Dubai: Indian restaurant Daftar is perfect for that mid-week work break

Khaleej Times

20-05-2025

If you need to close your eyes to savour the feeling of that very first bite, you know it's good. At Daftar, the newly opened Indian restaurant at DIFC, we found most dishes elicited this response. Or a sigh of happiness. Or both.
The thing about Indian food is that while it's packed with flavour, it's also often got reserves of heat. Daftar, we are happy to confirm, did not. The result was meal of succulent meats, street food, and unusual regional fusion fare, without the huffing caused by generous amounts of chili.
The restaurant has a canteen vibe reminiscent of spots near offices, or daftars, in India. Done up in a cheerful palette of cream, brown, and green, it's a nice spot for a business lunch, a catch-up with a pal, or an after-work session of commiseration after a long day. On display are several knick-knacks that call for greater observation – there's an old 11-inch television, a typewriter, a phone, and other draws for the curious eye.
We began with a tastebud-tingling avocado and mango pani puri set that fell neatly into the shelf of unusual but familiar flavour. (Generally, these light balls of dough are stuffed with crumbled potatoes, black chickpeas, and a spice blend unique to the place making it. It is then laced with a spicy-yet-sweet dose of mint drink.) The avocado was a good replacement for the potato, adding not only nutrition but also a creamy texture to the bite. The mango brought a peppering of seasonal flavour.
For the starters, we were treated to the Pondicherry Gunpowder Prawns – a swoonworthy smoked prawn dish with earthy flavours – and tawa sarson fish garnished with a ring of radish. The sarson fish (or mustard fish) is a Bengali favourite; and we found ourselves wrapped in the nostalgia of eating tender morsels of fish with the sharp aftertaste of mustard. The Cajun chicken tikka was a melt-in-your-mouth treat.
Among other bites of note were the Himalayan jhol momos – well seasoned chicken wrapped in delicate pockets of flour, steamed and added to a delicious gravy and topped with burnt garlic, and the burhani raita – a crunchy yet cool bite.
For the mains, I insisted on trying a favourite – dal makhani. And while it may sound like a simple dish, it is, I have found, easy to mess up. They did it right though; I ended up eating the entire bowl.
It was served with laccha paratha, a soft, flaky flatbread that's fried.
The ending was sweet – with three different types of kulfi, served like scoops of ice cream. These desserts are made with season ingredients and the ones that melted in our mouths included date and apricot.
If you truly want to know if the food in a restaurant is good, ask diners about a week after they've eaten there – we may not remember exact flavours but we will recall the overall experience. In the case of Daftar, whether I waited one week or two, the verdict was the same: delicious fare in a cute spot that must be revisited.
Go midweek for some relief on hump day – on alternate Wednesday evenings, you'll be rewarded with a comedy night that will make you giggle.
For that familiar yet unusual taste experiment, going to Daftar is a must.
Al Fattan Currency House, Mezzanine Floor, Tower 1, DIFC, Dubai. www.daftar.ae. 050 666 4158.