Chef Mandeep Saini, of Bruntsfield’s Bombay Bistro. is offering diners a different kind of Christmas menu from 12-24th December.
Saini has reimagined the flavours of Christmas through modern Indian cuisine. It’s a menu designed “for diners who want more than the standard seasonal roast, something full of unexpected flavour”.
At first glance, the limited-edition menu could go two ways. The purist may raise their eyebrows at the fusion of ingredients, whereas the experimentalist will be intrigued. Dishes include masala crab cakes with pickled veg and tandoori mayo, spiced herb-crusted lamb chops with coriander dip, garlic and chilli sprouts, honey chilli-glazed carrots and roasted coconut cabbage. Mains include roasted turkey in a makhani sauce, braised lamb shank with garlic-crushed potatoes, haddock loin served in a fragrant meen moilee sauce and a paneer pinwheel with butter masala. Desserts range from Christmas pudding with champagne sorbet to sticky toffee cheesecake and tablet ice cream, to carrot halwa served with gulab jamun.
Our main courses were something of a strategic decision: turkey because, well, it’s Christmas; it has to be done, and the paneer because – in my experience – it’s often underestimated, but when cooked well, is one of my favourites. Sure enough, the paneer masala shone: crumbed balls of cheese in a flavourful, creamy sauce. Chef Mandeep swore it was simple to make, and listening to the steps, I almost believed him…but ‘deceptively simple’ was what came to mind. The turkey – thickly carved slices – was perfectly cooked (we all know dry turkey is a common complaint at Christmas!) and the tomato-based sauce very subtle. If you’re a spice lover, you might find it too mild alongside the other dishes, but I suppose that’s the balance/gamble of a Indian-Christmas menu.
We ate the mains along with Brussels sprouts, potatoes, and naan. As with the starters, these dishes were very generous, so much so, I shamelessly took home the leftover turkey and paneer, which were enjoyed by my (usually suspicious of new restaurants) fifteen-year- old.
Too full to do justice to dessert, we tasted the champagne sorbet and toffee cheesecake, which were fine, but in all honestly, if we’d had room, we would have chosen traditional Indian sweets from the a la carte menu.
Originally from India, Mandeep Saini comes from The Gleneagles Hotel and The Berkeley in London. The Bombay Bistro has been open for two months in Bruntsfield, and on the basis of our visit, I’d say a very welcome addition. The setting and décor is elegant, the service very efficient and wonderfully friendly.
This is a restaurant I’m already looking forward to revisiting.
The full menu is £45 per person, but items are also individually priced.
The Bombay Bistro, 14-17 Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh.