I love Indian food especially from North India since my first husband was from Himachal Pradesh. Since Desi just opened a few miles from my home I decided to visit tonight. My second husband will eat anything that doesn't eat him first but he is an executive chef and was out of state. I was amazed at the number of selections especially dosas and desserts. As a first timer here I had the yellow dal, tandoori roti and rice. The main dining room is filled with families but I noticed a larger area to the right when leaving. Open until midnight. Friendly staff especially the one gentleman that guided me and even brought my food to my table after explaining ordering at the kiosk. Very noisy and difficult to hear the random numbers but the food was very good and freshly prepared. Adventure to India. This is the 4th Indian restaurant to open in this market. Desi is off Race Track Rd in the Durban area not Julington Creek. read more

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So I hate leaving anything but great, 5 star reviews... but I think I have to after our experience there. The Good: fantastic atmosphere.. very inviting and very colorful .. lots of product and lots of options. The food quality and taste was definitely five stars. We had very, very good Indian street food. The Bad: I mentioned under the good lots of food options however this became bad when no one could explain to us really what any dish consisted of. The communication was not good and we were not only lost in ordering even though we thought we knew Indian food fairly well from all of the other Indian restaurants in the area, we felt ignored honestly in some cases. When we finally did order we did not order enough food. But everything just really felt very confusing. Their system of calling out numbers when numbers were not necessarily clear and trying to understand when the person could not understand me was very frustrating. you order at the counter and you pick up at the counter you make your own drinks and you bring your own food to the table then you clean up. The ugly: it took a very long time to get any of our food even the appetizer. We did order the pani puri and was able to get that pretty quickly. The gentleman served it out of a cart and the experience was underwhelming only because we did not understand what was happening nor could he explain it. That is a shame as that was a great learning opportunity into this culture and not an experience worth repeating at this point. Authentic, maybe. Stressful fur sure. We do plan to try them again after they've been open for a little bit worked out some of the kinks. This is a chain that is all over so I would've expected that, but he will give it another try at another time at a later date. read more

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We decided to finally try Desi Chowrastha after seeing it packed on a Friday night. The restaurant is clean and spacious, and ordering at the kiosk is very straightforward before picking up at the counter. Our experience with the food was a bit of a "mixed bag". On the positive side, the Chicken Vindaloo and Shrimp Masala were incredibly flavorful and paired nicely with the fluffy Basmati rice. However, being served a dine-in meal in a 16 oz plastic to-go container with paper plates felt a bit impersonal. I had to look around to make sure it's not just ours. LOL. The curries are too good not to be plated on real dishes, which would make the whole experience feel much more welcoming. Unfortunately, the appetizers and sides didn't quite hit the mark for us. (´*_*`) The Onion Samosas were just mediocre. The outer pastry shell had a nice crisp texture, but the onion filling inside tasted a bit plain and on the smaller side. The Alsanda Vada sadly lacked the crispy crunch. The inside turned out a bit too thick and heavy. The Garlic Naan lacked the classic airy, fluffy texture you expect and was quite dense. Additionally, there was almost no garlic flavor. It served as a great vessel for the curries, which made for a good meal overall! While tonight's appetizers weren't our favorite, the curries show a lot of promise. We saw so many customers ordering the fresh-made Dosas that we will be back to give those a try in the near future. read more

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Was excited to try this new spot and it was really good! So many choices so it was a little overwhelming but luckily for me, I had my bf order since Indian is one of his favs. I may not remember the name of each dish, everything was delicious and flavorful and spicy! Such a complex mix of ingredients and fun mouth feel. The place was fairly large and clean and service was fine. The only con about this place is that they call out a number (which comes out a little unclear) and if you ordered multiple dishes, which we did, you have to get up for each dish! Otherwise, we will definitely be visiting again to try new dishes! read more

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Wow. Hands down the best Indian restaurant in Jacksonville. I'll go into detail but words won't be enough. FOOD: We have tried the South Indian (dosa, idli, sambhar, and vada), North Indian (Pani puri/golguppe, Chicken tandoori and paneer tikka), and drink items (mango lassi). All were amazing. In the paneer dosa, what I LOVED was there is paneer + sliced onion and capsicum and this added SO much flavor to the whole dish and made it a unique item. The idli sambhar and Vada sambhar were so hot and fresh, felt as though just made, and especially Vada was kurkura and inside so soft. Felt like mom's homemade food. I felt transported to South India! Standing at the stall and having the golguppe was too fun, and reminded me of Delhi. The stall was very clean and cute. And man the pani puri was packed with the savoriness and spice, made my eyes water but I am ready to do it again! SERVICE: The staff is very nice. The ladies at the front desk give good suggestions and take their time to explain difference in the dishes. Overall dishes arrive promptly. AMBIENCE: Very cute on the inside, and very clean. It's great they have a sink outside the restrooms (makes it easy to wash hands). Gives you cafe vibes. I have come a few times, am from New Delhi (so you know how selective my review will be), and have had great experiences each time. This has the potential to be the best Indian restaurant in Jacksonville. read more

This place is awesome. Eaten here 3-4 times already and love everything . Menu is HUGE so I'm having a great time trying new items I don't normally find on most Indian restaurants menus. It is spicier than normal but I love heat and my family is getting used to it . They give you large portions and the price is pretty reasonable. read more

