ARTICLES: KALPNA RESTAURANT, EDINBURGH

May 2006

© MARK FISHER published in The Herald

EATING OUT

VEGETARIAN

KALPNA

2-3 St Patrick Square, Edinburgh

0131 667 9890

Style: Unpretentious

Food: Indian veggie

Dinner: £25 for thaali and wine

Wheelchair access: No

Phew! No sooner have we chomped our way through National Doughnut Week (motto: "everyone deserves a treat") than it's time to break out the mung beans for National Vegetarian Week (motto: "it's nothing to be scared of"). How do they expect us to keep up?

Next year, they should ditch their rivalry and combine the two events. Think of the benefits. A joint National Vegetarian Doughnut Week would stress the fun aspects of a meat-free lifestyle - "Why not try an éclair with your nut roast?" - as well as showing deep-fat baking in a healthy new light. Probably.

It might even put an end to our neurotic insistence on categorising food as either a treat or something to be scared of. Does it have to be either? What messed-up place have we reached where it's easier to sell high-fat confectionary than the stuff that'll keep us alive?

So lick the sugar off your lips and prepare to look the scary world of vegetarianism in the face. It's only for a week (May 22-28) and, if it's true what the doughnut people say and everyone really does deserve a treat, then a night at the Kalpna is one of the best you can give yourself.

Like the nearby Ann Purna, this unassuming Edinburgh restaurant usually gets listed in the Indian section of food guides. It's a shame if it means vegetarians sometimes overlook it, but good if committed carnivores drift in unawares. They won't be scared and they won't be disappointed.

Aesthetically it's not much cop. With its white tiled ceiling and red lino floor, it has all the ambience of a newsagent, albeit one with striking black-and-white photographs of India on the wall. The café-style tables don't help, but the atmosphere is so relaxed it hardly matters. The lack of anything fancy is consistent with the down-to-earth attitude of the place. This is honest Indian food as it is eaten: not for a treat but as a part of everyday life.

If a treat is what you're after then choose from one of the four thaalis on offer. Rather than settle on a single meal, you get a selection of dishes served in small bowls on a large metal tray. Don't be fooled by the small portions: they're deceptively filling.

I had the South Indian thaali (£12.95), my partner the more extensive raj bhog (£16.25) served on an appropriately regal tray. Both include starters, pudding and, in the centre of the tray, a portion of rice - mine covered with a plain dosa and looking like a tepee. It makes for an interesting and varied meal as you go from sumbhar (a light lentil soup) to yoghurt to vegetable dish or, on the raj bhog, mushroom curry, daal and roasted aubergine.

There's also a vegan thaali and, of course, all the regular starters, main courses and breads you'd expect.

To keep in with the spirit of things, I ordered a bottle of Indian wine - a sauvignon blanc from Grover Vineyards in Bangalore. Was it just me or could I really taste the gooseberry aromas and hints of guava on the palate? I like to think I could and, certainly, it was packed with flavour and a fair match for the intensity of the food, which was spicy without being overly hot.

After polishing that lot off there was simply no room for doughnuts. Maybe next year.

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