ABOUT US

Khushi’s was the first Indian Restaurant to open in Edinburgh in 1947. The Founder, the late Khushi Mohammed knew that to succeed he needed to produce the best quality and most authentic curries that he could make.

At a time when Indian spices and ingredients were impossible to get in Scotland, his spices were imported from the Punjab. Using only the freshest ingredients and years of pioneering Indian food in Scotland he made Khushi’s an Edinburgh institution. In 1977, Khushi sadly passed away and the running of the restaurant was taken over by Mrs Khushi. Over the next twenty years she worked tirelessly to made Khushi's what it is today and her passion continues to this day as we still endeavor to produce the most delicious authentic curries from the highest quality fresh local ingredients that we can find.

Find out more about our story and restaurants through the years below

Khushi’s dream of owning a restaurant finally becomes a reality
Lothian Street 1947 – 1953
 
In 1935, a young man from Jalandhar reached Scottish shores with only the clothes on his back. He didn’t speak a word of English, let alone read or write but he dreamed of owning a restaurant.
 
In 1947, after a few years of saving and hard work as a door-to-door salesman in Edinburgh, Khushi opened his first restaurant on Lothian Street and imaginatively called it the ‘Lothian Restaurant’.
 
Being both the only Indian restaurant available and positioned next to the university it immediately became popular with homesick Indian students looking for a taste of home.
 
Khushi becomes a spicy smuggler
College Street 1954 – 1968
 
The menu in Khushi’s second restaurant was small and only offered traditional Indian dishes. This wasn’t as easy as it sounds as spices and many other vital Indian ingredients were hard to come by in Scotland.
 
Khushi came up with a creative solution enlisting his Indian student customers as ‘spice mules’. Whenever one was travelling back to India for a visit, he’d make sure that they returned with one or two key ingredients in their luggage.
 
It also wasn’t unusual to hear a faint clucking whilst dining as Khushi kept chickens in the basement. Talk about locally sourced.
 
A date with Greyfriar’s Bobby
Candlemaker Row 1969 – 1972
 
In 1969 a small premesis on Candlemaker Row not far from Greyfriar’s Bobby became the third restaurant in the Khushi’s story.
 
Although the menu was still simple by today’s standard the spice and flavour of the food made visiting Khushi’s restaurant an exotic experience with universal appeal.
 
Throughout the 60’s and 70’s, Khushi’s and the restaurant’s popularity grew beyond just Edinburgh’s Indian community as word of the delicious foreign cuisine reached more and more Edinburgers.
 
Although the restaurant was only near the Grassmarket for 3 years it sparked Edinburgh’s love for a Khushi’s.
Mrs Khushi takes the reins
Drummond Street 1973 – 2001
 
Situated in an ex-university cafe on Drummond Street Khushi’s fourth restaurant served mouth watering dishes on mismatched crockery and was popular with Edinburgers from all walks of life. It’s great long benches would hold students and street sweepers, office workers and policemen, builders and businessmen, often all at the same time.
 
In 1977, tragedy struck and Khushi disappeared whilst on a pilgrimage leaving Mrs Khushi to take control of the restaurant whilst raising seven children.
 
Mrs Khushi had little English but plenty of determination and it was her hard work that carried Khushi’s forward over the next 20 years.
 
Adding the contemporary twist
Potterrow 2001 – 2005
 
When Khushi’s opened the fifth restaurant on Potterrow in 2001 the menu had changed very little from the traditional Indian dishes originally offered in 1947 but that was soon to change.
With Mrs Khushi running the show and the now grown up children also working in the restaurant Khushi’s embraced a more ‘Scottishified’ menu adding a contemporary twist to the traditional dishes.
 
 
 
With new energy and a new menu Khushi’s became the centre of the Scottish curry scene in the early 2000s and this led to the creation of many of our most popular dishes still on the menu today.
 
We spared no expense, I see fire
Victoria Street 2006 – 2008
 
When Khushi’s moved into the two story former church on Victoria Street no expense was spared in creating a truly unsurpassed Indian dining experience. From the large central glass staircase to the long hanging chandeliers and wooden and brass detailing the restaurant on Victoria street was a sight to behold.
 
Then one winter night in 2008 disaster struck when a fire broke out which completely destroyed both floors of the landmark building. Flames were said to be seen shooting 20 feet out of the top of the roof and Khushi’s on Victoria Street was no more.
 
It would take a couple of years but Khushi’s bounced back better than ever.
 
Khushi’s comes to Leith
Antigua Street 2010 – 2018
Khushi’s arrived in Leith in 2010 two years after the fire that utterly destroyed the Victoria Street restaurant and it received a warm welcome back.
 
Mrs Khushi had retired in 2004 so the sons who grew up living and working in the first restaurants were now in charge.
 
Offering dishes that had been perfected over the past 70 years and in a prime location at the top of Leith Walk Khushi’s Antigua Street quickly became a Leith institution.
 
In 2016, shortly after Mrs Khushi was honoured with a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at the Scottish Curry Awards she sadly passed away but the legacy created by her and Mr Khushi will live on for years to come.