When I had dinner at Nadu in Lincoln Park, I learned about Swadesi. Swadesi and Nadu are both part of the same restaurant group by Sujan Sarkar. I was immediately interested in going because I heard they served great savory pastries like a butter chicken croissant, and savory pastries are my favorite.
We took a long walk to Swadesi to pick up some breakfast, and when we arrived, it had a very lively atmosphere. The cafe is a great size, with plenty of seating and a large coffee bar showcasing all of their pastries. There’s a wide range of both sweet and savory options, along with a full menu featuring more filling items like breakfast sandwiches and avocado toast with an Indian flair. Swadesi also has a great list of coffee drinks, including signature options like the Banana Cream Matcha, Swadesi Masala Chai, and a Vanilla Bean Latte with smoked sea salt. Here’s everything we picked up, what we loved, and what I’d get again:
Food - Butter Chicken Croissant, Chicken Tikka Toastie, and Breakfast Sandwich: These savory pastries were absolutely delicious. There were many items on the menu that I wanted to try, but these 3 stood out to me the most and I am very glad we picked them. The Butter Chicken Croissant (left) was flaky and soft, and the burrata with the pickled onions mixed in with the butter chicken gave it a refreshing and balanced bite. The Chicken Tikka Toastie (middle) was so flavorful. The sandwich had a cilantro and mint mayo that gave it that same balanced bite. The Breakfast Sandwich (right) was an elevated classic breakfast sandwich. It came with a crispy potato tikki which was a crispy hashbrown and a spicy garlic mayo. I loved all three of these and I will definitely be going back to pick up pastries from here in the future.
Drinks - Iced Masala Chai and Swadesi Masala Chai: It was hard to pick a drink because they all sounded pretty good, but we ended up going with a classic chai drink. Candidly, I thought these were pretty good, but nothing special. I thought they were lacking the stronger chai flavor I like. I'd still be interested in trying one of their other signature drinks, but the food was the highlight of the cafe for me.
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