Mezbaan is Edinburgh's only restaurant dedicated to just traditional and authentic South Indian cuisine. We are now open for lunch. If you are short for time you can sample our express menu or for a more relaxed our a la carte menu.

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• Average price 2 courses:
   £8.95 (set lunch)
   £15 (evening meal)
• House wine: £10.95 per bottle

• High point: Gulab jamun sent from heaven
• Low point: Fewer chicken dishes please
• Food served: Mon–Fri noon–2pm, 5–11.30pm; Sat/Sun 5–11.30pm
• Open since: 2005
• Also offers: Vegetarian options (at least 25% of main courses), Children's portions, Children's high chairs, Wheelchair access, Takeaway, Pre-theatre menu

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008
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At the northern end of Finnieston Bridge, and a stone's throw from the SECC, India Quay matches its locale for ambition and innovation. The black and white interior is stylish and spacious, while its downstairs booths allow for a degree of intimacy. The contemporary feel is enhanced by a contemporary soundtrack, a well thought out wine list and service that is excellent as well as informal. The food is good, particularly a rich and aromatic cardamom-infused lamb biryani, while the gulab jamun, a dessert of fried dough balls dunked in syrup and served with ice-cream, is superb. Even standard dishes – and there are perhaps too many of them for a restaurant with such obvious aspirations – indicate no lack of ability in the kitchen. Starters such as vegetable samosa, chicken or mushroom pakora, and garlic prawns are fine, though perhaps lacking imagination, and the non-vegetarian main courses are too heavily geared towards chicken dishes, even allowing for the proviso that they can be made with lamb or prawns instead. That said, the popular £10.95 evening buffet (Sunday to Thursday) offers variety as well as good value.