Rivage

Nobody ever seems to have heard of Rivage and i don’t know why. We stumbled upon it by accident a few months ago and no Indian in Edinburgh has came close to it since. None of you Unilocalers have reviewed it, so let me reveal my secret gem!
One of the things i love about it is that it’s extremely consistent; both service and food are superb.
It’s BYOB which is great as Cornelius is just up the road and very well priced.
I must start with the spicy onions, mango chutney and a sort of tomatoey coriander sauce as we nibbled on our poppadoms and sampled the vino. All prepared freshly, you could sit and munch them all day. Best spicy onions in town!
I started with murgh pakora and found the chicken wonderfully moist (as always) and a light, crisp batter that had a wonderful aroma of spice to it.
Sarah and i swapped and i sampled her lamb ka samosa, which boasted superbly cooked filo parcels that had not a hint of grease on them. The Deccan-​style lamb was tasty and sang with mild spicing.
For main i had kareli gosht, which boasted beautifully tender lamb (shank) that just fell from the bone into a big hug (as Gregg would say) of a sauce. Again you could taste every note of the fresh ingredients and the slight crush of the onion brought texture to it.
Sarah always orders a half portion, which in all honesty, are extremely generous.
She opted for chicken angara, which again boasted supremely moist chicken and a wonderful sauce that was rich, well-​spiced and finger lickin’ good.
The rice was perfectly cooked too.
The service is always friendly, efficient and, more importantly, genuine and it’s great to have the theatre of the tandoor oven in the dining room.
For me, it’s a great menu and better than Mother India, which everyone seems to rave about. This came to about £23, which is superb value!
I have Indian relatives and i would not hesitate in taking them to Rivage — it’s a gem of an Indian restaurant.