Tony Singh’s Roadtrip

August in Edinburgh wouldn’t be complete without Tony Singh popping up somewhere unlikely. Even by his own zany standards, the hotel restaurant of the Apex Hotel in the Grassmarket is decidedly unorthodox. We gave it a sunny lunchtime visit to check things out.

I had an impression that this would be just a few dishes for light bites and takeaway, but this is essentially a full-blown restaurant menu.

Showcasing his patented blend of Indian and world cuisines with a Scottish spin, this certainly wins points for diverse creativity.

I was joined today by a new quester, Richard, who amongst many other positive attributes is one of the few people that knows the identity of Our Beer Man. Richard wore a very smartly striped tie, while I was more casual in linen.

The staff at the Apex were clearly super excited to have the great Tony at the kitchen helm for the month. Their enthusiasm was quite infectious.

From the broad menu, we chose to share a portion of haggis pakora (£6.50), then follow with a kimchi burrito (£9.50) and the curry of the day (£9.50), which was beef and potato.

The style is that dishes arrive as they’re ready, but in our case this manifested in pretty much everything arriving in a oner.

I had a little bite of Richard’s haddock filled burrito, which was tasty, but mainly concentrated on the curry and pakora.

Replete with whole spices, the curry was very good. Accompaniments ranged from chutney to poppadom to simple rice. It was a highly enjoyable dish.

The pakora were a notch better with signature sauces to accompany them. They were decidedly moreish.

So overall, it was an extremely pleasant lunchtime visit to the Apex to sample Tony Singh’s fare. Running throughout the month of August, from noon to midnight, it’s definitely a stop off you should make on your Festival travels.