A Fantastic Allergy Friendly Indian: Delhi O’Deli

I can’t tell you how excited I am about Delhi O’Deli which truly lives up to it’s slogan of ‘India Beyond Curries...’. I had read a couple of lines about this Vegetarian Indian restaurant (the first in Ireland) serving Vegan options and had been meaning to try it out for a while but I definitely wasn’t prepared for how amazing it was going to be! A few years ago when all the super cheap Chinese restaurants opened up on Moore Street the price savvy diners/students/bohemians flocked to Dublin’s famous market street to get ridiculously affordable, ethnic food. The venues were a bit shabby and some of the dishes such as ‘Triple Delicious’ were a bit more miss than hit but if you knew the menu you could easily get an affordable and tasty meal mixed with the wonderful vibe of the ‘real’ city.

I love Moore Street. It smells like old time city living. Although I like my luxuries and enjoy a slick design I can’t help mourn the loss of the ‘old’ Henry Street and the inner life of a thriving city. I feel like Moore Street is one of the few pockets left which haven’t been glazed over to resemble ‘success’ and ‘modernity’... It’s noisy and smelly and filled to brim with complete characters.

After a little while most of the Chinese restaurants closed down...possibly due to Health & Safety, although I never experienced a problem on the few occasion I ventured in but who knows what lies behind closed doors! There is still some great bargain basement Chinese and Korean cuisine to be found on nearby Parnell Street but the gap left on Moore Street has been more than filled by one of the best finds this year! ‘Delhi O’Deli’ is a Vegetarian restaurant that serves numerous Vegan options which of course translates to Dairy Free and Egg Free! I always think a good sign for an ethnic restaurant is when the nations nationals eat there and Delhi O’Deli is no exception. It’s clean and new and filled with the sound of Bollywood films playing on the television but lets get to the real topic:
I was bringing the food to my sister on her lunch break on the south side of the city so I got a take-away, although Delhi O’Deli is primarily a sit-down venue. Next month new menus will be available clearly labelling which dishes are vegan (aka Dairy Free and Egg Free) but even without the labeling I found the waitress to be thoroughly knowledgable about the ingredients. She asked me what I wanted and then she told me if it was suitable... There is yoghurt and vegetarian cheese used in some dishes but the Vegan options were plentiful and there were even some options which were naturally Tomato Free and Onion Free. In the end I ordered:

Stuffed Bread Pakora (Bread covered with chickpea batter, filled with potatoes, no cheese) €1.45
Pani Puri (Popular street food from Mumbai which is also known as water balls in the western region. Hollow fried crisps filled with potatoes, chickpeas, served with spicy and sour tamarind water) €2.95
Delhi O’Deli Chole Bhature (All day student favourite and popular north Indian meal. Seasoned chickpeas with onion and cilantro, served with fried breads called Bhatura. Pickle and salad served on side) €4.45 [note: this dish is not usually vegan adaptable or dairy free. The Bhatura is not vegan but the Puri can be substituted for bread -Ed.]

The left over fried bread from the Chole Bhature tasted AMAZing dipped in the tamarind water and the Stuffed bread Pakora, although a bit light on the filling, tasted thoroughly delicious. My sister said that the Chole Bhature was ‘very rich in flavour with quite a heavy kick of spice’ (not for the non-spice lovers) and was ‘similar to a hearty stew’... ‘the ultimate comfort food’... ‘really good’... ‘so good’.. ‘yum yum’.. etc, etc.

The only problem is that Delhi O’Deli doesn’t seem very aware of Gluten Free diets or the Coeliac condition. There was a bit of confusion around the similarity of the words ‘wheat’ and ‘sweet’ but I think with a little patience you should be able to find something free from Gluten as many Indian dishes are Gluten Free by nature. They also use Corn flour in some dishes so beware if you happen to be Corn Free.

p.s. try out the Daily Fivers! There is a buffet style set up at the back of the restaurant featuring five daily specials (the website tells you what features for each day of the week) all for only €5 per plate!

Delhi O’Deli
12 Moore Street, Dublin 1
Tel: (01) 872 9129
Web: www.delhiodeli.com
Opening Times: Breakfast 08:00 - 12:00; Lunch/Dinner 12:00 - 20:00