Freshly opened on St Mary’s Street, Vinyasa is a smart new Indian, serving classic Bangladeshi and Indian fare. MJ had spotted it a few months back when they first had their “coming soon” signs up, and I’d been plotting a visit since it opened in January.
Smart interior
I was joined today by Gary, who knows a thing or two about Indian food from regular visits he used to make to Goa. He famously joined us on our first visit to Mithas.
They’ve definitely put in some worthwhile time and effort on the decor of the place. It has a stylish and modern feel, with its glass front allowing lots of natural light to flood in.
Pakora
The waiting staff showed us to our table, promptly brought menus, and took our drinks order. Throughout service they handled things with a very calm assurance, keeping things moving along nicely, as well as being full of friendly banter.
From their lunch menu, which has £6.50 or £7.50 options, Gary opted for the chicken kebab then lamb jalfrezi, while I chose the vegetable pakora then lamb bhuna. We shared accompanying rice and naan.
Chicken kebab
As we sipped on cool lager, our starters arrived, looking very neat. My pakora looked of the crisp and crunchy variety, while Gary’s kebab looked really good, with big chunks of chicken. The pakora tasted as good as they looked, with excellent lightness. The accompanying condiments, particularly the tamarind sauce, were very good, too, and the salad fresh.
Main courses were similarly enjoyable. I think Gary’s jalfrezi, with its theatrically sizzling entrance, was the marginally better dish, but I was very happy with my bhuna. The naan was excellent.
Jalfrezi
Once we’d chomped our way through main courses, which were of really well-judged portion size, we rounded things out with very good filter coffee.
So overall, Vinyasa was extremely impressive. We have a really good range of Indian restaurants in Edinburgh, and this fits in nicely towards the top end of that happy band. I strongly urge you to pay it a visit, at your earliest convenience. Rather excitingly, they do takeaway, also, so if you can’t make it along to the restaurant, just lift the phone, or order online, to sample their delights.
Scores
Blythe scores Vinyasa
4/5 for food
4/5 for presentation
4/5 for setting
4/5 for service
giving an overall 16/20
Today’s questers were: Gary, Blythe
We ate: chicken kebab, vegetable pakora, lamb jafrezi, lamb bhuna, rice, naan
We drank: lager, coffee
We wore: drinking trousers
Total bill: c.£25
