from jwjlewis (74%) on January 18th, 2008 (6 months ago)

Indian Cavalry Club, 22 Coates Crescent, EH3 7AF, Edinburgh

I went here on a Monday evening and it was relatively busy, so that should speak well of this restaurant.

I have long walked or driven past this restaurant and thought it looked nice. Finally I went with my girlfriend and auntie. We were greeted at the door and shown to our table in a courteous, if fairly non-communicative (verbally) way. After we had been chatting for quite a time the waiter came and offered poppadums, which are the same in every restaurant you go to - so no complaints there.

The menu has quite a large range of dishes, including dosa, for those fans of South Indian cuisine. For every main course there is a recommended side dish and accompanying wine - helpful if you like wine!

Our starters arrived and were very tasty. Having ordered the dosa I was surprised to discover that it was almost main course in size! Shortly after our empty starter plates were removed our main course arrived. We had prawn dansak, lamb karahi and Red Fort chicken, with a chick pea dish and gobi paneer as side orders. The main dishes were kept heated à la Chinese restaurant candle powered warming plates. The food was very tasty - although not quite up to Voujon or Khushi standard - and plentiful. We were struggling to finish and so we asked if they could put the food in takeaway tubs for us. Now it may not have a takeaway section, but in my opinion every restaurant should provide the option of taking anything you can't eat away with you. This not only means that you are not wasting food, but it is a massive compliment to the restaurant.

In this case, the response was lukewarm to say the least. "We don't have enough tubs for all the dishes sir, which ones would you like to keep (grumble, grumble)". When I said that I would like to take four of them away as we had finished the fifth I was again told there weren't enough tubs. So I politely asked them to double up on the tubs - that is hardly rocket science and wouldn't really have taken the waiter much thought to suggest this himself.

Dessert was kulfi and a rice pudding type dish, both of which were perfectly palatable.

My overall impression of this restaurant is that it wants to be a posh Indian restaurant. It has the right decor, excellent staff uniforms, the food is above average, but the price and the attitude of the staff are wrong. Our total (including a bottle of champagne) was £150. I'm not sure how much the champagne was, but this seems a little steep given the partial lack of civility on the part of the waiters.

Would I recommend this place? I'm not really sure, I would always say go to Voujon or Khushis first.

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from jcaughey (66%) on June 26th, 2008 (1 month ago)

Indian Cavalry Club, 22 Coates Crescent, EH3 7AF, Edinburgh

This reopened about a year ago and is directly opposite my office. We were very excited when the Cavalry Club was moving because we heard it was going to have a restaurant AND a pakora bar. Since its opening I have been there on a couple of occasions, primarily because it is handy... not sure if I would recommend it to a friend!

I have never eaten in the restaurant but have eaten in/ had drinks in the pakora bar. The food is very fresh and delicious – I have always eaten off the set menu – today I had the vegetable pakora menu that was yummy - just the right size for a lady for lunch (maybe a bit on the small side for you gents!). It came with either a Cobra beer or a soft drink for £8.90. This offer runs from 12 – 7. Good value - especially when you consider how overpriced the drinks are normally – they have Cobra on tap and if I remember correctly it costs about £5 (maybe a little more) for a pint. Extortionate!!!

Anyway, the décor is absolutely stunning in the bar and very pristine in the dining room. Raw silk curtains and funky lights… very plush.

There a few reasons why I feel Indian Cavalry club falls short (apart from the price of booze!)

Firstly the lack of atmosphere; we were the only table in the bar area today. They do not play music so it is very quiet and feels too sterile. Absolutely no atmosphere whatsoever. Perhaps it is a bit different in the dining room in the evening when it is busy???

The second flaw is the service. They seemed to have about 4 people on lunch today and when we arrived there was no one on ‘the floor’ at all. We wandered about, looking for someone to show us which table we could occupy, but no one was there no one to welcome us, (doesn't quite fit with the mock red carpet up the steps on your way into the restaurant) so we plonked ourselves down and waited to be served. There were a lot of people wandering about and talking to the waiting staff not in uniform talking throughout our meal which I thought was a bit unprofessional. Not sure if they were chefs or friends or family... On a previous occasion, I was there for lunch and they were conducting an interview at the table next to us despite it being quite a busy lunchtime shift. Again, not really the sort of experience I think this price tag should provide.

In short good food, beautiful surroundings, dud atmosphere and average service.

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