Voujon – Bengali and Indian dining in Newington

The last time we went to an Indian restaurant was Itihaas in Dalkeith. There I had a lovely lamb dish that I’d never seen before: lamb shatkora. Shatkora are Bengali citrus fruits with a strong, limey, bitter flavour. They are wonderful in savoury dishes and I was very excited to find shatkora on the menu of Voujon when we went there last week.

Voujon is a restaurant in Newington that specialises in Indian and Bengali food. The interior is fresh and open, with large windows at the front. We arrived early and had time for a gin and tonic, popadoms and pickles while we made our selection from the menu.

Starters

Sardine bhorta: tasty and comforting.

Sardine bhorta: tasty and comforting.

My starter was sardine bhorta, a fabulously flavoursome dish that I’d like to make at home. Sardines, cooked with tomatoes and spices, into almost a paste, it went beautifully with puri and would be great on sourdough on a Sunday morning. It was the kind of dish I immediately want to copy. It looked simple – although the spice mix was complex – and comforting. The picture doesn’t make it justice: yes, it was brown in colour, but it looked glorious against the cream-coloured bread.

C. started wit the voll puri, spiced chickpeas and potatoes, served with a fluffy puri. It was aromatic rather than hot, with a delicate sweetness. The puri was delicious, as it should be.

Voll puri: aromatic chickpeas on puffy bread

Voll puri: aromatic chickpeas on puffy bread

Mains

Lamb shatkora gets its citrussy hit from a Bengali fruit

Lamb shatkora gets its citrussy hit from a Bengali fruit

The lamb shatkora was very good. At Voujon they cut the citrus fruits into small pieces so you get regular little bursts of citrus flavour. It works well with the lamb and the almost smoky character of the sauce. There was a generous amount of tender lamb. We had rice and plain naan with the mains although, as usual, I focused on the lamb and sauce.

C. had sabzi sarisa, vegetables with mustard and green herbs in a sauce. It’s a medium strength dish, so not too hot, and went particularly well with the naan. It was midweek, and C. and I hadn’t seen each other for a few days. It was lovely to catch up, exchange news and have good, tasty food in comfortable surroundings.

Impressions

Sabzi sarisa: vegetables in comfortable union with spices

Sabzi sarisa: vegetables in comfortable union with spices

The service is friendly and attentive, the menu varied between ‘classics’ and more unusual dishes. There are some specials that I’d love to try, for example the Kulji lamb, a butterflied leg of lamb that serves four people. It sounds yummy.

There’s a private room in the back for larger parties.

Voujon Bengali & Indian Restaurant

107 Newington Road, Edinburgh, EH9 1QW
Tel: 0131 667 5046
Contact form. (Give 24 hours notice.)

Last updated by at .

mm

About Caroline von Schmalensee

Cooking, eating and drinking is fun as well as necessary. I do food for fun and I write for a living. Good food makes the world a more delicious and satisfying place. Good writing, meanwhile, can make the world a less confusing place.

3 Comments

  1. Pingback: Voujon: An Indian Dining Stalwart | Edinburgh Foody

  2. Pingback: Voujon | Lunchquest Edinburgh

  3. Pingback: Weekly round up | 18 February 2013 | Edinblogs.net

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.