The Far Pavilions

Excellent choice if you are looking for a more imaginative Indian dining experience than your run-of-the-mill highstreet curry house. Portions are huge, some of the menu options are inventive and original and the service is very good indeed.

The style is rather too glamourous for the food perhaps, all weird shaped plates but the effort and obvious ambition to take the Indian Restaurant to a different level has to be applauded. The place is never very full however as I am afraid the canny Scots clearly do not value the cooking enough to pay slightly over the odds for what is surperior Indian food. Expect to pay £75 for two including wine and coffee - just because it is Indian food should not put you off for paying for decent food.

A special mention must be made if you like biriani - these are simply the best I have tasted outside of Regent Street's Veeraswamy's. None of your 'fried rice pretending to be biryani' here - these are your proper long steam-cooked pilaus and once all they have prepared that night have been sold that is it. So if you are booking a table and know you fancy a biriani then reserve one in advance then to avoid dissapointment.

For that dish alone I will always have this place in my Edinburgh list of must-dines.
Comment on this reader review

Nick W
Friday, February 01, 2008