When Cilantro opened its door in Leith a few months ago, it promised to deliver an authenic Indian dining experience with a variety of dishes from Bangladesh and India. They promised spice and told us every dish would take time to cook as each dish is prepared individually.

They were correct!

REVIEW OF CILANTRO, INDIAN RESTAURANT, EDINBURGH

Cilantro is located on Albert street, Leith Walk and has a sister restaurant, Bo’ness Spice in Bo’ness. (Read my review here). The food at Bo’ness Spice is a reflection of what they offer here with the food being equally as nice.

Cilantro is a boutique Indian restaurant with seating for around 25 covers and has very friendly staff on hand to help guide you through the plethora of dishes. Most dishes can be made milder or hotter to accommodate your spice palate. You just have to ask.

They also have quite an extensive range of vegetarian dishes available too!

As always we have to have popadoms (£0.95) and a tray of mango chutney, onion salad and mixed pickle (£0.95 each). So good and very crispy. The perfect munch n crunch whilst trying to decide what to order.

There’s the Classic’s, Tandoori, Biryani, Balti, Sides, Vegetarian and breads to choose from.

I love lamb or chicken in a curry and I have to say it really took me ages to make a decision, with me changing my mind several times too.

The King Prawn on Puri (£8.25) as a starter was tantalising my tastebuds and we both fancied the Samosa (£5.95)

Starters

In the end we settled on the Assorted Kebab (£7.25) of lamb tikka, chicken tikka and vegetable pakora and the Onion Bhaji (£5.95).

The assorted kebab meat was all very nice, well spiced but not hot and quite succulent and tender. The Onion Bhaji however knocked the starters out the ball park. Gosh this was superb! The onions had caramelised and were slightly sweet, and although they had been deep fried they were at all greasy. This is 100% full of flavour.

Mains

So many lip-smackingly delicious sounding dishes available here. From Bhuna’s to Rogan Josh; from Tandoori to Dhansak - including lamb, beef, chicken, prawn and vegetables. It’s all here - you just have to make a decision. Thankfully the staff are patient and also very helpful in giving advice on the spice levels.

For mains we tried the Badami Korma with almonds and coconut (£10.95) and the Murgh Mango with mango, fresh coriander and garlic (£11.95). I love fruit in stews/curries so the Murgh Mango was my choice. I would normally go for Kashmiri with lychees but I decided to change it up.

Although both dishes were on the mild side, the Murgh was slightly spicier than the Korma. The spices in both with subtle and soft and just downright bloody lovely when scooped up with the Peshwari Naan (£4.25) and Pilau Rice (£3.95).

I did particularly love the Korma and would most definitely order this again. The flavours had layers of taste with none of the ingredients fighting for first place. They all worked so well in this rich creamy decadent Korma Curry.

I highly recommend Cilantro. The food is good honest Indian fare that’s had the time to cook properly. Cilantro are also available for take-away.

I do love a bit of Coriander! (I didn’t make a mistake there. Cilantro is American for Coriander).

Things to note:

• They do cater for Vegetarians

• The restaurant is not dog friendly

• Its Disabled Accessible. Entrance is level off Leith Walk and the W/C in on the ground floor although the amount of space inside is quite tight and there might not be enough room for a wheelchair - but worth asking.

Cilantro, 4 Albert Place, Leith EH7 5HN. www.cilantrorestaurant.co.uk

My Spoon Award : Gold Spoon 9/10

I was invited by Cilantro to review their menu. Food and drink were complimentary but the views are very much my own.