Vinyasa

My friends and I went to Vinyasa last night and based on the otherwise great reviews, it seems to have been a pretty off night for this place. My food, honestly, was excellent. However, the experience of eating at Vinyasa left much to be desired.
I have never experienced nuts in a tikka masala, and I said as much to a lady in our group who has an allergy. Shortly after receiving her meal, she began to feel the effects of what we think were hidden pine nuts, and had to take Benadryl and go home.
The bill was a disaster; the staff completely forgot a five pound note that we paid with and they refused to give change. It took 15 minutes and multiple trips up to the counter to sort out the bill. The staff continuously apologised because it was a ‘busy’ night; the restaurant was half full. Even if it had been completely booked, I don’t think that is an acceptable excuse for poor service and an accidental poisoning.
The food, while very good, was ruined by a completely unacceptable dining experience and we will not return.

Vinyasa is charming and elegant without being pretentious. Staff is friendly. But the food… the food… oh my, the food… some of the best indian food I have had… and I’ve had a lot. Full marks for Vinyasa.

We booked online and they provided us a 15% discount which was a welcome surprise! The atmosphere was pleasant and modern and the food was great as well.
On a Saturday around 1230pm they only had one other table, so reservations were not necessary. Not sure if they are much busier for dinner but as a result the service was good and the food came out quickly. We had some delicious curries which were rich and flavorful and had just the right amount of heat.
meat samosa
deep fried savoury pastries with minced lamb served with
a special sauce and accompanied with salad
garlic naan
bread stuffed with coriander and garlic cooked in our clay oven
tikka massalam with chicken
kebabs cooked in a mild flavoured sauce with herbs and spices
bhuna with chicken
traditional medium strength dish cooked with onions, herbs, tomatoes
and a variety of spices
tarka dhal
lentils served with a touch of garlic

the boyfriend and i were in need of dinner while on the southside of town the other week. since we hadn’t had a curry in ages, Vinyasa came to mind as i’d read a few reviews and thought it was about time to give it a try.
the restaurant is located on st mary’s street, so in a good location for tourists especially those just across the road in the travelodge. but it’s clear that this place isn’t just trying to attract the out of towners as the interior is very chic, with friendly waiting staff, and a good variation of curries on the menu. also the prices are pretty much the same as most other curry restaurants in town, so clearly not been hiked up for the tourist trade.
we were seated as soon as we arrived as the restaurant wasn’t too busy, but became busier as we ate our dinner. the menu has good variation, but not the overwhelming amount of options that some other restaurants may have. we opted to skip a starter and share some poppadums with a pickle tray instead. i ordered the chicken katmandu and the boyfriend went with a chicken jalfrezi.
our poppadums arrived quickly with the pickle tray and two cobra beers. i feel like it’s pretty hard to not make a good poppadum, so hard to comment on these. but the pickle tray had nice spicy onions, a tasty mango chutney, and my boyfriend confirmed that the lime pickle was also quite good.
our main dishes arrived fairly quickly, attributed to the restaurant not being too busy, and we soon had our chicken curries in front of us with pilau rice and a basket of garlic nan. now i like a bit of spice in my curry, but not so much that i can’t taste the flavour of the dish. i felt that the spice in my katmandu was judged very well, as it was warming but i could also taste the coriander, cinamonn, and other spices in it. the pilau rice made a good accompainment and the nan bread was garlicy and soft so very good for dipping in the curry. my boyfriend seemed equally pleased with his jalfrezi.
my only real grip with this place is that for two main dishes, a rice, a nan, some popppadums, and two beers the bill was £40 which seems a bit steep to me. the prices on the main dishes seemed reasonable (about £10 each) so it must have been the side dishes that added up so quickly! but the food was quite tasty and the service friendly so it’s hard to really fault them. it’s definitely good to know that this place open especially as it will come in handy when we’re needing a good feed before a festival night out!

The good people of Vinyasa looked after us very well and couldn’t have been more attentive. Menu suggestions were well judged and the food was excellent. They’re relatively new, but have created a lovely family run restaurant in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town. I had lamb, which I often do with Indian food, and it was lovely — tender and full of flavour.

Newly opened on St Mary’s Street, Vinyasa is a very smart Indian curry house. Their lunchtime menu, with £6.50 and £7.50 options, is excellent value. Everything about the first is extremely good, from the décor to the service to the food on offer. We’d recommend a visit, next time the curry mood takes you.
Overall, we said: «Vinyasa was extremely impressive. We have a really good range of Indian restaurants in Edinburgh, and this fits in nicely towards the top end of that happy band. I strongly urge you to pay it a visit, at your earliest convenience. Rather excitingly, they do takeaway, also, so if you can’t make it along to the restaurant, just lift the phone, or order online, to sample their delights.»