Desi Chowrastha - Indian Near Me - Jacksonville, Florida

This neighborhood is absolutely starving for a great Indian restaurant, and this spot has so much potential to fill that gap if it stops taking shortcuts for quick wins. The food shows real promise, and the ambience is great but serving it entirely with disposable plastic completely ruins the dining experience and harms the environment. If the management wants to avoid the cleanup and dishwashing, they should switch to eco-friendly, non-plastic alternatives. By investing in sustainability rather than cheap plastic, this restaurant can truly honor its cuisine, respect the neighborhood, and build the long-term community loyalty it deserves. read more

Wow!!! What an experience. The wife and I went there and were amazed with the number of people there on a Thursday evening. The ordering is done by Kiosk, not my favorite. For an inexperienced person the menu is overwhelming. Must have been over 50 different items with just names and prices. For people that do not know what most of the items are we could use a description. So the wife and I just waded in up to our bellies and got some really good food. We got the Achari Chicken, Apollo fish, spicy chopped chicken sandwich, plain naan and coriander naan. All item were very good. With the chicken sandwich being the best. Plan to go again after doing some on line research so we can explore more of the menu. The people were very helpful getting our food and keeping the place clean. read more

If you like a lot of rice this place is for you. Maybe have real picture instead of ai so you're customer know what to expect. Little to no chicken. read more

Desi Chowrastha - This is what I order - Indian Near Me - Jacksonville, Florida

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I recently tried Desi Chowrastha, the new Indian restaurant in Julington Creek, and I was very impressed. I ordered the Dhaba Goat Curry with the spicy option, and it was absolutely delicious. The flavors were rich and authentic, the spices were perfectly balanced, and the goat was tender and cooked just right. The portion size was generous, and the price was very reasonable for the quality of the meal. If you enjoy flavorful Indian cuisine with a little heat, I highly recommend giving the Dhaba Goat Curry a try. I'll definitely be back to sample more of the menu! read more

WOW Amazing food Amazing people This is what we've been missing in St John's Love food with actual flavor and heat Thank you so much for opening here read more

The food is fresh! Large variety and the staff are pleasant. I love that some of the staff will describe the Indian dishes. It's a happily styled family ambiance, where you can eat inside or outside. read more

Food was fresh, high quality, and flavorful. Having been to India several times, both northern and southern parts of the country, I feel I have some awareness of the cuisine of India and I was very happy with this experience. The menu is vast and could be overwhelming so for our first visit, we stuck with familiar dishes. We had a masala dosa, tandoori chicken, okra curry, and some masala chai. We kept things mild since we weren't sure how the spice level runs. It was a good choice. The dosa filling had some kick, as did the okra curry. But it wasn't too much for us. I really enjoyed the dosa, the sambar, and the chutneys that came with it. The tandoori chicken was well seasoned and cooked perfectly. We enjoyed the okra too. I wish we would've had more people with us so we could try more things (including some kulfi after our meal!) but we will have to come back another time. If you like Indian, or want to try something new, give this place a try! While you do order at a kiosk, every staff person was nice and helpful. Note: after you order, you get a printed ticket to take to the drinks counter while you wait for your food order number to be called. read more

Best Indian food in town and we have tied them all. Great selection of dishes. We tried multiple items and keep coming back to try more and haven't had a bad dish yet. read more

I love indian food and I'm very glad that we have another restaurant open. I ordered Aloo Samosa (potato filling) 2 medium size for $4, 1 Chicken puff $5 ( puff pastry with spices hardly any chicken in it but very peppery HOT), 1 pastry Gulab Jamun $5 and 1 Falooda Malai for $9 ( condensed and evaporated milk mix with a few pieces of vermicelli and a scoop of ice cream) . Overall we couldn't eat the the samosa and chicken puff bcz they were extremely hot. There's no spice levels everything is very HOT. Price wise everything seems over priced. Service was a little confusing I guess they are still newly opened. Ambiance since it's still new looks CLEAN. read more

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Benne Dosa was very oily. The paper plate they gave for dosa was covered with oil. The taste was not good. I did not complain because did not to face the owner. read more

Not a fan of curry. Had too much for me on my entree. So overpriced. Not going back. Not impressed with this Indian restaurant.

Food was excellent always exceptional food. Kids to elder parents enjoy the food. Prices are competitive. Quality is good, no concerns!! Continue to maintain the standard and the restaurant can reach high places. read more

Still in soft opening days, but everything we had was fantastic and everybody is super friendly!!!

amazing atmosphere family friendly, amazing authentic food . customer service was great ! Highly recommend .

I stopped in with my teen son to order takeaway for our family of 5 who love Indian cuisine. We usually support Maa Kitchen but wanted to try the new restaurant near us and it was phenomenal!!! We used one of the kiosks to order the food as it had more explanations of the food items that we'd never seen before in other restaurants. The kiosk asks mild, medium, or spicy for everything we ordered. We have 3 vegetarians in our house so we ordered the Malai Kofta,Tikka Paneer, Chana Masala and Yellow Dal. I think those were all medium. One Chicken Tika Masala, samosas, one other delicious triangle veggie app which name I don't remember, a chat, coriander naan and garlic naan. Everyone loved everything and they ate it for dinner that night, more for breakfast and finished it off that night for dinner. The yellow dal was a little bland but not unusual. I'll be back today to grab more as everyone wants it again. Service was excellent. We will certainly be regulars! read more