12/06/23

Broughham Place, Edinburgh

Traditional curry houses have been going through turbulent times lately, with many customers preferring to turn their attention to Indian street food-style cafes. Local favourite The Bombay Bicycle Club is now under new ownership as Gurkha, which offers Indian and Nepalese cuisine. (A bit further down Brougham Street, The Nilgiri Spice is in the early stages of a similar transformation.)

We’ve actually opted to visit on opening night, lured in by a money-off voucher, and – as it’s the hottest day in Edinburgh so far this year – we’re half expecting the place to be quiet.

But there’s a lively vibe when we arrive, with balloons festooning the entrance and a veritable crowd inside, celebrating the occasion. As we’re currently having a break from the booze, we’re delighted to note that in addition to alcohol free beer, Gurkha also offers zero percent wine in white, red and even rosé, which is something we haven’t found on any other menus in the city, so we promptly order a drink each.

We share a mixed starter, comprising chicken tikka, lamb tikka, seekh kebab and (best of all) a couple of crispy, chewy king prawns. The dish is perfectly cooked, the flavours and aromas inviting and the dish is nicely presented with generous swirls of different sauces in which the meat can be dipped. It’s a great start to the meal and proves to be the highlight.

For mains, we’ve chosen a lamb tikka saslik and a chicken makhani, which again are nicely done, though perhaps lacking the impressive presentation of that starter – though to be fair, it’s hard to know how you might make a chicken makhani (a big dollop of brown sludge) look beautiful. It tastes good and that’s the main thing, right?

To accompany the dish there’s a lovely peshwari naan, thin and crispy, with a delicious mango and coconut filling – and a bowl of coconut and pineapple rice, which, on reflection, may be a tad too sweet when coupled with the naan. But that’s on us for not thinking it through, and I should add that not one single grain remains after we’ve applied ourselves to the task.

And that’s us done, far too full to think about a pudding and happy to slip out to enjoy the rest of a sunny afternoon in Edinburgh, leaving the celebration in full swing. Here’s wishing Gurkha a happy and prosperous future.

4 stars

Philip Caveney