The Indian Cavalry Club

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This review is taken from the current (2011) edition.

Edinburgh’s West End is admittedly spoilt for choice for superior Indian eateries. Nevertheless, the mannered Georgian façade of the Indian Cavalry Club conceals a restaurant that is truly a breed apart. A genteel mood pervades the stately, low-lit rooms, with smartly turned-out staff happy to help pukka punters navigate a long and unusual menu. The mains selection features a superb chicken katmandhu, sparky with astringent lime and cinnamon, and a warming dopiaza glowing with tomatoes and tamarind. Served in small copper tureens, dishes are stuffed full of tender, high quality meat and fresh spices, with flavours testifying to committed kitchencraft. Vegetarians are well provided for – they’ve their own set menu alongside a broad selection of mains and sundries. The wine list is comprehensive and the house sauvignon is pleasantly acerbic. Make a sterling effort to save space for dessert, particularly the syrupy, sandalwood tastes of the payasam (rice pudding). Cheap it ain’t but if you relish bold Indian cooking, this is your place.

• High point: Bold, Indian cooking with creative flair
• Low point: No music in main dining room

4. andrew_murray – 3 January 2011, 3:51amThe Indian Cavalry ClubReport

i agree this restaurant is very bad, they rip you off and you dont enjoy the food! my partner and i went there for a meal and the same night we went home we both had very bad diaoriya! :( i dont recomend this restaurant to anyone

3. Gareth C, Stirling – 22 April 2010, 10:56pmThe Indian Cavalry ClubReport

Very disappointed with the Cavalry Club, have never been inspired to write a review but I am tonight. £40 a head for very poor service, very small portions and the standard of food was spectacularly average, only had two courses and one pint of beer! Nothing at all warranted such a completely inflated price, at £20 I still would have felt disappointed, indeed I'm still hungry now and only ate there a couple of hours ago! No atmosphere what so ever, I can't actually think of much decent at all...oh yeah the poppadums at £1 each were pretty good!!!

2. Worst Service and sorry excuse for a Breyani, Edinburgh – 15 February 2010, 4:47pmThe Indian Cavalry ClubReport

I agree with the previous comment. My 1st visit to the Indian Cavalry Club, was terrible, but I attributed it to our party being very large. The second visit proved better, but still not very good. I am sucker for punishment and decided to give it another try. I ordered a take-away which took almost 1 hour to get ready. I called in and then went to the restaurant and had to wait another 45 minutes. Their prices are extremely high and don't afford the same quality that other take-aways will give. When I eventually got my food, I asked if they gave pappadoms with the takeaway for free...and they laughed at me. I told them that their service and price is ridiculous. The worse was yet to come...the food was cold, the lamb breyani, looked like some burnt meat re-braised in a gravy and mixed into white rice. It tasted as disgusting as it looked. The salad was basically chopped onions.
It is an absolute rip off! Needless to state, I didn't eat it and it cost me £10.95. I have bought breyani's from other restaurants for at minimum £2 less and was much better! Their portions are also significantly smaller than other restaurants. The Indian Cavalry Club, is a definite rip off! There are much better restaurants where the effort is spent on the food rather than branded china and staff uniforms! Message to the owners....I think a visit from the UK Borders Agency, is definitely something that you should be prepared for!!!

1. Tim R, Edinburgh – 16 February 2009, 9:27amThe Indian Cavalry ClubReport

The Indian Cavalry club is astonishingly bad.
It is probably the most expensive Indian restaurant in Britain but doesn't live up to its billing.
I was there on Valentine's night and the service was rushed and the waiters kept rushing over to ask if we'd finished when clearly we were trying to digest the food.
The food was bland, tasteless, and had been under the grill for too long.
We ordered a three course meal at £40 per head and they had us out the door within an hour.
I wouldn't recommend it to anyone and actually Edinburgh people are being hugely ripped off.
DON'T expect the standard of service or food you'd get at Omar Khayam's!