Desh

Desh, West Malling

My friend and I have tried to visit Desh several times, but each time we book something happens which means we have to cancel our visit – motorway closure, snowfall, pandemic. You name it, it’s prevented us from visiting. So when we finally arrived at Desh, we were hoping it was worth the wait.

Located in West Malling High Street, Desh positions its self as a modern, unique Indian restaurant that does things a little bit differently. As soon as we arrived and were shown to our table, we could see this was the case. We were offered some poppadums, which arrived presented in large shards in a basket. It was actually a much nicer presentation than you would get in a standard Indian restaurant. They were served with three chutneys, which were all delicious.

As we were munching on our poppadums, we were looking through the menu. There were lots of really interesting sounding dishes as well as the more standard ones with a twist.

We opted for some of the more traditional dishes with a twist, but I would like to try a number of the less standard options too. We ordered a butter chicken and a Kadai chicken curry. Alongside these dishes, we ordered pilau rice and a garlic naan. Our waitress was really friendly and attentive and the food came out in good time, piping hot, well presented and looking extremely edible.

The Kadai chicken was really scrumptious. It consisted of tender boneless chicken thighs with peppers and onions in a thick Kadai sauce. The sauce was well balanced and truly delicious.

The butter was a twist on a traditional butter chicken. Again it was boneless chicken thighs, but they were slow-cooked in a tomato sauce. If I’m being honest, the sauce was more tomatoey than I expected, but it was still really nice and the ingredients used seem to be very good quality. Both servings of chicken were very tender and there was plenty of meat in the dishes.

The pilau rice and garlic naan were perfect alongside the main dishes and they really completed the meal. We were very happy with our dishes and we shared both mains between the pair of us, so we could both try each dish.

The location of the restaurant is great, with easy parking either on the high street or just behind the Tesco. The restaurant looks clean and smart and I think it suits the style they are aiming for. I can see why Desh is a popular choice for diners.

Our meal came to £42 including a small glass of wine each, which I think is very good value, especially considering the ingredients seemed very high quality and the presentation was very good. I would highly recommend Desh as a dining option and would love to go back and try more of their menu. So here’s looking forward to booking another table and hopefully getting there again next time.

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