Dishoom – Bombay Cafe in London

Dishoom London Covent Garden

Everyone I have been talking to or blogs I have been reading… seems to be talking about Dishoom. It all started when some sent me a page suggestion on facebook and the name got me. I love the name. For me it triggers memories (excuse the pun) of that most iconic sound of gun fire or a landing a punch from Hindi films, and memories of playing as children running round firing our imaginary guns shouting ‘Dishoom Dishoom’ pretending to be Amitabh. I was looking for a youtube clip that had this sound but couldn’t find one… so found an image of Amitabh Bachan throwing a punch!

dishoom dishoom

I wasn’t intending to go this past weekend, but after reading about the bacon naan roll, I thought I might pay a visit for brunch. That didn’t pan out so we ended up there for lunch with my wife and parents. The idea is based on the Irani cafes you get in Mumbai. I had to get my Mum and Dad along because I thought they might enjoy it but would also they would provide some good feedback.

The decor inside is very cool. Their are very old photos, covering the walls which we found out later are pictures of the owners’ families from India from way back when. There are also old adverts for Vimto and a few other quirky things. I like the old style hanging lights above each table. The the toilet cubicle even had a medicine cabinet with various Indian medicines – just for show of course. The staff were very friendly from the minute we walked in.

We glanced over the menu. It was hard to choose, as there were so many things that sounded really good. Some of the dishes are like what we eat at home as a snack like the masala crisps, chilli cheese on toast, pau bhaji or things I eat when I can’t be bothered to cook like the kebab or chicken rolls. My wife and parents are vegetarian, but this was not a problem as there was a reasonable selection for them. If you’re looking for the usual Indian food, then you’re not going to find it here… and that’s a good thing… If you want to have a big meal at Dishoom, you can. If you want a snack and be on your merry way, you can.

So what did we have….

Dishoom - Cafe Crisps

Cafe Crisps – not really crisps, but fried bits of the pastry that you find on a samosa (I could be wrong, but it seemed that way to me), with chilli and lemon… and they were really good…

Dishoom - Pau Bhaji

Pau Bhaji – Indian street food and saturday night food in our house. Its essentially a smooth mash of vegetables in a tomato gravy cooked on a tawa (hot plate) served with grilled buttered bread rolls. Done like you get at chowpatty beach in Mumbai, smooth easy to eat – though the bread rolls are not oozing in butter like they are in India. None the less, it was really nice. Often in the random restaruants you find this in, they use too much garam masala… but this was nicely spiced… not too hot, not too bland… and had a nice texture.. My mum and dad loved it… which is saying something!

Dishoom - Chilli Cheese Toast

Chilli Cheese Toast – basically cheese on toast topped with chillis and spring onions. My wife thought it had too much cheese but I thought it was fine. I probably wouldn’t order it again though as there is other things I would want to try but also I was just curious about their take on it… its something I make at home now and then and I prefer my version

Dishoom - Grilled Vegetables

Grilled Vegetables – some mushrooms, peppers, onions and aubergines grilled and coated in some sort of paste… these were nice. The veggies still retained their texture, and the charring from the grill was just right… and the sauce they were coated in was perfect… it didn’t overpower the veg, rather complemented it…

Dishoom - Spicy Sweet Mushroom and Paneer Salad

Spicy Sweet Mushroom and Paneer Salad – this was nice though my mrs did find the paneer a bit rich… my parents enjoyed it too

Dishoom - Desi Fish Fingers

Desi Fish Fingers – ooh these were gooooood… nice goujoun-esqe (if that’s a word), coated in a spice batter and fried. Crispy on the outside and soft in the middle… they were good especially with the tamarind and date dipping sauce… I also wrapped a few in the roomali roti

Dishoom - Making Roomali Roti

Roomali Roti – I got this after I saw a chef spinning it through the air and thought it’d be nice to wrap the fish fingers in it and eat it with the dip

Surprisingly we were all full at this point.. I was contemplating the keema pau… but then we looked at the dessert menu

Dishoom - Passion Fruit and Ginger Gola

Dishoom - Pomegranate and Chilli Gola

We had both the Golas – a flavoured crushed ice dessert. We had the passion fruit and ginger as well as the pomegranate and chilli. I think our favourite was the pomegranate and chilli one by far. My dad had the pistaccio kulfi on a stick… which he liked.

Drinks…

Dishoom - Bhang Lassi

I had the Bhang Lassi with rum – this was ok. I didn’t have enough rum to be honest. My wife didn’t like it. Bhang, if you don’t know, is the indian name for the green leafy plant they have decriminalised in the Netherlands and a Bhang Lassi, is made by mixing with that plant during a particular Hindu festival, which is the only time it is ok to have it in India. This version however is made with or without rum.

Dishoom - Rose and Cardamon Lassi

My wife had the Rose and cardamon lassi - which was quite nice. My mum had the chai, brought out in the usual glass you’d find in India – which was cool. My dad had the Meantime union beer – which was also quite nice.

Dishoom - Thums Up Coke

To finish up – I had the Coke, Bombay style – called Thums Up. This was a bit a head f**k for me… it was coke with a background taste of cumin and / or black salt (sanchar)… it was really good but in strange way… I really liked it… talk about a taste of India!

I also liked the fact the owner who was there at the time took a few moments to come and chat to us about our meal… and my parents barraged him with questions… nice guy!

And the damage – well not really damage… the bill for 4 of us came to around £55 not including a tip… so pretty good…

All in all I liked Dishoom a lot. For me it was very familiar and homely. More to the point, my parents loved it and being Indian, they are quite particular about where they eat indian food and what they eat. I’d go back as there are a few other things I want to eat…

Dishoom is located at 12 Upper St Martin’s Lane London, WC2H