As is often the case with me, I had a good long wander about the place before settling upon a dining venue. In the end I opted for a restaurant near to my home in the shape of the Verandah, a popular Haymarket Indian.

Exterior

They’d recently been noted in Pat Chapman’s Cobra Good Curry Guide 2013 as serving the best curry in Scotland, so I was intrigued to try out their wares.

It’s fair to say that the place is showing signs of wear, with the seat covers in desperate need of a refresh, but it’s a reasonably smart room, with space for around 40 diners. Service was attentive, but there was a lot of hovering, which was off-putting at times.

Poppadoms

Their menu covered all the usual bases. My eye was caught by the thali options so I settled upon the mixed selection, which comprised chick pea, chicken, lamb and prawns dishes accompanied with rice and chapati. I started with some poppadoms and a pickle tray.

The poppadoms were good and the lime pickle tasty. Sadly the main course didn’t match up. The sauce for the chicken was overly sweet and the prawns were overcooked to the point of being like chewing a rubber bullet. The chick pea dish was good and the lamb had good flavour, but everything was a notch below where you would want it to be, in terms of quality.

Thali

So overall, the Verandah was pretty disappointing. It has been plying its trade for over 50 years so clearly holds a place in many people’s estimation, but it’s not somewhere I’ll be planning a repeat visit and wouldn’t advocate it to you, either.

Scores
Blythe scores the Verandah
2.5/5 for food
2.5/5 for presentation
2.5/5 for setting
2.5/5 for service
giving an overall 10/20

I ate: poppadoms, mixed thali (king prawn pathia, chicken tikka, lamb rogan josh, channa massalam, chapati, rice)

I drank: lager

I wore: lilac shirt

Total bill: £26.60