The Dishoom PR deluge started innocently enough – a small blurb at the bottom of a Daily Candy email. But within 48 hours of my seeing that email, Dishoom was mentioned seemingly everywhere (try googling Dishoom + London).
While I was tempted to dismiss all the hype and ignore Dishoom for a while, my friend J, who grew up in south India, was immediately drawn to Dishoom’s concept of a vintage Mumbai cafe. This enthusiasm arose even before any generally-positive reviews like this one in TimeOut had been published.
For starters, there’s the name: Dishoom! is an onomatopoeia for gun shooting in old Bollywood movies and shows, and anyone who longs for old Batman TV episodes (packed with Ka-Pow!’s and Bam!’s) can understand the nostalgia and fun promised by a place so named.
Happily, Dishoom lives up to the hype. For now, the restaurant doesn’t take reservations, but when Jon and I arrived on Saturday night with our party of five, we waited only ten minutes for a comfy booth to open up. And while waiting, we were each served a glass of warm, spicy chai. The little things go a long way.
Jon and I were slackers and let our friends from India, J & N, order everything for the table: keema pau, pau bhaji, chilli cheese toast, desi fish fingers, Dishoom roomali rolls to start, and a lot of grill items, black dal and biryani for our mains.
I think the risk for restaurants selling nostalgia is that if the food isn’t served exactly the way someone grew up eating it, you’re sunk. For example, Jon and I really enjoyed the keema pau (a spicy minced lamb topping accompanied by rounds of buttered toast) and pau bhaji (mashed veg stew with the same rounds of toast). Both dishes were deliciously spicy and fragrant, but N didn’t like the pau bhaji because she preferred the veg to come in bigger chunks instead of mashed.
Chilli cheese toast was more interesting than tasty. The layer of cheese was thick and a tad congealed, and overall it tasted dry. But I loved the thought of all these kids in India growing up on, effectively, spicy grilled cheese. Ditto on the desi fish fingers, which were just, you know, fish fingers, the term ‘desi’ notwithstanding. I guess it’s the tamarind sauce that distinguishes it from regular fish fingers.
My favorite of the starters was the “Dishoom chicken roomali roll,” which had a great mix of textures and flavors: moist chicken, crunchy nuts, cool crisp greens and a sweet-tangy sauce. Minor quibble was that the roti tasted pretty dry, especially at the ends where the roti bunched up, but if Mooli’s sold kathi rolls like these, I’d be there every day.
Spicy lamb chops “rubbed with crushed black pepper and chillies” were fantastic. I love that the kitchen didn’t hold back on the spice rub, and the chops were thick and juicy. Our table devoured two orders of these. Murgh malai (£6.50), a mild grilled chicken dish, was also a hit. The beauty of chicken thigh marinated in cream before grilling is not to be underestimated.
Black dal (aka dal makhani) is always a treat to see on a restaurant menu because the number of hours it takes to cook up a good one is something beyond most home cooks’ schedules. Dishoom’s dal makhani was wonderfully smoky and rich. Try not to think about all the cream and ghee in there, of course. We ordered two of these, as well.
I’m the only one at our table who enjoyed the chicken berry biryani. I hate when biryanis are too wet and weighed down by fillings, so that would explain why I enjoyed Dishoom’s version, which was comprised of fluffy, fragrant basmati with just a sprinkle of oil and spices. It’s true there weren’t many berries or chicken pieces in it, but for me the joy of biryani comes from the crunchy bits of rice off the bottom of the pan, of which there were plenty in our serving.
The dining room was lively and ready-to-be-franchised attractive. Our servers were attentive and fast, and prices were low, especially given the touristy theatreland neighborhood. Assorted extras like raita, roti and naan were all priced under 2 quid, and most of the wine list options were less than 30. Unlike other bloggers whose reviews I’ve seen so far, I was perfectly happy to pay £1 for large bottles of filtered water, and the fact that 20p of each bottle goes to charity was icing on the cake.
Our table of five ordered two bottles of wine for £60, so the cost of our dinner per person was £29. Great value for the food, service and location. I’ll be back. The lamb chops and black dal are already calling to me as I type, and if Dishoom becomes as ubiquitous as the Cheesecake Factory, I won’t hold it against them. They’ll have earned their popularity.
Dishoom, 12 Upper St Martins Lane, WC2H 9FB; 020 7420 9320; closest Tube stations: Covent Garden and Leicester Square
Oooh, am very keen to visit now after your positive review! Love Indian food but was worried this was just going to be another generic touristy place. Do you know if they have filtered sparkling water? Some restaurants install the whole system that can do that and so their bottles end up much cheaper.
I know what you mean. I wouldn’t have tried them out but as I mentioned above, our good friends who grew up in India were pretty keen, and now I’m glad we went. (J & N, this is a test to see if you read my blog). : )
Yes, filtered sparkling water is available, too. Also for £1, I believe.
