9 Victoria Street
Edinburgh, EH1 2HE
Nearest Transport: Edinburgh Waverley
0131 220 0057
Established in 1947, Edinburgh's first Indian restaurant, Khushi's, may have moved premises but it still serves good Indian cuisine at very reasonable prices. The restaurant operates a BYO (Bring Your Own Bottle) policy and doesn't charge corkage fees.
Edinburgh's oldest Indian restaurant gets revamped
Current
I first discovered Khushi's back in its days in Drummond Street. Back in those days Khushi's was a little diner, with formica tables, and none of the dreadful decor and faux "days of the Raj" nonsense that many Indian restaurants still indulge in. Instead it was the home of the finest Punjabi home cooking I've ever tasted. There were very very few dishes on the menu: a couple of lamb dishes, a couple of chicken dishes, and maybe four or five vegetable dishes. The advantage to such a small menu in an Indian restaurant is that all the dishes have been cooking and marinating for hours, and you could really taste it. The food was simple, but just exquisite. I'm not sure if this is really correct, but I believe the chef was the Mohammed brothers mother: Indian home cooking indeed!
In 1999 they moved to more modern premises at Potterow, and slightly revamped the menu. All the original dishes were still there (marked with an "Original Khushi's" icon) but supplemented with some new dishes that their larger more modern kitchen made possible.
In 2006 they moved again to their current location on Victoria Street. I'm afraid to say that they are "Original Khushis" in name only. The food really is still very good, and if I'm going to eat Indian food in Edinburgh I would probably choose Khushi's. But it's just not the same anymore. The menu is enormous in comparison to days of yore (although still nowhere near as ridiculously big as many other Indian restaurants). My main concern with that is that I just cannot believe that the dishes have been marinating and cooking slowly for hours and hours. Also the whole ethos of the menu is now much more modern Indian cooking, and frankly all that does is make them harder to differentiate themselves from the many other good Indian restaurants in Edinburgh. Basically, I miss the old Punjabi home cooking. Ironically the Lamb Bhuna is one of the only original dishes still on the menu, and last time I was at Khushi's and tried to order it my waiter strongly suggested I have something else!
I wish the Mohammed brothers the best in their endeavours. The restaurant is still very good. But I'm afraid to say that I miss their Mum's cooking. If you read this guys is there any chance I could come round for tea one day?
I had a very disappointing experience in this restaurant tonight. Showing up with 6 people we were told that we could have a table but only for an hour as it was booked after than. We were in a hurry anyway... it was perfect.
However, it took at least 30 minutes for the food to arrive and the head waiter (the owner?) took a hissy fit at us for taking longer than we promised (5 minutes past the hour we were given).
Given that I have been a regular for over 5 years now... this is absolutely not the kind of behaviour I will tolerate.
I quote the head waiter saying "If you don't want to come back, then don't come back". I don't believe I will, which is a shame as the food really is quite good.
This is a great Indian restaurant. My parent's have told me that it was great 30 years ago and I'd say that it still lives up to that. Free popadoms and chutneys on arrival went down very well, and they have brilliant naans! Byob poilicy means it's cheap - an no corkage is a bonus! The portions are huge too -i don't think starters are necessary! The only down point is that, for a large place, there aren't a lot of waiting staff, and those that there are aren't that friendly. Fab food though!
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