V Deep, Leith, Edinburgh (Now closed.)

I only discovered V Deep a few months back as we were meeting up with a couple of mates who were living in Leith. Just around the corner from the institution that is The Plumed Horse, VDeep is an Indian restaurant with a tapas-style menu.

On our first visit, there were three of us ordering vegan dishes and so the owner, (comedian, TV presenter and panellist Hardeep Singh Kohli) wandered over to our table to make a few inquiries. Moments later, as we were tucking into our yummy lunch, he came back to announce that he’d decided to host a vegan evening. We were thrilled to hear that, as he’d just put it up on twitter, he was receiving bookings already as we sat munching.

And so it was, that on 1st June we attended V Deep’s inaugural vegan night. The restaurant has an understated entrance, so when you swing open the door the colourful interior and buzz hits you rather unexpectedly. The walls are adorned with spray painted art and the bar, which is filled with beers from many independent breweries, is central to proceedings. This is generally a good thing for vegans as small concerns tend not to filter beer with isinglass and other nasties as much as the big boys.

V Deep prides itself on providing beer for connoisseurs, so there’s always plenty of choice and probably a few you haven’t tried before. Above the bar there is a depiction of Mr. Singh Kohli himself, complete with trademark beard and brightly coloured turban.

The drinks menu on this particular evening was all vegan friendly, so as always on this type of occasion, the stress was taken out of ordering. I was driving but my other half went for Williams’ alcoholic ginger beer with was very pleasant.

The food had been so great last time off the main menu my hopes were high this time. I wasn’t disappointed.

We had the Chilli Tofu Fry (which was probably my favourite) the Chickpea Masala (which my companion favoured over the rest) Bharli Wangi (stuffed aubergine, lovely, as recommended by the waitress) Haggis Samosa, Coconut rice and the biggest Naan I’ve ever seen (specially veganised for the evening.)

Both being vegan we dipped and shared and piled the food high on our plates, a vegan luxury.

Spicy and satisfying, we were both stuffed by the end of the meal, but somehow, after a pause in proceedings, managed to make room for dessert. There was only one offering, Jalebi, a wheat based dessert which was sugar coated, deep fried and served on top of a little pot of rhubarb. The rhubarb was a little tart for me, but then I have a legendary sweet tooth. It looked attractive and was a nice finish to a meal as I always like to try something new.

I’ll definitely be going back as the food is fantastic, the atmosphere light and welcoming and like us, you might get to chat to Hardeep himself (he was busy in the kitchen on the vegan night) or some of his lovely staff.

Being a relatively new restaurant, VDeep is always looking for new ideas for its vegan menu, so tweet them here if you have any sudden inspiration. They are to be found in Henderson Street in the Leith area of Edinburgh and there’s on street parking around and about.