MJ’s Verdict
After a fun-filled Thursday evening that saw Blythe and I leaving our respective jobs and heading to Tea at 94 to join a book group followed by a dash down to Leith’s Sofi, we hadn’t had time for dinner and MJ + no food + wine = a heavily tipsy MJ. So with this in mind we left Sofi’s and the wonderful freelancer’s group and went towards one of or favourite haunts: Domenico’s. But, alas, it was not to be, as they were closed.

Instead, we headed around the corner to the Indian restaurant Guchhi’s. We were immediately seated at the front of the restaurant, which was nicely decorated and seemed to be well lit, without that phosphorescent feel of bad lighting, which was a nice touch.

After looking at the menu and not really looking at it, I decided that water was the drink of choice. After we ordered drinks, we made the choice to ordered  a few of their tapas dishes.

I opted for the spiced haddock and the Saag Murg, and we got a naan for us to share.

The orders arrived quickly and the first thing that should be noted by all restaurants that serve tapas: they do proper portion sizes at Guchhi, and I felt like I was getting my money’s worth from all the dishes.

Spiced Haddock

I first tucked into the spiced haddock, which was nicely seasoned and served with a sweet sauce on the side.  The fish as well cooked and the spicing was good, but didn’t overwhelm me with its flavour, but the sauce that went with it was interesting and added a different element to the flaky fish. Next up was the Saag Murg, or chicken saag, really. It was tasty. The combination of greens and moist, well cooked chunks of chicken breast were well balanced and danced along my tongue. It was my favourite dish by far.

The Lamb was good too. The strong flavours of the lamb came through the sauce and complimented it well. Also, the naan was large and well made, none of the doughy-over-the-top flop that you get some places that have been slathered with so much ghee as to render them inedible without a heart surgeon by your side. This naan was ideal.

Naan

I did give the mussels a go, but truth be told, I really didn’t like these. The mussel flavour was overpowering and I ate one, but couldn’t even attempt another (Blythe was delighted, as he got more). It was too intense, and I am a big fan of mussels.

Overall, my experience at Guchhi was nice. The service was great and the food was generally up to a pretty good standard. I’d happily go back at some point to try some of their main dishes and see how they fare.

Shorba

Blythe’s Verdict
Some days we are busy and today was one of those days. Between the two of us, we ran 15km, walked 10km, did two full days of work, attended a book group (both of us), reviewed a French restaurant, communed with our Freelance Friday chums (both of us), and popped in to Teuchters.

We had worked up a little appetite with all of this activity, which led to a stop at Guchhi, an Indian specialising in tapas dishes, on Commercial Street.

It’s a place that’s been on our list for a wee while, so when the opportunity presented itself for a visit, I was pleased to seize the chance.

The welcome was warm, and I was rather impressed with the decor of the place. We were given the option to sit in spacious back, but the prospect of sitting next to the window-guarding tiger was too much to pass up.

Lamb Karahi

We were given further options with respect to the menu. We could have opted for the full a la carte, but instead focussed on the tapas selection, not least because this seemed to be the speciality on which the place was selling itself.

Shorba means soup, so I ordered some of that. We ordered four dishes to share, a lamb kerahi, mussels, spiced haddock, and chicken saag, then added a plain naan for good measure.

Dishes arrived at a good lick, and looked generous in their portion sizes. My immediate attention was to the spiced lentil soup. It had good heat and a richly warming breadth of spicing. I was very happy with it.

mussels

The spiced haddock was not unlike fish pakora, but baked rather than deep fried. The fish was firm but soft, and it tasted good.

We had a little difference of opinion over the mussels. MJ found the sauce too strong, with a “muddy” taste from the mussel liquer. I got what she meant, but I thought the dish all the better for the intense mussel flavour.

We were in complete agreement on the lamb and chicken dishes, though. They were both lovely, with the meats beautifully cooked and the sauces full of palette pleasing spice.  MJ favoured the saag murg while I favoured the lamb, but we agreed that together they were the stars of the show.

Saag Murg

So overall, Guchhi was really rather good, offering satisfying dishes at a very reasonable cost. It’s a great late place, given that it serves until 2am, so I can imagine it’s somewhere we may well visit again for late evening nibbles.

Scores
Blythe scores Guchhi:
4/5 for food
3.5/5 for presentation
4/5 for service
4/5 for setting
giving an overall 15.5/20

MJ scores Guchhi:
4/5 for food
3.5/5 for presentation
4/5 for service
4/5 for setting
giving an overall 15.5/20

Today’s questers were: Miriam, Blythe

We ate: shorba, chicken saag, lamb kerahi, spiced haddock, mussels

We drank: water, espresso, lager

We wore: gold tie, red jacket

Total bill: c.£30