By most accounts it’s a perilous time to be running a hospitality business in the UK.
According to one recent survey, a third of hospitality businesses are now running at a loss and 60% have had to cut jobs to try and stay afloat.
And with businesses like Gary Usher’s excellent Kala bistro shuttering its doors and Bristol’s acclaimed Sonny Stores pivoting to a more financially sustainable approach, it all makes for rather depressing reading.
So, to open a new restaurant in the current climate is a very brave (or bonkers) thing to do.
Especially doing so without any web presence or social media to promote your business.
Which is exactly what Desi Dera, a new Pakistani restaurant on Crwys Road, seems to have done.
Having walked past it the other week, I googled it and all I could find was a registration on Companies House and a pending Scores on the Doors rating.
So, after a few happy hour beers at Pop n Hops, we decided to check it out.
With its gilded décor and functional furnishing, Desi Dera’s dining space is deceptively large. On the midweek night we visited there were just a couple of other occupied tables. The absence of the hum of chatter or any background music gave the place a slightly library-like atmosphere.
Desi Dera’s menu includes familiar grill favourites like seekh kebab and chicken tikka whilst an extensive range of curries includes bone-in or bone-off lamb or chicken karahi as well as specials like nihari and haleem.
With the scorching hot weather, we were both in the mood for grilled meat and so ordered the rather good value looking platter for two (£24.99).
But first complimentary poppadoms arrived as soon as we sat down. This kind of generosity always endears a place to me. Crisp and grease free, they were accompanied by solid mango chutney, mint yoghurt and chilli sauce. However, a side salad looked a little sad around the edges.
To drink, a mango lassi (£2.50) was ice cold but light on fruit flavour. Judging by the logistical challenge involved in preparing it, I’m not sure how many people have ordered one since Desi Dera has opened.
After a reassuring wait alongside the pleasing waft of chargrilling from the kitchen, our handsome platter was delivered.
Standouts were juicy and char-licked chicken wings, well-seasoned chicken seekh and meaty masala fish with a lightly spiced coating. Chicken tikka and lamb chops were both good too but I found them to be a little too salty – Mrs G, a sodium fiend, disagreed. Lamb seekh kebabs had good flavour but were a touch on the dry side.
Beneath all that grilled meat were excellent crisp fries and a mountain of buttery and fragrant lentil-flecked rice.
A pair of whopping naan breads were soft and crisp in all the right places.
Lentil dahl had a compelling meatiness and was a lovely sauce over the top of everything.
Stuffed, I doggy bagged up a meal’s worth of food to take home for my dinner the next day. With its well-priced and well-spiced cooking, we had a very tasty meal at Desi Dera. I hope they manage to find their niche in Cathays.
The Details
Address - Desi Dera, 101 Crwys Rd, Cardiff CF24 4NF
Telephone - 02922972785
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