ROTI is located in a most unlikely place for a quality restaurant, down Rose Street Lane backing onto George Street. The street has no other venues open except a couple of saunas. Compared to Tony Singh’s first venture, Oloroso, this joint seems more down-to-earth and from this you feel the emphasis is more on the cuisine than décor.

The chef at ROTI is Segnal, he served his time under Tony at Oloroso which is a mere stone’s throw away to the west. Tony of course is a former Chef of the Year in Scotland and ROTI also has won awards, becoming the List magazine’s best newcomer for 2006.

The atmosphere reminded me of some bijou joint in Greenwich Village or one of the Japanese restaurants I used to visit in Wan Chai. Plenty of traditional wooden fretwork reminds you that the cuisine is Indian and the rich saffron colour of the entry vestibule links us back to the focal wall at Oloroso. The interiors were designed by Tony himself and they are understated, the colour and focus coming from a series of intricate necklaces encased on the wall above each table, and from the glass-topped wooden Indian tables.

We arrived around 6pm and the place was quiet. By the time we left however things had picked up and the place had a buzz about it, not bad for midweek at a back street location. Starting with two sauces and caramelised red onions and what the waitress termed Indian crackers we checked out the menu. The amount of choices was just right, not the half century of choices at a certain restaurant in Dirleton! Starters range in price from £4.50 to £8.00 with mains ranging from £12.00 to £15.00. A selection of six breads, ten side orders and five desserts accompanied the above.

We kicked off with Kakkara – crispy soft shell crab with garlic and lemon butter – and Murgh Kali Mirch – chargrilled chicken with crushed black peppercorns and confit pepper. The crab was gentle on the palate with good texture but the Murgh Kali Mirch was a revelation. We were still talking about it the next day and it was this dish that stood out from the night, with its piquant sauce – strongly recommended.

For main course we had Lucknowi style chicken roulade with South Indian rice vermicelli, quails egg and aubergine compote. This was a lovely dish with the chicken forming the ‘wrap’ rather than the focus of the meal: the roulade dominated. Like the Kakkara this was only gently spicy. The wee fried quail’s egg perched on top was fun but I felt it might have worked better poached. The other main was Lamb Roganjosh – Kashmiri Style Lamb Shank with masal lentil, deep fried lotus stem and green pea rice. Now this was a proper curry! Unlike the roulade the meat was the star here, completely coated in a rich, complex sauce. To accompany the mains we had Tawa roti – roti made from whole wheat on a griddle – and Uttapam – South Indian rice pancakes. It was good to have a change from the standard naan / chapatti options common in less luxurious Indian restaurants, the Uttapam being particularly tasty.

We finished the meal off with coffee and chilli truffles, rather spicy. The choice of wines plus dessert wine and two ports was, like the food menu, logical and reasonably priced.

Tony has clearly succeeded in creating another top end restaurant in the heart of the New Town by getting a good chef installed and using good quality ingredients. ROTI has an offbeat gutsy appeal, its location and prices might put some people off but for serious foodies and people who are maybe tired of just another curry this joint is well worth a visit.

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