Restaurant Review: Daisy Tasker in Dundee combines Scottish food with a modern twist

By Mariam Okhai

September 10 2022, 6:00am

Chicken burger with Emmental cheese.

Housed within a converted textile mill which is now a Dundee hotel is where you’ll find modern Scottish restaurant Daisy Tasker.

Named after a young mill worker who was known for organising social activities for her colleagues, Daisy Tasker forms part of the Hotel Indigo and is a space not just for lunch and dinner, but for breakfast, too.

Fresh Scottish ingredients can be found across the menus at the restaurant and include a number of dishes which incorporate locally grown produce to allow their guests to enjoy the very best of what’s on the city’s doorstep.

My recent trip here was cause for celebration. My youngest sister had passed all of her SQA exams and I thought it was only fair that I treat her to dinner to commemorate her achievements.

Having previously visited Daisy Tasker for their Dundee afternoon tea, I had high hopes for the dinner options.

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Daisy Tasker

I had booked a table for the two of us at 7pm on a Wednesday night.

For anyone who’s not been before, the entrance to the hotel is located in a courtyard just off Constable Street. This is also where you’ll find the doors to the restaurant entrance, too.

The car park was full on the night I was visiting so I parked on a side street just along from the venue and walked along.

The dining room has a real industrial feel to it, a nod to its former self and because of its modern look, I feel it is a good place to take visitors who are from out of town.

It was quite busy when we walked in with diners at most of the tables. However, it wasn’t particularly loud which I tend to like as I feel it gives the atmosphere of a venue a bit of buzz.

The food

Coming from a large family it isn’t unusual for us to order large portions of food and share them between us.

As a result I often enjoy suggesting sharing starters with those I am dining with at restaurants as I like to have a tapas-type selection that I can try. It also allows me to try more than one dish and cherry-pick what I really want to get stuck into.

Both my sister and I have similar tastes so we opted to share the mixed olives plate (£3.50) along with the sesame hummus and flatbread (£4).

Our waiter also recommended we try the soup of the day (£6), which happened to be curry soup, and although I wouldn’t normally go for that flavour I took his word of it being delicious and ordered it. At this time we also placed a drinks order for a Diet Coke and water which arrived shortly after.

I have to admit I was not completely sold on the soup as it brought back memories of my lunchtime visits to the local café when I was at school.

My sister, who attends the same school now, said the exact same thing and so I felt it would have maybe been better off trying something a bit different.

The soup was thick and tasted more like lentil soup instead of the flavour explosion I was expecting with the curry flavour.

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed the green olives which were very juicy and had a nutty, salty flavour to them. As for the hummus, it was rich and creamy with sesame and garlic hints throughout giving it a savoury and slightly tangy flavour. The warmed flatbreads were a treat and paired well.

I had discovered on a previous visit that the chicken is halal and neither my sister nor I could see past the chicken burger (£15). We both felt compelled to order it as it sounded too good to resist. Topped with Emmental cheese as well as tomatoes, lettuce, onion rings and a gherkin, it was the brioche bun that brought some sweetness into the mix.

Served with a side of well-cooked chunky crispy chips and homemade ketchup, I felt the chicken breast fillet was a little dry. However, with the delicious sauce and toppings, the dryness was almost masked.

The mammoth burger is a substantial eat and would easily fulfil any diner’s appetite.

Other options I could have ordered included the hake and summer vegetables, courgette spaghetti and cauliflower and white truffle macaroni which neither of us fancied.

The pièce de résistance for me had to be the Eton mess (£6.25) dessert with strawberry, meringue, black pepper and basil.

Although I wasn’t sure how the basil would taste with the other elements of the dessert, it was an incredible flavour explosion in my mouth.

Everything about this dessert alone makes a trip to Daisy Tasker worth it. I don’t often get blown away by dessert, but this really exceeded all of my expectations.

The verdict

Overall I would say that Daisy Tasker is a lovely place to visit for an intimate and higher-end dining experience.

With a relaxed atmosphere and friendly staff you can enjoy a wide range of dishes from their menu without having too much of a shock when the bill arrives.

I intend to return to the venue to sample some more of their dishes in the future and would recommend using it as a venue for business dinners or meeting friends and family.