Now that’s another restaurant I just HAVE to go to – I hear their breakfasts are great as well
Yes, I’d love to try their breakfasts, too, though not sure when I’d be hanging around Covent Garden in the morning. Maybe on the weekend?
You already know I ate here last night. I really enjoyied the food and the cocktails. You don’t mention the cocktails! The Bolly Bellini is great–love the cardamom.
I thought the calamari was also excellent, and I consider myself a bit of an expert. 😉 Agree with you completely on the biryani. LOVED the lamb chops. All in all, very well done.
In short, I think they have a hit on their hands, and the PRICES. Amazing, the prices.
Disclaimer: One of the owners is the husband of my co-worker, but I never met him until 13 days ago when I went to their opening.
We skipped the cocktails when we went, but glad to hear you enjoyed. (HollowLegs also had good things to say about the aperos there).
So how many owners are there? It seems like a restaurant ripe for expansion, don’t you think? My friends and I were commenting on how, in the future, every unit would have the same family photos on the walls. : )
Great review – excited to try the food here. I popped in for a meeting the other day and tried their chai, it was delicious – brought many memories back of India! Try the little chips with chilli powder – seriously yummy as little taster.
Loved the decor too and all the old bollywood posters and family pics – added a really personal touch.
Thanks, and will do (re: the chips with chilli powder).
Have you tried the Kati Rolls at the Kati Roll Company? I’m sure you have given that they’re in NY but they’re also on Poland Street in Soho. I prefer them over Mooli’s even though they’re not as healthy but at least there’s more filling than filler (I think my Mooli’s wrap was all lettuce!).
You know, I haven’t tried Kati Roll company, actually. My friends have told me the London version isn’t half as good as it was in New York, but I happened to walk by last Saturday night and remarked out loud to my companions that we ought to try it out. And glad to hear I’m not the only one super unimpressed with Mooli’s. It’s not just that the roti was tough but also, as you say, there were hardly any fillings in there.
I had a promising kati roll this weekend at a shop in Chapel Market (near Angel station). The place was called Delhi Grill, and the pakoras and kati rolls were so good that I’ll be back to try their other menu items.
Will check out Kati Roll company, though.
Ya, have to agree with you about Delhi Grill at Chapel market. Had a lamb sheek kebab wrap for lunch today, and it was delicious. Definitely more meat than salad and it had a subtle kick of chilli. And what a bargain at £2.95!
Although I’ve only tried the calamari and the cafe crisps from Dishoom in the evenings, I really enjoyed their breakfast. The day the bacon naan roll becomes takeaway-able, I will be a very happy lady.
Just found your review, having found your blog via a link in someone else’s (to my shame, I can’t even remember which, maybe Su-Lin’s?).
I just posted a review of Dishoom too, and we really liked both the space itself and the food.
Am also hoping to try the breakfast!
You really should try the Kati Roll Company on Poland St. It’s MUCH better than Mooli, and much more value for money (Mooli stuffs everything with cheap lettuce)! Their rolls are mouth-wateringly amazing, with little bursts of flavour in every bite.
Kati Roll Company actually started the trend in Manhattan of small Indian street-food eateries; within 2 years there were at least 3 imitators. But the best thing about Kati Roll Company is that they have large followings with absolutely NO PR. I understand that no publicist was ever hired, no press releases ever went out, nothing- for NYC or London. Just word of mouth, thats all.
I think Kati Roll Company deserves lots of visitors, just for rising above the PR machine and attracting customers the good ol’ way!
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Dishoom is a top restaurant! I have been there a few times during the afternoon over the weekend, probably the only time that I might get reservations for. I generally use Book a table to make reservations however in this case I made it over the phone, it just makes it much more convenient.
I generally eat the chilli cheese toast & Bombay omelette or one of the grills, Mushoom and Paneer most of the time. Love the Indian spices they add to it, I often over eat here. Definitely recommended.
I noticed a comment on Kati Roll Company, cant really say if its better than the one in the US, the UK one is definitely good enough. That is another place I would recommend.
Looking forward to trying Dishoom when I’m next in London (hopefully in the next few months). If you have a iPhone and like Indian food, check out my iPhone app guide to Indian Restaurant food, http://www.hurrywiththecurry.com/app
Oh, and if you like South Indian food (such as dosa), some nice places to try are: Woodlands and Chennai Dosa chain. Definitely not fine dining, but the food (especially the dosa) is really good!
We don’t have many really good Indian restaurants in San Francisco. I miss London!
dishoom was a big disappointment, we had a booking for 2 and we had to wait 2 hours for our table. We should have just left knowing that the food was not going to be as great as it claims to be. Our server was over stretched managing a number of tables so again we had to wait to be served. Our mains arrived before starters and drinks just arrived as we ordered our tea. The food wasn’t exceptional- cold starters. Complete disorganization. The evening was nothing but a big let down, Dishoom is a indian restaurant trying to claim west end prestige but better off being located on your local high street- at least with high street restaurants you know what to expect.