Britannia Spice is located in Leith, convenient for the Royal Yacht Britannia (sightseeing), Ocean Terminal (shopping) and Scottish Executive (working), and served by frequent buses from Edinburgh city centre. It is a critically-acclaimed restaurant, offering multi-ethnic cuisine – Indian, Bangladeshi, Nepali, and Thai menus. Britannia Spice’s most recent award was at the British Curry Awards ceremony in September last year, when it won Best Restaurant in Scotland; again!
The walls are light in colour and the miniature models of sails which would have adorned vessels from many years ago, add to the sea faring theme, as do the all white uniforms, with gold crests on the shoulders, of the restaurant staff. In terms of atmosphere, it was a little subdued, when I visited, but then it was a Monday evening. My wife and I have been there previously, on a Saturday evening, when there was not a spare table to be had. The atmosphere that evening was superb.
My wife and I appeared 5 or so minutes early for our 8 o’clock booking. However, it this did not concern our welcoming waiter, as we were shown to our tables with a warming smile. We were given plenty of time to decide on our drinks, and a further few minutes to contemplate our choice of food for the evening.
To begin our evening we had two popadoms with a selection of chutneys. Excellent.
When it came to ordering our starter and main course, we were on the verge of ordering two garlic naan breads and 2 pilau rice, when the waiter politely stepped in and suggested one of each would be ample for both of us to share. He was right. Now that’s what I call good customer service!
Our starters, Prawn Cocktail (£4.75), and Assorted Kebab (£4.95) arrived in quick time. Both were beautifully presented and of a very high standard.
Our main course also arrived in good time. My wife chose the Amer Murgh dish (£8.55), which consisted of delightfully tender pieces of chicken cooked with mango pulp, cream and selected spices in a mild sauce. She doesn’t often finish her plate, but she certainly did this evening, a clear mark of approval!
I chose a Bangladeshi Special Chicken (£11.95), diced king prawn wrapped in thin filleted chicken and cooked in a rich and mild sauce. This dish too was very enjoyable. The chicken was tender and the wonderful taste of prawn shone through. The sauce was also of the quality you would expect from such an exquisite restaurant.
I was the only one with any room left for sweet, and chose good old traditional vanilla ice cream. But hold on, had I wanted to, Britannia Spice even have a take on that, Indian ice cream!
In summary, Britannia Spice offers everything, excellent surroundings and atmosphere, superb customer service, and food of the highest quality. If you enjoy curry, you’ll love Britannia Spice!
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Britannia Spice at the nearby Ocean Terminal shopping centre, my daughter and I decided this was definitely the moment for a curry. As my mother and I are both pretty indecisive people when it comes to choosing anything from a menu that has more than one thing on it, the helpful waiter chap recommended quite a few dishes for us. We went for the Murgh Masallam and actually, I think the other dish was a good old Tikka Masala, which I know is a pretty unadventurous dish to go for, but it tasted so good. Add some garlic nan bread and pilau rice, and you have yourself one awesome meal. Aptly, being near the water and the Royal Yacht Britania, the restaurant’s interior is very nautical, with a lot of blue and sail decoration on the go, so you do feel like you could be eating in someone’s large yacht. I should also add that not only does Britannia Spice offer Indian food, it also has a range of Bangladeshi, Nepali and Thai cuisine on the menu.