Last night was one of our friend's 40th birthday celebration, a big meal at an Indian restaurant. Normally this would be great with me, but having gone vegan, this was going to be my first meal out with a lot of omnis, and some I didn't know at that. I asked C which restaurant the meal was to be held at, and luckily it has a website with the menu online which meant I could check it out well before I went. The friend in question is great and the last thing I wanted to do was to make a fuss, or create a scene at his birthday dinner, so I called ahead to see what I could eat.
The restaurant is called "Verandah" - check the website here and the menu makes a point of mentioning how big vegetarian food is in India -"Ironically, most people in the Indian subcontinent eat predominantly vegetarian meals, either through religious choice or the price of meat...Indian restaurants are now widely seen as an unusual selection of vegetarian dishes which are enjoyable to carnivores and herbivores (that's me!) alike". I was very happy to see this, and it encouraged me... The only thing that made me slightly worried was the possible use of ghee (clarified butter) used in place of vegetable oil in the dishes. Also, a fair few of the vegetarian meals on offer seemed to include paneer (Indian cheese), or yoghurt as a main ingredient. I called and asked about the Sabzi Jhalfrezie "fresh green chilli coriander, green pepper. Garnished with a touch of ginger. Fairly hot." and was assured that they use no ghee in it, but vegetable oil instead. Also, there was no option on the menu for vegetable samosas in the starters list, but the garlic mushroom pakoras sounded interesting, so I asked about them as well - also cooked using veg oil, no ghee! Yay! So when I got to the restaurant, I already knew what I was going to have before I arrived. I'm starting to learn that as a vegan you need to plan ahead! : ) I also planned to keep it safe with plain boiled rice...
Before I went, I started to get slightly nervous, not about what anyone would say to me, I assumed since it was their friend's birthday they'd be focused on that rather than the veg*n at the table, but about what my reaction might be. Since becoming vegan, I haven't really been around people eating meat. The smell of C's cheese on toast makes me feel slightly ill, and he'd been really good about keeping meat away from me - on top of pizzas or in a takeaway, but never really in front of me... I didn't know how I would feel now, esp as an "out of the closet" vegan, so I was a little apprehensive but determined to have a great time!! (Sorry, no pics, my iPhone didn't do so well in the light of the restaurant - must get a wee digital to take pics of yummy vegan food!!)
So... we got to the restaurant and the drinks list was huge, I wasn't sure if their wines were vegan, but I know spirits are so I went for a Pimms and lemonade. I needn't have worried about my veganism making me stand out, no one forgot my drinks order! : ) I guess I'm just not ready to let summer go just yet! Anyway, they came round with poppadoms which I'm pretty sure are vegan - and dips (onion salad, mango chutney and lime pickle) I had the onion salad and mango chutney "usually fruit, vinegar and sugar" - gained from wiki here but left the lime pickle. The dips didn't come in very big portions considering there were a few of us sharing each plate, but the poppadoms were good. Our starters came fairly quickly - I had the garlic mushroom pakora which were lovely and my neighbour had the vegetable pakora, so we swapped one - both were delish, just wish there were more, and some of mine were pretty small... The channa puri that someone at the table got - puri bread with a chickpea sauce looked lovely, so next time I will definitely ask about that!
It took a long time to serve us our mains, but I guess that's what happens when they have to get 18 portions of main course and rice out at the same time. People in smaller groups were getting served much more quickly and also, we took up nearly all of the restaurant, so it's understandable. My sabzi jhalfrezie came out in a fairly large bowl - there were plate warmers on the table to sit them on - but my rice came in a small shallow bowl, it was the same for everyone. The menu claimed it was "fairly hot" but in actuality burned my mouth off - by this point I was on Cobra beer (vegan!) but Kingfisher isn't so beware(!) and so I could cool my mouth a little. It wasn't just me surprised by the heat of the meal, C ordered a medium dish as did others and were surprised by HOW hot and chilly-y it was. We're not sure if it's because it's Bangladeshi cuisine and therefore is hotter in general or not, but expect hotter food if you go. The curry itself was delicious and I ordered a side dish of Dal Tarka - a lentil dish which helped cool my mouth a bit as well. I also had some peshwari naan assuming that naan would be vegan - because of the coconut it helped cool my mouth immediately and was lovely and sweet. Unfortunately I've discovered since coming home that naan ISN'T vegan and now feel kinda guilty for eating it without being sure and not doing my research even more carefully. "Milk or yoghurt may also be used to give greater volume and thickness to the naan. Typically, the naan will be served hot and brushed with ghee or butter. " (yuk!) - wiki. We didn't have desert, so I can't comment on that side of the menu.
Overall, I'd give -
Service 3 out of 5 - the staff were friendly and attentive, and dealt with a big crowd well, but there was a really long wait between starter and main, however if we were in a smaller group my mark would probably be 4 or 5...
Food (taste/presentation) 3 out of 5 - It was delicious curry but (and I know it's not their fault) many of us misjudged our order based on their menu suggestions, which let them down a bit, and while my starter of garlic mushroom pakora (and my neighbour's veg pakora that we swapped) was yummy, there wasn't much of it, and a weak wee salad plonked on the side of the plate.
Vegan Options - 2 out of 5 - I didn't ask about the channa puri or the vegetable puri on the starters list which may well be vegan,but there wasn't even an option for veg samosas which seemed unusual. Also in most Indian restaurants there is an option for a vegetable version of their most popular curries (e.g. Bhuna or Madras) and in this restaurant there weren't. Also a lot of the vegetarian specific curries had yoghurt or cheese in, so I wasn't terribly impressed with that either. The only rice that I knew was vegan was the plain boiled rice and on the bread selection, possibly puri, but again I didn't ask (could be cooked in ghee or oil - not sure so ask!)
Value for Money - Drinks - 2 out of 5 - they have a wide selection, but their price for a beer is £5 a bottle! Quite insane considering it's £3 at the pub next door - quite expensive
Food - 4 out of 5 - small rice bowls, and small portions of dip for poppadoms (complimentary so I can't be too harsh) and small pakora portion for starters, but overall great!
I would go again, but I'd order a "medium" dish or ask them to make the jhalfrezie a bit milder - there were whole unseeded chillis in there! And I'd call and ask about the puri starters too, the chickpea or channa puri looked really delish! : ) The restaurant is easy to find, just around the corner from Haymarket Station in Edinburgh and near to the Haymarket pub, which is quite a nice place for a drink!
Peace and Love
C
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