Online ordering for Indian and Pakistani restaurants in Edinburgh

Updated 13 November 2026. This page reads the Food Standards Agency register as it stood on 13 November 2026. It covers the Edinburgh council area and names no business. For the area as a whole, see our Edinburgh page.

In short: The FSA register lists 40 premises in Edinburgh with Indian, curry or tandoori in the name, most in EH6 and EH11. An Edinburgh Indian restaurant can keep regulars ordering direct on its own Chefzi page: £9 to £49 a month per location, excluding VAT, 0% commission ever, and a free first month, no card needed.

The register lists 40 premises in Edinburgh with "tandoori", "balti", "karahi", "masala", "biryani", "tikka", "curry", "Indian", "Pakistani", "Lahore", "Karachi", "Peshawari" or "Punjab" in the business name, 17 of them registered as takeaways and 23 as restaurants or cafés. The most are in EH6 (6), EH11 (5), EH8 (4), EH12 (4). That is 1.5% of the area's 2,665 takeaway, restaurant and café premises, against 2.2% across the UK, so the word is less common here than in the UK as a whole.

With fewer of these names than the UK average, being easy to find matters more than being first on a long list: a clear ordering link on your Google Business Profile and on every bag keeps repeat customers coming to you directly.

What the FSA register shows for Edinburgh Indian and Pakistani names

This is a name-keyword count, not a census. It only finds premises whose registered name includes one of those words, so it misses Indian and Pakistani restaurants with other names, and it counts anything with the word in it, whatever it sells. We look at takeaway and sandwich shop premises and at restaurant, café and canteen premises only, and we do not name any business.

Of the 33 with a published result, 27 (82%) show a Pass. Scotland uses the Food Hygiene Information Scheme, where a result is Pass or Improvement Required and showing it is voluntary. Across all rated takeaways in Edinburgh, 85.0% show a Pass. A result is a snapshot of one inspection.

The districts where they sit

EH6 holds the most, 6 of the 40 (15%), and the premises sit across 8 postcode districts in all. Set a delivery zone for each district you serve with its own fee, minimum order and time, so the busy streets near EH6 do not set the terms for everywhere else.

How Edinburgh compares with the council areas next to it

The five nearest council areas by the centre of their food premises, with the same name-keyword count:

Edinburgh has more of these names than any of its five nearest neighbours.

Edinburgh in the wider picture

Edinburgh has 687 takeaway and sandwich shop premises and 1,978 restaurant, café and canteen premises on the register. On takeaway premises it ranks 8 of 363 UK council areas, and 2 of 32 in Scotland. Across all rated takeaways in Edinburgh, 85.0% show a Pass against 86.7% across Scotland. Edinburgh is part of Central Scotland and Fife, whose page lists every council area there with its takeaway and restaurant counts.

How common Indian and Pakistani names are in Edinburgh

Set against population, Edinburgh has 0.75 Indian and Pakistani-named premises for every 10,000 residents, close to the UK figure of 0.64 (ONS mid-2025 population estimate for the area: 531,370). By raw count, Edinburgh is 11th of the 363 UK council areas for these names and 2nd of 32 in Scotland.

The word is most concentrated in EH6, where 3% of the district's food premises carry it, and thinnest in EH8 at 2%. Across the whole area the share is 1.5%.

Inspection dates tell a second story. Of the 40 premises on this list with an inspection date, 50% were inspected in the 12 months to 13 November 2026, against 36% of all takeaway and restaurant premises in the area; the median gap since the last inspection is 12 months against 22.

Population figures are ONS mid-2025 estimates; every other figure comes from the same FSA register pull as the tables above. Small samples move a lot from one inspection to the next, so read the shares as a guide to where the pattern is, not as a verdict on any business.

What this means for Edinburgh kitchens

• Zones that match the map. The premises are concentrated in EH6 and EH11, so a tight zone around the busiest district with a wider second zone for the rest of Edinburgh fits the spread.
• Spice level as a required choice. Mild, medium or hot can be a required choice on every curry, with rice or bread as a second choice and extras at a surcharge. The ticket shows each choice on its own line.
• Take cash as well as card. Cash on collection and cash on delivery are on every plan, and card payments are on Plus and Pro.
• Tablet offline? The Chefzi Orders app rings until someone accepts or rejects. If the device is offline, Chefzi texts the restaurant and then calls.
• Put your link where customers already look. Add your ordering link to your Google Business Profile (how) and a QR code to every bag (QR kit).

Late-night hot food in Edinburgh: what to check

In Scotland, selling food or hot drink between 11pm and 5am needs a late hours catering licence from the council, under section 42 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, whether the food is eaten on the premises or taken away. The council's licensing pages are here: Edinburgh council licensing (checked 13 November 2026).

The general rules for England and Wales are in our late night refreshment licence guide. Chefzi lets you set collection and delivery hours separately, so your ordering hours can follow whatever your licence conditions say. This is general information, not legal advice.

How to start

1. Book a short call: we enter your menu with you and aim to have your ordering page live within 24 to 48 hours.
2. Set required choices for the way your customers order, and set your delivery zones by postcode district or radius.
3. Add your ordering link to your Google Business Profile (how) and a QR code to every bag (QR kit).
4. With their permission, tell regulars about the page by SMS or email (how, Plus and Pro).

For more, see the Indian restaurant page, the commission calculator and our guide on moving customers from Just Eat to your own site, and the Edinburgh location page for every takeaway and restaurant figure in the council area, or all UK locations.

A worked example for an Edinburgh Indian restaurant

These are assumed numbers, not Edinburgh data: with no published average order value for Edinburgh Indian and Pakistani restaurants, the example takes £25 (the commission calculator default) and 25 orders a week. Use your own.

Move 25 weekly orders (roughly 108 a month at £25, £2,700 of sales) from Just Eat to your own Chefzi link and the maths is this. On Just Eat's published partner rates (read 12 November 2026, details), 14% with your own drivers and 30% when it delivers, plus VAT, you would pay £454 at 14% (£378 plus £76 VAT) or £972 at 30% (£810 plus £162 VAT).

With Chefzi the 108 orders carry 0% commission and the bill stays at the flat plan price: £22 a month on Plus (£19 billed annually), per location, excluding VAT. We have not modelled card processing fees on either side, and the example ignores orders that remain on the marketplaces.

What Chefzi does not do

• It does not set up delivery for you: you run your own drivers, and Chefzi has no courier integrations.
• It has no kiosk and no CRM.
• A pre-order lead time is set for the whole location, not for one dish.
• Orders placed on Just Eat, Deliveroo or Uber Eats still pay those apps' commission. Chefzi helps you move regular customers to your own site.

Sources

• Food Standards Agency, Food Hygiene Rating Scheme open data API (api.ratings.food.gov.uk), authority Edinburgh (City of), business types Takeaway/sandwich shop and Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen, name search for "tandoori", "balti", "karahi", "masala", "biryani", "tikka", "curry", "Indian", "Pakistani", "Lahore", "Karachi", "Peshawari" or "Punjab", extract 13 November 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
• Edinburgh council licensing page linked above: https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/licences-permits (opened 13 Nov 2026).
• Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, section 42: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1982/45/section/42
• Chefzi facts and pricing, chefzi.co.uk, read 13 November 2026.