The Prince Balti House

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• Average price 2 courses:
   £7.95 (set lunch)
   £13 (evening meal)
• House wine: £10.95 per bottle
• BYOB: no charge corkage

• High point: Traditional curries done with flair, style and warmth
• Low point: Dining room a bit nippy in cold weather
• Food served: Sun-Thu noon-2pm, 5-11.30pm; Fri/Sat noon-2pm, 5pm-midnight
• Delivery: free; minimum order £10
• Private dining: Up to 25 covers
• Open since: 1997
• Also offers: Childrens portions, Childrens high chairs, Take away

The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 is now in the shops.

This review is from the 2007 edition.

It may not be the most enticing spot for a restaurant, being wedged between a busy roundabout and a bus depot at the end of Seafield industrial estate, but the enthusiastic, cheery welcome from staff at this Portobello curry house more than compensates for any external grimness. Décor is traditional - dark wood tables and panelling, peach walls, bubbly fish tank and piped music - and the huge A4 folder-style menu reveals the regulars by listing discounts for the local council and NHS staff. As befits the backdrop, staple Indian and Bangladeshi dishes dominate the menu, with bhunas, kormas and massalas aplenty, alongside a healthy veggie section and great kids' meal deals of diddy-sized curry, rice and a drink from £4.95. But don't be fooled by the old-school looks, as there's no clueless swamp of spices here, but rather a subtle, skilled blending of flavours. The pilau rice with saffron is deft and delicate, and goes just as well with a light chicken kashmiri murgh markhani - a fruit cocktail of a curry marrying warm spices with lychees, banana and pineapple - as it does with a rich jaipuri lamb brimming with marinated meat, warming coriander and fresh mushrooms.