Edinburgh restaurants: Chaakoo Bombay Café opens in Edinburgh's Lothian Road serving Indo-Iranian street food

The restaurant chain is popular with locals in nearby Glasgow, where it has two locations

Edinburgh foodies rejoice! Popular Glasgow eatery Chaakoo Bombay Café has thrown open the doors to its first restaurant in Scotland’s capital city.

Situated on Lothian Road, our very own Chaakoo Bombay Café will be dishing up an authentic fusion of flavours inspired by Mumbai and Iranian cuisine serving street food and small plates

The Indo-Iranian street food restaurant opened on Glasgow’s St Vincent Street in 2016, and after a successful three years, its second premises in 2019 in Glasgow’s West End..

Already a firm favourite with diners in Glasgow, where it has two venues, Chaakoo Bombay Café has now opened its doors in Edinburgh's Lothian Road.

On opening its doors in Edinburgh, Operations Manager Iain Gallie said: “We’ve had a brilliant response from locals about Chaakoo coming to Edinburgh, and we’re buzzing to bring our unique and authentic offering to Lothian Road.

“There’s already an amazing collection of Indian and Iranian restaurants in Edinburgh. We’re thrilled to be joining them – and adding our unique offering to the scene.”

With dishes like a Smoked Chicken Tikka Kebab, Daal Makhani and Kerala Monkfish available, diners can expect an authentic experience from the bustling atmosphere to the dynamic flavours.

Popular plates include Keema Matar – a dish of minced lamb simmered with garden peas, garlic and ground spices and the fan favourite, Butter Chicken.

Diners can expect an authentic experience from the bustling atmosphere to the dynamic flavours.

Head Chef Rohit Benjwal, said: “We pride ourselves on the authenticity of our street dishes. Everything is made fresh in batches from scratch, and our Head Chef Mani has worked all over the world and draws flavour inspiration from his travels that customers can taste in our dishes.”

The interiors harken back to the original bustling Irani cafes, set up by Iranian and Persian immigrants who came to India in the 19th century. These cafes were popular for Irani chai tea and a melting pot menu of classic Iranian grill dishes and classic Bombay (now Mumbai) dishes alike.

Chaakoo is the newest addition to Lothian Road’s thriving food and drink scene, which has become a popular foodie hotspot in recent years.

Chaakoo Edinburgh is also open for takeaway, via www.chaakoo.co.uk.

Take a look through our photo gallery for a first look inside Edinburgh’s newest restaurant.