Kalpna

"The best vegetarian restaurant in Scotland"

Food

Service

Atmosphere

declared the Glasgow Herald. "The best Indian restaurant in Scotland" enthused the Edinburgh-based Scotsman newspaper. This was 20 years ago. At its peak Kalpna was brilliant. There are many Indian restaurants in Britain where apparent authenticity is everywhere except on your plate - but Kalpna wasn’t one of them. 

If fiery chilli was your thing, or piped music, or free poppadums you went to the ubiquitous  and unashamedly-named Taj Mahal. But you went to Kalpna to experience just how subtle Indian food could be. It’s rare for committed carnivores to make a detour to a vegetarian restaurant - but they went out of their way to eat at Kalpna. 

But Kalpna’s changed. It’s had a makeover and is under new management. Fine, as long as the food’s still great. But it isn’t. The thali was nothing special. I order it primarily for the mushrooms. But no mushrooms. The food is tepid, the rice overcooked, the dhal tasteless, the cauliflower crunchless. 

Kalpna means imagination - you’ll need it.