Two Midlothian sister restaurants which have blazed a culinary trail for the region are up for more national accolades at a ceremony in London.
Founder and Executive Chef of Itihaas in Dalkeith and Radhuni in Loanhead Matin Khan has been nominated as Chef of the Year while Radhuni is in the running for Restaurant of the Year in the Curry Life Magazine Awards. These will be announced and presented at the Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square on 15 October.
Described as “the only event in the industry to promote curry chefs and British curry on an international stage,” it is due to be attended by several hundred restaurateurs, politicians, chefs, entrepreneurs and journalists.
The two family owned and run restaurants have already won a series of national and regional awards.
Since Matin opened Itihaas in 2007 its titles have included Scotland’s Best South Asian Restaurant and Curry Chef of the Year, and Restaurant of the Year in the Midlothian and East Lothian Chamber of Commerce Awards.
His son Habibur has managed Radhuni since it opened in 2011. Habibur is the youngest person to win a major title in the British Curry Awards.
Radhuni is one of only three Indian-style restaurants in Scotland to have been awarded an AA Rosette for culinary excellence. Regularly placed in the British Curry Awards’ “Hot 100”, it was named Scottish Curry Restaurant of the Year in 2020 and 2021 and in July this year took the same title in the Scottish Restaurant Awards.
“These nominations reflect the consistently high quality of food and service on which we insist,” Habibur said. “It’s gratifying to have been put forward for these much sought after awards. We are up against many magnificent restaurants from all over Britain but hopefully we can bring back more trophies to Midlothian and the Edinburgh area.”
I was invited to Bo’ness Spice in 2021 and since then I think I have visited at least two more times…but I was a bad blogger and just went to enjoy my food.
Recently I got a wee ping to ask if I wanted to come back and check them out again, and it was an instant yes.
On arrival I was shown to my table, just like last time if you do want to sit in rather than take away I would highly advise you to book a table ahead as they are popular and only have a few tables inside.
Décor
★★★★★
Noise Level
★★★★★
Restaurant Temperature
★★★★★
Table Dressing
★★★★★
Restaurant Cleanliness
★★★★★
Background MusicLevel
★★★★★
Disabled Toilets
Yes
Nibbles
I got some nibbles to start with and everything looked and tasted really good.
This was a great wee nibble while I waited for the food to be cooked.
The Food
I did check what I ordered the last visit so I wouldn’t order that again, and show you something different.
Chicken Pakora £N/A tonight (normally £4.45) Sliced breast of chicken, coated in traditional spiced batter
On arrival, this looked very good, and I couldn’t wait to dig right in.
The chicken was cooked perfectly and lovely and tender, the coating was light but had a nice crispness to it.
Dipping it in the sauce also added that extra flavour and took it to the next level.
This was a very good portion size and one of the nicest chicken pakora, I have had for a while.
Dish Flavour
★★★★★
Appearance
★★★★★
Serving Size
★★★★★
Aroma
★★★★★
Value for Money
★★★★★
MY RATING:
★★★★★
BO’NESS TANDOORI JINGHA £N/A tonight (normally £7.95) King prawns prepared to a special house recipe. A guaranteed feast for the eyes & taste buds.
I wanted to pick something very different to my normal starter and also different from what I ordered the last visit….this jumped out at me.
On arrival the aroma was amazing and it visually looked very good.
I took a bite and WOW! And I really mean WOW! The king prawn was perfectly cooked but the sauce etc whatever their house recipe for this is amazing!
Every bite was packed with amazing and lovely flavours!! I enjoyed this dish from start to finish and could have easily had seconds!
HIGHLY!!! recommended to get when you visit or via takeaway…..I look forward to having this again!
Along with the mains tonight, the guys at Bo’ness Spice brought out some garlic naan.
This instantly smelled and looked really good.
It was perfectly made and had a good garlic flavour balance, not too strong just perfect.
This also worked really well with my main, a great flavour combination.
Dish Flavour
★★★★★
Appearance
★★★★★
Serving Size
★★★★★
Aroma
★★★★★
Value for Money
★★★★★
MY RATING:
★★★★★
CHICKEN TIKKA KHUMBI DUPIAZA £10.95 A medium-strength dish consisting of charcoal-grilled chicken cutlets, mushrooms, onions & green peppers.
Along with the other chicken tikka dish, this also sounded very good.
This looked very different to the Chicken Tikka Massallam and also had a very different aroma.
The aroma of this was also very good, and I could get hints of the mushrooms and onions.
The chicken was perfectly cooked and tender and the dish as a whole was really good! the mushroom and peppers were very tasty and worked really well together.
This is another dish I could easily have on my return visit.
Dish Flavour
★★★★★
Appearance
★★★★★
Serving Size
★★★★★
Aroma
★★★★★
Value for Money
★★★★★
MY RATING:
★★★★★
CHICKEN TIKKA MASSALLAM £n/a tonight (Normally £8.95) Kebabs cooked in a mild flavoured sauce with fresh herbs & spices
This was the dish that jumped out for me.
