| invited for review* |

We recently had a baby free date night at Voujon, just a little further past the main stretch of restaurants on Newington Road, the extra few yards are worth the effort for a classic Indian and Bengali restaurant with stiff white linens, smartly dressed waiting staff and expertly spiced dishes.

They were recently nominated in the 2019 Scottish Curry Awards and have previously been finalists.

It was quite quiet when we went on a Friday evening, we shared some poppadums with relishes and chutneys while we waited for our starters. My boyfriend was a little disappointed not to find any interesting IPAs on the drinks menu but settled for a Cobra.

After speaking to the manager about dairy free dishes, I decided to go for Murgh Chatt to start and king prawn bhindi curry for my main course.

Served as a mini curry, with a side salad, the tender pieces of chicken were flavoursome in a lightly spiced sauce with a hint of sourness. Fresh coriander finished the dish.

My boyfriend went for the crème de la crème of the starters – the assorted Voujon kebabs. At £5.75 this was excellent value, with little tasters the chicken and lamb kebabs as well as an onion bhaji and chicken pakora – he loved it all.

Main courses arrived shortly after and I was very pleasantly surprised with my king prawn dish. The Parsi gravy was just the right level of heat (I’d say a cosy medium) and felt fresh and light. The king prawns were all succulent and there was a generous helping of them while the ochra that was tossed through highlighted the freshness, it still had a lovely bite to it.

The lamb karahi my boyfriend went for had a deep warmth with tender pieces of lamb and caramelised onions in a rich sauce made with peppers, tomatoes, chilli, garlic and ginger. It was light on all these notes with none holding court over any of the others but just balanced in harmony with each other.

I’d like to say we managed pudding…but we didn’t. We were so full, neither of us could even contemplate another course!

Voujon have been serving up their customers with Indian and Bengali cuisine since 2005, so they’ve been around the block a few times and know their stuff. This is evident in the quality of their cooking and by the very fact that they’re still here in 2019 in the notoriously tough food industry.

Voujon translates as “invitation to dine” and you certainly feel welcome when dining there.

We were invited to review (just like their very name suggests!), but the prices are very reasonable with the starters averaging around £6 and main courses at £11. They also offer takeaways if you’d rather enjoy their food from the comfort of your own home!

Voujon, 107 Newington Road, Edinburgh

* This meal was complementary for the purposes of a review but all opinions are my own – as always!