Starting its life in Glasgow, Mother India Café opened with the aim of bringing authentic, home-cooked Indian cuisine to a Scottish audience at a reasonable price.
Since its first opening in 1990, it became so popular it decided to open its doors in Scotland’s capital city in 2008 and has been a staple Indian restaurant ever since.
Operating as both an eat-in and takeaway restaurant, the menu features a host of India dishes we have all come to love, as well as some exciting dishes that aren’t as popular when it comes to mainstream Indian food, but are still well worth a try.
Featuring the likes of butter chicken, lamb saag, a selection of biryani’s and some fusion dishes such as chilli fish cakes and smoked aubergine with sweet potatoes and green beans, you have the option to fully indulge or enjoy a healthy and hearty meal.
Located close to Edinburgh Old Town, and the university, you’ll find a mixture of tourists and locals a like, giving this restaurant a constant and pleasant buzz.
At first glance it may not look like your average Indian restaurant with its dark wood furnishings; bright green tube style tiles making it look more like a gastro pub, but the subtle hints of Indian style wallpaper and framed pictures highlighting its Indian heritage add to the experience while still acknowledging its location.
If you don’t fancy dining in, the takeaway menu features a number of house specialities including chicken and basil curry, sea food biryani and king prawn saag alongside either rice, pitta bread or chapati’s.
They even have a tapas style menu meaning you can try a range of different dishes shared around the table, although we won’t judge if you want your favourite dish all to yourself.
If there is a dish you just can’t get enough of the restaurants founder, Monir Mohammed also has a book recounting his personal stories from India as well as some recipes for dishes from the restaurant.