Shinwari Restaurant Reviews Summary

Food Quality

Pros:

• "Food tasted like home. It was cooked perfectly and mildly spiced."
• "We had dinner today - chicken biryani, nihari which was lamb curry, chapli Kebab and chicken burger for lil one .. excellent authentic food really tasty best we have come across in UK !!"
• "Absolute best Pakistani food I've had outside of Pakistan."
• "The chapli kebabs, kabuli pilau and chicken karhai in particular are excellent."
• "Very very good food a big variety of food.i really enjoyed in shinwari food."
• "The chicken karahi was absolutely magnificent and the chapli kebabs and the naans were the best I’ve ever had."
• "The food was absolutely amazing, especially the mixed grill and charsi lamb Karahi."

Cons:

• "They could do with an upgrade as they were rather old and run down."
• "Service was slow... First time around the experience was different and much better so might have just been an off day for them."
• "For the briyani it was really lack luster which ghee filled rice and hardly any chicken which seemed stale and old."
• "Although 20£ is a bit steep for one biryani, it was well worth it."
• "For the charsi karahi it was similar it was mainly bone and drenched in oil with ghee."
• "Food portions are smaller than said on the menu and food taste isn’t authentic Afghan."
• "The food doesn't represent real pashtun afghan and Pakistani food."

Service

Pros:

• "Service was amazing, wait staff were attentive and very accommodating."
• "Special thanks to Naveed as she accommodated us without reservations. Professional staff."
• "Whole staff is efficient. Just to mention a few staff members, Asad is a very energetic young chap who always bears a smile on his face."
• "The service was good with a team of attentive and knowledgeable staff who were passionate."
• "The staff were really nice and the restaurant has a welcoming, family friendly atmosphere."
• "Staff were incredibly friendly and helpful."
• "The owner personally came over to ask if we needed anything."

Cons:

• "The whole atmosphere inside the restaurant was sort of terrifying with all the staffs staring at us and totally unpleasant."
• "He was being so rude and then asked me to leave the place. I was really disappointed."
• "While we were leaving one of the waiter came (who was Smoking outside the restaurant) and asked me what we are doing in rude manner."
• "The waiter kept annoying us about a survey which we didn't agree to."
• "I ordered chapal kebab with nan portions for my family in ramzan and they were fine. Today again I ordered and instead of lamb there were chicken kebabs that were half cooked."
• "We couldn’t wait for longer so left the place. Actually no one asked us why we are leaving or we had food?"
• "I have to this place twice. Each time of them I like the food which I ordered. However, I don't like the what the waiter did. He took my phone and wrote a review without any permission from me."

Value

Pros:

• "Kept the bill down though, total cost was incredibly low."
• "For 10£ if was a very much worth it!"
• "Let’s not forget about the massive portions and the amazing prices."
• "Best meal we’ve had in Edinburgh."
• "The portions are huge so we ended up ordering too much food but worked out well as we all got a doggy bag to take home."
• "We had large portions of amazing dishes for a good price."
• "Prices are very reasonable for the quality of food and service."

Cons:

• "They have charged £10 extra for under 2 years old baby."
• "We placed our mixed grill and it was mentioned the mixed grill comes with rice or naan, we chose naan but the guy said it was printed wrong and doesn’t come with anything."
• "Biryanis was 10$. Quite disappointing 1/5."
• "But the karahi was too heavy for us and the quantity was little, we ordered the 0.5kg but because it’s with bone the meat was not a lot."
• "Charged 1.50£ for packing for left overs!!!"
• "The final bill was overcharged by an extra 1 person."
• "One last bit they informed me about the amount of the bill but an itemization was incorrect."

Ambiance

Pros:

• "Restaurant is lovely, the family have spent time and effort making it look great and comfortable."
• "The restaurant is super clean, spacious and the set up is just great."
• "Love the atmosphere..... Prices was very low compared to others..... Authentic taste of Pakistan..... Highly recommend.... 💓"
• "The ambiance of the restaurant was awesome."
• "The restaurant is big and spacious and looks fantastic!"
• "EXCEPTIONAL! From the moment we walked in, we felt like part of the family."
• "The food was delicious and complex rather than the one dimensional flavours you find in a lot of South Asian restaurants in the west."

Cons:

• "The music was quite loud which was a bit stressful for my hard of hearing mum and autistic kid."
• "Not authentic Northern Pakistani/Afghan food."
• "Environment is like a Pakistani wedding reception with ancient English building combination."
• "Toilets need upgrade asap as felt like public toilets."
• "I also found it rather unhygienic with the toilet paper on the ground."
• "Parking can be a bit of an issue because of the restaurant's close vicinity to the Edinburgh Castle."
• "It was a second time visit, wasn't great unfortunately, the food was a bit bland and service was slow."