Dakshin Restaurant, Donnybrook

                                                          Pics courtesy of Dakshin

I'm not the type who usually wins competitions, but last week I was super lucky to win a competition run by the Irish Food Bloggers Association for a meal at Dakshin restaurant in Donnybrook, Dublin. The coolest bit was it was a food bloggers dinner, so I wouldn't look like a complete muppet for taking photographs. Although seven of us won, for some reason only four of us turned up - and let me tell you, the others missed out (sorry!).

Dakshin is an Indian restaurant located above Kiely's pub in the centre of Donnybrook. Its menu focuses on the Southern states of Kerala, Tamilnadu, Andra Pradesh and Karnataka, and it is a new venture by Saji Mathai, who is well known to many in Dublin from his years with the Jaipur group and Ananda (two excellent Indian restaurants).

At the meal, I was accompanied by the lovely Aoife from I Can Has Cook, David from Kitchen 72 and John from the Navigatourist - three hungry foodies who were, like me, eager to get on with the eatin'. We were greeted by the owner, Saji Mathai, who was a wonderful host and whose staff were extremely attentive throughout the evening.

As the only veggie in the group, I was curious to see what Dakshin offers vegan and vegetarian diners. The answer? There is a small amount of vegetarian/vegan food on the menu - about the same as most restaurants - but what they do offer is absolutely delicious. Plus, they are happy to be made aware of any dietary concerns you have.

There were two vegetarian starters on the menu - a salad with fried plaintains (which I think I'll go for next time) and the Aloo Bonda spiced potato cakes. I plumped for the latter because I love potato cakes - these were perfectly soft and plump cakes with mustard seeds and curry leaves, warm and spicy. Accompanying them was a coconut chutney and a fruit chutney, as well as some tamarind sauce. The coconut was cool, creamy and the perfect contrast to the spicy potato, while the other chutney added a hint of sweetness. Delicious, and not greasy or heavy like fried potato cakes can be.

 

Pic taken by Aoife I Can Has Cook

The others shared a starter tasting platter, with prawn, chicken, lamb and a small taster of the Aloo Bonda. Then Saji brought them out another two starters - both of them lamb - causing more moans of ecstasy to come from the carnivores at the table, heh! I helped myself to some of the pickled veg on their tasting platter (below, centre) while they finished their dishes. The starters range from €6.50- €12.50 and mine was €6.50.

                                                       Pic by Aoife I Can Has Cook


There are about three or four vegetarian main course options on the menu, but some have cheese, so I decided to go for the vegetarian thaali, Dakshin Shakahari Thaali (€18). I checked with the server if there was any dairy in the dish and he assured me there wasn't - when he brought it down, he said that he had not put some sauce on it that was on John's meat thaali, as there was dairy in it. Also, the waiters remembered I was the veggie diner and checked in on me periodically, which was lovely.

                                                         Pic by Aoife I Can Has Cook

So what's a thaali, then? It's ideal for people like me who get bored with eating the same dish and want to try a little of everything. My favourite bit is the dosa - a gluten-free (though you'd need to check with the restaurant regarding cross-contamination) lentils and rice pancake. The lentils and rice are soaked and then ground down to a paste, before being spread on a flat pan and made into a sort of crepe. There is an unusual, almost sour taste to dosas, but I find them scrumptious - Dakshin's dosa was crispy but not too thin and perfect for scooping up food.

                                                      Pic by Aoife I Can Has Cook

The dosa sat atop a small mound of pilau rice, and was accompanied by four dishes: curried vegetables, daal, crispy curried onions and a green curry, with rice and yellow lentils. None of these dishes were extremely spicy - they were all quite mild and naturally the flavours worked perfectly together. My favourite was the curried vegetables - it looked like they had been roasted and then spread with a sort of mild paste...so moreish. The rice was soft and pillowy - it practically melted in my mouth.

                                                                Pic courtesy of Dakshin

It was really lovely sitting down with fellow foodies and food bloggers and yapping about all things food - it felt like an episode of Come Dine With Me! Aoife is friend of mine but neither of us had met John or David before and they were great dining companions. Through food blogging I've met so many new people, it's wonderful.


Needless to say, after that huge feed none of us were in the mood for dessert. Would I go back to Dakshin? Absolutely. It's a really beautiful restaurant, the staff are extremely attentive (they explained each dish to us including what region it was from), the prices are very reasonable (they offer an early bird for €18) and the food is fantastic. This isn't your average Indian restaurant, with the usual meals - this is Indian food for the adventurous.

I would love if there were more vegan options but the restaurant is only open since December, so I imagine with time they might introduce more dishes. One thing I would say is don't be afraid to tell them you're vegan or vegetarian, as they are happy to help. The more demand there is for these dishes, the more chance they will be added. Also there are no symbols on the menu indicating 'vegetarian' etc - if those were added it would be great.


Thanks so much to the IFBA and Dakshin for the meal.


Dakshin 22-24 Donnybrook Road, Dublin 4
Reservations: contact info@dakshin.ie or 01-2028182/ 2028183