On arrival the aroma instantly hit me, it was lovely and made my mouth start to water.
I tried a little and ohh! this was creamy and also had a coconut flavour to it and ticked all my boxes. Now to try the chicken and it was perfectly cooked and lovely and tender.
This dish was soo tasty and I loved every mouthful, and as I said along with the garlic naan this was a perfect combo.
Highly recommended if you visit here.
Dish Flavour
★★★★★
Appearance
★★★★★
Serving Size
★★★★★
Aroma
★★★★★
Value for Money
★★★★★
MY RATING:
★★★★★
Final Thoughts…
Firstly a BIG thanks to the guys at Bo’ness SPice for inviting me back, tonight I had a great meal packed with amazing flavours and a really enjoyable night.
The food tonight was amazing! I can’t fault anything, flavours, portion sizes and service were perfect.
If you fancy trying somewhere different check these guys out!
Service / Staff
★★★★★
Ambience
★★★★★
Time between Courses
★★★★★
Halal Friendly
★★★★★
Vegan Friendly
★★★★★
Overall Value for Money
★★★★★
MY OVERALL RATING
★★★★★
The above blog post review is 100% honest and has not been influenced in anyway. Its a true representation of my thoughts.
On arrival more so entering Grillzz I was pleasantly surprised at how different compared to the Glasgow one.
As you can see by the photos above, they have a wee area you can sit down and enjoy your order this had a nice and cosy feeling and I loved the wall decor.
Décor
★★★★
Table Dressing
★★★★★
Cleanliness
★★★★★
The Food
Now it was time to order and I left it all down to the guys at Grillzz Wishaw to choose.
Chicken Doner Kebab £n/a tonight (normally £6.50) Thinly Cut Slices Of Chicken Doner Served With Bread, Fresh Lettuce, Onion, Red Cabbage & Sauce
My drive home was filled with an amazing aroma, and it was making me more and more hungry.
I took this out of the container and placed it down on a plate, what I did notice was this was packed and looked SO SO GOOD! then the aroma again mmmm this made my mouth water more and more and I couldn’t wait to dig right in.
I took a BIG bite to make sure I got everything…
Now this was tasty! you have loads of textures, followed by many different flavours that work very very well together and if I say so this was one of the nicest doner kebabs I have had in a very long time.
Highly recommend if you check out the Glasgow or Wishaw branch.
Dish Flavour
★★★★★
Appearance
★★★★★
Serving Size
★★★★★
Aroma
★★★★★
Value for Money
★★★★★
MY RATING:
★★★★★
Peri Peri Wings £n/a tonight (normally £6.00) 5x Classic Peri Peri Wings
I had these the last time and they remembered I liked them, so they made them again for me at the mild level of spice.
I plated these up and was hit by the lovely peri peri spice aroma, this was going to be a good meal.
These had a nice small kick to them followed by a great flavour, and the wings were very tender.
Every single wing was finished and these were just as good as I remembered, and I can’t wait to get more.
Ohh…do remember to keep a napkin near you when eating these as they do get a bit messy due to the sauce but its 100% worth it.
Dish Flavour
★★★★★
Appearance
★★★★★
Serving Size
★★★★★
Aroma
★★★★★
Value for Money
★★★★★
MY RATING:
★★★★★
Donner Pizza £n/a tonight (normally £9.00)
The Grillzz Wishaw branch is the only one that does pizzas, so they wanted me to check one out and let them know my thoughts.
The Doner pizza was the one that stood out for me, as I am a BIG Doner fan!
I took a bite and WOW the flavour for me was really good! I don’t know what sauce they used and cheese but that with the doner on top was a great taste and I could have easily had two of these!!!
The pizza was cooked perfectly and had a lovely thin base and as I said it had a really great flavour! and one I can’t wait to have again.
Dish Flavour
★★★★★
Appearance
★★★★★
Serving Size
★★★★★
Aroma
★★★★★
Value for Money
★★★★★
MY RATING:
★★★★★
Final Thoughts…
Firstly a BIG thanks to the guys at Grillzz Wishaw for my invite and the food!
Yip it was a bit of a drive for me to check them out, but it was 100% worth it.
Everything I got tonight was perfectly cooked, packed with flavour and one I will easily recommend to anyone to visit! Do check them out either their Glasgow branch or Wishaw branch and let me know what you think.
I am adding here to my top takeaway spots as I had no issues with anything tonight and really enjoyed my food.
Service / Staff
★★★★★
Ambience
★★★★★
Halal Friendly
YES
Overall Value for Money
★★★★★
MY OVERALL RATING
★★★★★
The above blog post review is 100% honest and has not been influenced in anyway. Its a true representation of my thoughts.
