Bollywood: The Coffee Box

The 2012 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

This review is taken from the current (2012) edition.

Cross the Meadows these days and you'll find that culinary adventures start the same way Dr Who episodes tend to – with a blue police box. Inspired by the street food culture she grew up with in India, Nutan Bala left her job as a support worker and opened the hatches on Edinburgh's first curry and coffee stand. Except for a mixed vegetable dhal which has proven so popular that it has become a fixture, the short simple menu varies each day. Chicken curry with pilau rice is seasoned to order and so the heat is tailored to your taste, though with the chicken served on the bone, it is a slightly awkward dish to eat on the hoof. Spice-studded parathas, or fried flat breads, are ideal for dipping in the hearty lentil and vegetable dhal. Chatting to the star of this one-woman show as she prepares your dish is one of the highlights of the experience. It might ensure you don't miss the pakoras, for example, which showcase seasonal Scottish veg: spicy slightly sweet savoy cabbage pakora proving a seriously tasty winter treat. With plans to set up some seating on the pavement alongside when the weather improves you feel that this Bollywood dream may well have a happy ending.

• High point: Chatting to the star of this one woman show as she prepares your dish.
• Low point: The coffee not up to the standard of the curry.