Starters: £1.95-£3.35. Mains: £4.50-£7.50
From the outside, Kebab Mahal resembles little more than your average late night kebab and pizza takeaway. Indeed, you could be fooled into thinking that was still its primary function, which would explain the occasional gangly malnourished student turning up and, oblivious to the extensive menu, ordering doner meat and chips in a plastic carton.
But sit yourself down at one of the formica tables round back and prepare yourself for the finest curry experience in Edinburgh. It’s not for nothing that Kebab Mahal has won awards from such local luminaries as Irn Bru and Edinburgh Evening News for its curries. You could visit umpteen plusher Indian restaurants while paying double the amount you would here and yet the quality wouldn’t come close.
There are admittedly few surprises on the menu, but this is no matter as you’ll be eating traditional Indian-British food at its very best. The starters consist of various types of samosas, pakoras and bhajis. Particularly recommended are the fish pakoras, luscious goujons of haddock lightly coated in a spicy batter served, as all starters, with chilli and garlic sauces and accompanying side salad. At just over £3, that’s a pretty good meal in itself.
But the curries are the main event. It’s best not to dine alone at Kebab Mahal, just because you’ll want to try so much. The Glamorous Miss H and I choose three different main courses to share, all costing £4.75 each. They come with a mountainous plate of fluffy pilau rice to aid the mixing and matching.
Lamb tikka massala is a revelation compared to the usual bright orange slick one can receive. A delicately creamy sauce, deliciously fragrant, with perfectly cooked chunks of lamb. Miss H orders the chicken palak. It resembles a topiary of spinach studded with chicken pieces which just fall apart in the mouth. The lamb bhuna then seals the deal, a hot and spicy sauce, filled with peppers and chillies. The fact that all of these dishes cost pretty much the same as their ready meal supermarket equivalent is astonishing.
Kebab Mahal is a well-established Southside destination, and if you come here after 6pm it is very likely that you’ll have to join the queue for tables. But it’s more than worth it. The food really is outstanding, service is overwhelmingly friendly and there is generally a great atmosphere to the place, families being made very welcome. It’s a small unassuming treasure nestled comfortably within Edinburgh’s restaurant scene.