Congratulations to The Radhuni, now officially a hidden gem of Scotland (Scran Awards 2024). Hidden away, in the hard-to-find heart of hidden gem Loanhead. Maybe not hard, maybe just overlooked.
Once a mining village, now a shopping suburb on the edge of Edinburgh, more famous for its retail park than its industrial heritage. The high street may have seen more prosperous days. Maybe the best is yet to come.
How hidden? Not exactly very, but certainly on the bus route. The number 37 takes you through the town, passing the monuments to the miners who died bringing prosperity to the community, and on past Bilston Glen Viaduct (the best bridge you’ve never seen), calling at the home of Dolly, the world-famous science-faction sheep, and on to Roslin, literally the climatic location of the Da Vinci Code.
You’ve missed it. Opposite the stop at the bottom of Clerk Street. The Loanhead Clerk Street - don’t get off at the Edinburgh one. There it is. Sprouting like wild celery, cheering up the unassuming street scene, is the place the judges were thinking of when they dreamt up the award.
Nestled behind a tiny entrance is a tardis of a revelation. This is The Radhuni, the award-winning Indian - Bangladeshi fusion of flavours and cuisines, with a hint of British sweetness, that everyone is talking about and no one has found. Until now.
From all across the galaxy they have come. Well, most of central Scotland. It’s worth the trip. No hurry. Slow-cooked to perfection, the blend of flavours and tender meats makes this an experience worth waiting for. Order well in advance. Manager Lewis and maitre’d Romy make a virtue out of unhurried cooking and eloquent entertaining.
Edinburgh’s city centre trials and tribulations are well documented. If ever there was a time to venture out of town, this is it. Loanhead’s mile-long main street used to boast an array of shops that would do well in a place ten times its size. What it needs is a destination experience, and this is it - complete without any parking restrictions. Don’t fret if other diners beat you to the door, the old station car park is only a few minutes away, and it’s free. Check out the pit-pony monument while you walk back. Your reviewer may have been the model for the pony boy minor miner - one is a native of Loanhead, after all.
If fortune favours, you’ll enjoy the flavours in the garden at the rear - and if not, the patio heaters will be on, to give that summer heat feeling that Loanhead is so famously not for. A 120 covers behind a doorway hardly wide enough to qualify for a cupboard, The Radhuni tardis of a restaurant is bigger on the inside. Much bigger. The garden is practically out in Bilston Glen. Locals will get the joke, you’ll just get the witty banter from Lewis and Romy, and the fruits of the kitchen labours.
If you’re looking for the food delivered to your door opportunity to parley with the helmeted riders, you better think again. Think Hidden. Think Gem. Think Radhuni. Think the alcohol-free Cobra Beer tastes just like the real thing - but there’s always the 37 bus.
The Radhuni - 93 Clerk Street, Loanhead, EH20 9RE - 0131 440 3655 ww.theradhuni.co.uk
Bangladeshi-Indian sprinkled with British flavour - well fed for under £25 a head.
