙄🙄 I don't know how they are serving their food to the customers. Daal makhani taste was not good as well it was not even it supposed to be

Very rude staff. I gave them feedback about their food. I was told you are not welcome. Dal was terrible, full of heavy cream, and chicken was full of masala. There was no taste of chicken, only masala taste. You can only smell masala. Roti was terrible, too. It's not authentic Indian food. In the end, they said the chef is from Taj Hotel from India. A total lie. They are fooling customers who do n't know the taste of good Indian food

I fancied for a long time butter chicken. I ordered via Uber eats (first time yeah!). It was so tasty and the portion was very good: lots of chicken. Quite spicy… I was happy to have a lassi with it. Only drawback was that I...

Good delicious food done Thali (Tapas) style.

Lovely food, busy but great atmosphere. Friendly staff

神。うますぎ。うまいカレー作りまっせって自信満々の顔した人たちが作ってくれます。マトンカレーとバターチキンカレー食べましたが、どちらもうますぎてナン3枚くらいお代わりしました。ちなみに僕はデブです。

Mother India Cafe offers good tasting Indian cuisine, with a variety of dishes being served, all of which being quite tasty. Prices were also quite reasonable.

Good food with a wide range of curries and other Indian food. Licensed. V Good service. Good for groups.

Me and my husband was in Edinburgh for the holidays and we decided to had lunch at this restaurant even though we didn’t had reservation still we got the table, food was mind blowing and great service as well.

My wife, six year old son and I went to Edinburgh to spend the New year and went to this restaurant for dinner on 2nd January. The response was a point blank refusal as we didn't have a reservation, which is understandable. We decided to take away, hence ordered food and started waiting for it . In the meantime I again asked the manager guy for any chance to get a table if we wait and the answer was NO. Whilst we were waiting, a couple came without reservation and approached the same person (we could hear them) and the response was he could accommodate them after sometime and even before we received the take away they got a table. The reason for this discrimination is unknown to us. We did mention this to one of the staff members. Despite the poor service, I should admit that the food was tasty.

لذيذ! طلبي كان دجاج برياني ودجاج بالزبدة ونان .. والطعم ولا غلطه بالذات برياني الدجاج 👌🏻

It’s a nice place to be for lunch or dinner. We visited this restaurant for lunch, had butter nan, dal makahni, basmati rice and chicken curry. All were good in taste, I would give 4/5 in it. Moreover they were also good in service, however, quantity of the food was little less based on the amount they were charging, otherwise all ok.

Fast and friendly service, good food and decent prices.

Fabulous selection of food. Very tasty. Good pleasant service. Quick too. Nice location. Would visit again. Great vegetarian options.

I had high expectations for this place as a few people recommended it and I’m very disappointed. The food was just very average in taste and the dishes I know it’s meant to be tapas but VERY pricey for the amount served.