Photo: Experience the charm of Dishoom’s Art Deco interiors, inspired by 1970s Bombay café culture, perfectly complemented by delicious Indian-inspired dishes and a cracking ambience.
Experience Delicious Indian-Style Cuisine And 70s Bombay Glamour
Dishoom offers a delightful fusion of Indian-inspired dishes with Bombay café charm, where great food, vintage vibes, and commendable charitable initiatives create an unforgettable London dining experience.
Forget soggy fish and chips and the traditional Sunday Roast….curry is said to be the favourite dish of Brits nowadays. There are no less than 18,000 Indian restaurants in the UK and London alone can boast a fast growing “chain” of Indian restaurants – the multiple award-winning “Dishoom.” A measure of its success is that you’ll often find long queues forming outside its restos even before opening (therefore,best to book well ahead if possible) and part of the appeal of this place is that it nicely evokes the atmosphere of old style 1970s Bombay café culture.
If, like this writer, you have little or no actual idea of what that was like fear not – a visit to one of the several Dishooms in the capital will still do nicely. Certainly, if the hustle and bustle of a London Dishoom, circa 2025, is anything to go by then Bombay café culture in the 70s must have been a very lively experience.
Dishoom delivers on all fronts—delicious food, stylish décor, welcoming staff, and a nostalgic atmosphere—all while supporting admirable charity efforts.
This chain has acquired an enviable reputation for dishing up (excuse the pun) some of the best and tastiest Indian-inspired cuisine this side of the sub-continent. It has numerous (and equally excellent) restos in different parts of London, including Kensington, tucked up a quiet side street, where you can tuck into some local specials, including “Nihari”, a hearty and robust biryani.
Tender shank of lamb is layered with rice and caramelised onions then (and this is something this writer had never previously encountered with a biryani) sealed beneath a pastry blanket and enriched further with kaleji (chicken liver) raita and nihari gravy (best served shared”.
The food is totally fab as are the Art Deco surroundings (all voluptuous curves and chandeliers), and played out against a backdrop of a cracking ambience which further benefits from live music every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings by the resident house band who play a 45-minute set.
There are no traditional “starters” or “mains” as such at Dishoom but, rather, “small plates”, grills and other dishes and the good news for those in search a good curry is that all are quite delicious and mouth-watering.
They include the very tasty Murg Malai, chicken steeped overnight in garlic and ginger, and Chicken Ruby, tender chicken in a rich,silky makhani sauce. A good and “proper” curry, redolent with spice and flavour.
If you fancy something even spicier try the Goan Monkfish Curry – choicest monkfish and green beans simmered in a creamy coconut, tamarind, tomatoes and kokum. As the menu states: “Think quality.”
If you have room (doubtful if the biryani was your mains), you are spoilt for choice but that good old favourite, kulfi, will go down a treat (either mango, pistachio or malai) Considering the quality , the prices of these and much else are all democratic at Dishoom
Dishoom also happens to serve breakfast daily until 11.45am – a great way to start any day and, if you do, try not to leave without sampling the lovely house chai and/or a specially-produced Dishoom India pale ale. The staff at this branch, which is sizeable, seating nearly 300 no less, are very friendly and that may have something to do with what Rob, the manager, believes which is “being as passionate about the staff as we are our diners.”
For every meal consumed Dishoom very generously and commendably donates a meal to a child “in need” (that’s an estimated some 20 million meals so far) and works with two charities – Magic Breakfast in the UK and Akshaya Patra in India – who provide free meals to schools.
If you visit the Battersea branch, aside from the fab food there’s much else to occupy you such as a comic-style booklet which tells the story of Choti Dishoom, a girl who lived in Bombay in 1953. Indeed, each of the numerous Dishooms scattered around London each has its own “unique” personal imprint.
There’s another, for instance, that dishes out a “teetotal menu” to customers – a “very sober” card listing non-alcoholic drinks. It’s all very clever and a nice touch as it the bit of local info at the foot of each menu which tells you about the locality of that particular Dishoom.
The idea is to recreate the faded elegance of old Irani cafes from that period of Bombay life that most of us will have witnessed, at best, only on TV or the big screen.
The good news is that Dishoom does that with a real dash.
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