Cheeni
Phone: (919) 908-0220
Cheeni, the highly anticipated homestyle Indian restaurant by James Beard Award semifinalist Preeti Waas, is a welcome addition to the heart of downtown Durham. The lunch, brunch and dinner menus at Cheeni includes regional dishes like masala fries, dosa waffles, Indian kabab rolls and rice bowls from Preeti’s childhood and her family’s food memories, highlighting the regions of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal. Bar Beej is Cheeni's Vintage Bollywood Speakeasy serving creative cocktails in the adjoining space.
Cuisines
- Chinese/Mongolian
- Indian
- International
Hours
Monday: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Tuesday: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Wednesday: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Thursday: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Friday: 4:00 – 10:00 PM
Saturday: 4:00 – 10:00 PM
Sunday: Closed
Tuesday: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Wednesday: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Thursday: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Friday: 4:00 – 10:00 PM
Saturday: 4:00 – 10:00 PM
Sunday: Closed
Map
Google Rating
-
The restaurant setting is attractive and the staff were exceptionally kind, so much so that they proactively took 50% off one of my items due to a delay, which I genuinely appreciated.
That said, the food itself was disappointing. This is clearly gentrified Indian food. I have no issue with Indian cuisine in an upscale setting with a significant price markup when it is done with authenticity and depth of flavor - as places like Semma in NYC demonstrate very well. Unfortunately, that was not the case here.
I ordered the Kerala beef parotta as a starter and the kasundi fish in banana leaf as my main. The kasundi fish was passable but unremarkable. The Kerala beef parotta, however, was particularly underwhelming. The Malabar parotta felt more like baked bread than a flaky, layered soft parotta, and the beef was quite dry and lacked any real flavor. As a point of contrast, I would invite people to try the Kerala beef parotta at Grand Malabar in Morrisville to see how flavorful and authentically prepared this dish can be. The ice cream dessert was decent, but it was essentially a straightforward kulfi.
Overall, this felt like Indian food that has been heavily westernized. That impression was reinforced by the clientele, I was essentially the only non-white diner in the restaurant. The food may appeal to a Western audience looking for an “Indian-inspired” date-night experience, but if you’re desi or looking for authentic, flavorful Indian food, I would probably save some money and visit Anjappar next door instead. -
Unfortunately, this restaurant misses the Mark in terms of accuracy, price, and taste.
I had checked with a waitress to make sure that they could do a proper substitution in one of the dishes where instead of beef, they would put chicken. They confirmed this was correct, and it even showed as documented on the receipt as correct. However, once I got the dish, I noticed that there was beef in it. Unfortunately, the restaurant was only willing to provide a 30% discount for the price of the dish rather than a full refund, even though the dish was not touched.
Second, the price is quite a lot for the quantity you get. Portions are extremely small, and you are easily paying $20-30 per dish.
Lastly, taste is seriously lacking. Everything has zero spice in it, and the dishes themselves are mild at best. They have some dishes that they claim are with crispy chicken, but it was definitely soggy.
I don’t recommend this place unless you want to be disappointed. -
(tldr: very slow service, mixed up orders, undercooked rice, not good value for money.)
Cheeni missed the mark for us when it came to simple service expectations and food, which is sad as we love South Indian food. We had a reservation for 7 pm which we arrived promptly for, but were only seated about 10-15 minutes later. It wasn’t necessarily packed either, which was interesting.
The alcoholic drink one of us ordered didn’t have much alcohol. As for the apps, the chaat and chettinad chicken were good and had great familiar South Indian/Indian flavors- we anticipated this to be the case for the entrees too. However, we were given a paneer makhani (we ordered chicken) that the runner insisted was chicken until we told them we tasted it. It then took about 15 minutes for our server to come back and find out that our order was messed up (thankfully the chicken came out shortly after). We also ordered 2 parathas, but they only gave us 1 at first and gave the second one 10 minutes later.
The flavor of the chicken makhani and the biryani we ordered were good, but the biryani was undercooked to the point of random stiffness for some grains (the white rice was also undercooked!). Overall, the flavors are there, but they’re messing up on simple service and simple cooking errors (undercooking rice and dry parathas). For the price point, we just expected more attention to detail. Wouldn’t recommend. -
I came in with high hopes and with recommendations from several people. The positives are the service is impeccable, the plating/presentation thoughtful, and there some good flavors to be enjoyed. The food itself missed the mark for me. I tried the Chettinad style mushrooms, which had a wonderful flavor and great balance of spice. Unfortunately I couldn’t discern any texture of the mushrooms. They were either too small or shrunk significantly in the fryer. It felt like I was just chewing tiny bits of batter. The Saron ke Saag & Paneer + Partha had some good aspects. The partha was flaky, soft and a perfect compliment to the saag. The saag itself was really over salted, and the paneer dry. I’m no stranger to expensive curries, but $28 should get me a curry larger than what can fit in my cupped hands. Drinking only water, I left with a $60 bill, still hungry, and not satisfied.
-
The Good: The service was the highlight of our visit—the staff was attentive, professional, and we had no issues with the pacing or hospitality.
The Food: Unfortunately, the kitchen didn't live up to the service. As someone who appreciates Indian cuisine, this felt like Fusion Indian food. While fusion is fine, the flavor profiles here felt more aligned with African-influenced Indian Diaspora cooking rather than authentic Indian flavors with depth. We ordered one appetizer and two entrees (approx. $100 total), and the flavors were disappointing enough that we couldn't even finish the main courses.
The Value:I don’t mind a price markup for upscale Indian dining if the authenticity and complexity of the spices justify it, but here, both the food and the drinks (alcoholic/non) felt overpriced.
Verdict: 5/10 on the food. Great service, but if you are looking for authentic depth of flavor, this might not be the spot for you.
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