Dakhin
The batter for the dosa is fermented rice and lentils, and the crepe it cooks into runs two to three feet across the table, which is the format Dakhin brought to Scotland in 2004 as the first restaurant here cooking the food of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
Why go
Owner Navdeep Basi runs Dakhin at 89 Candleriggs and the North Indian Dhabba at 44, so one family splits India across one Merchant City street. The kitchen is built gluten free from the door in: the restaurant states "Every ingredient that enters our kitchen is gluten free" and that "There is no possibility of cross-contamination because there is nothing to cross-contaminate from," a claim "Independently audited and accredited by Coeliac UK." It is 100% nut free as well, which puts it in a very small group of restaurants where a coeliac guest with a nut allergy can order from anywhere on the menu. That constraint also happens to suit the cuisine, since southern cooking already runs on rice, lentils and coconut rather than wheat.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the dosa, described by the restaurant as
a crisp, paper-thin fermented rice and lentil
crepe that spans two to three feet, then push into the Andhra dishes for chilli heat.1 - Avoid: ordering by north Indian habit. Harden's 2023 survey framed the place as "an exceptional all-rounder for its affordable and interesting introduction to the cuisine of south India," and the menu rewards that approach.
What locals & experts say
- The Times (Chitra Ramaswamy, May 2025): a revisit headlined
still tasty after all these years,
in which she wrote that the dishestaste just as fresh
as they did in 2004.2 - Harden's (2024 survey):
nothing but good feedback again this year
for the twenty-year-old venue, with food 3, service 3, ambience 2 and an average price of £36.2 - Coeliac UK accreditation: the kitchen is
Independently audited and accredited by Coeliac UK,
per the restaurant's own gluten-free page.1 - Local rec: Jeff's save, his verdict below.
Good to know
- Timing: lunch and dinner daily, with an afternoon break on weekdays and continuous service at the weekend. Check the Maps pin for exact hours.
- Booking: reserve for dinner. The room is first floor, spacious, and fills on Merchant City weekends.
- Value: coverage of the 2025 Times review cites a £15 lunch menu, which is the cheap way in. Re-check it against the current menu before you plan around it.
- Nearby: The Dhabba, the same owner's North Indian room, is a two-minute walk down Candleriggs and has its own entry.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "One of the best indian restos in gla"
Verdict
should-visit — Go out of your way for it. Dakhin opened in 2004 as the first restaurant in Scotland cooking the food of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, and it still runs the same fermented-batter dosa across a table two to three feet wide. The kitchen is 100% gluten free and 100% nut free, independently audited by Coeliac UK, which is a genuine can't-get-it-elsewhere for allergy diners and pushes it to must-visit for that reader specifically. Held at should-visit for everyone else because the room is plain and the cooking, while consistent over two decades, is not chasing anything new.