This is summertime in London! What better occasion for Londoners to feel like on holidays? You don’t need to travel far. In this post I’ll present you a place in central London where you’ll feel like you’re in Bombay. Dishoom is the perfect exotic place to enjoy an amazing Indian food. Just follow the guide…

Dishoom : A Bombay Cafe nestled in Covent Garden

The restaurant’s motto is “From Bombay with Love”. And it’s true. You can feel the passion for food AND India there. Everything is made to dazzle your senses, from the design of the place (up to the restrooms), or the mouth-watering food (for anyone fond of spices and colours in food), to the noisy rooms that reminded me of my travel to Bombay a decade away. After a few minutes at Dishoom, you forget where you are…

Exquisite food at Dishoom

When you look at the many indian customers coming to the restaurant, you can easily guess that Dishoom is one of the best Indian kitchen in London. We personally knew it, as we already tasted it in Shoreditch, another Dishoom’s location in London. We began our lunch with a traditional Mango & Fennel Lassi, deliciously sweet and fruity…
Then we tried the Murgh Malai, some chicken steeped overnight with garlic, ginger and coriander. It was quite a surprising dish, as some parts of the meat were still pink, which we are not accustomed to speaking of chicken, but it was full of flavours and deliciously tender.
We also tried the Prawn and Pomelo salad, really tasty with its spicy flavours in the pomelo.
And the Raita was here to compensate for the hot flavours of our dishes. Quite marvellous how this fresh side-dish always makes me feel on holidays…!

Good vibes at Dishoom

I like the way they designed this restaurant, in the style of the old post-colonial ‘Irani cafés’ of Bombay. You can’t imagine you’re still in central London!
The location in Shoreditch was totally different, with an exotic outdoor patio. I don’t know about the other locations, but I can’t wait to visit them (in King’s cross and Carnaby). In Covent Garden, in addition to the ceiling fans and many posters of Indian people on the walls, even the toilets are (tastefully) decorated to feel like in India…
Dishoom has also developed its own music and launched its “Slip Disc” Vinyl Album (available for sale on their website). The music aims at “showcasing some music that will bridge the gap between London and Bombay”.

What I very much appreciated at Dishoom was the attention of the staff. We had to queue half an hour outside before being seated in the restaurant. The staff was here to offer us Chai or Mint teas. They also made their possible to register each of us, and according to the number of seats we were looking for, they could manage the queue in the shortest time.  I think we were all quite happy despite the waiting time…

Finally, eating at Dishoom is a feast for the taste buds. But it is also an act of generosity considering their humanitary involvement. They call it “A meal for a meal”: for every meal eaten at the restaurant, one is offered to a schoolchild in India…Now you don’t have any excuse not going to Dishoom !

Explore any of Dishoom’s locations and share your experience on the blog!