Desi Di has opened in Poes Garden, Chennai with selected menu items with a focus on celebrating local ingredients. The intention can be seen in the items we ate, specifically the Sweet Corn Drumstick (Moringa) soup, Veg Cutlet chops with Beetroot, Corn based Butta Kebab etc. Other interesting aspect is that the Chef Aaron Coutinho has gone that extra mile to bring in regional touch to the menu.  The menu has almost 50% vegetarian items. Thanks to the chef for being a vegetarian for 3 months to understand what it means to be one and the difficulty we face in getting variety during our restaurant visits. Now on to the items we had and as usual vegetarian items – Masala papad is always our choice but here we had it  with a twist – khakra with paneer burji. A great way to start the food journey, it was served with another novel drink – litchi jamun drink.

Lemon Barley shikanji is always a favorite in Chennai’s weather. Happy to have that too. Chef Aaron loves to experiment with local ingredients and this week it was the lovely corn which was served to us as Butta kebab – one hard spicy marinated yet juicy corn and the soft corn kebab with cucumber sauce / raita – loved the real cucumber in it. It was followed by another starter veg cutlet pop with beetroot heroing in the dish, Loved it.

You know steamed bao and vada pav and here we had Vada Bao with Maharashtrian garlic chutney. It was soft steamed bao and crispy tender vada inside and made a good tasting with garlic chutney.

Sweet corn drumstick soup had drumstick, drumstick greens and was by itself a fulfilling dish. Had our part of superfood, thanks to the chef.

Innovation is the key and Desi Di is not behind. Soft Dosa waffle, Rotis were served with Balti paneer and multi saag paneer. The chef makes it a point to serve poriyal with the main dishes, we had cabbage poriyal, loved it.

Balti paneer is a Pakistani dish and it was served in a cooker, the biggest USP of Desi Di is the uniqueness they strive for in every dish. Multi saag is a medley of gongura, spinach and many other greens. It made even the ones who are not into palak dishes, have it repeatedly. Do not miss it.

Now it is the season of millets and Desi Di is not behind. Multi millet Khichdi was served with Kadhi, to me who loves millets, it was absolutely yummy.

In the desserts section, we had green apple jalebi, gulab jamun cheesecake and Sulaiman tea in the beverages section. Jalebi felt more like malpua and even better with honey and distinct taste and flavor of green apple. Forget the calories while eating the cheesecake.

A decent place with a personal touch, Desi Di is sure to give you a excellent dining experience celebrating local ingredients.

Desi Di Location

No.17/4 kasturirangan 1st street, Poes Garden, Alwarpet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600018

Open from 12.30 PM to 3.30 PM and 7 PM to 10.30 PM