Dishoom - Restaurant that proved me wrong

I have always been biased about “Indian” restaurants in London. More often than not, I have been disappointed because the food they serve is not authentic. And when I found one that absolutely lived up to my expectations, I’ll be darned if I don’t write about it! More so, because, I never even wanted to give it a chance in the first place. In my mind, I had already written it off. Which means, there is a “Moral of the Story” here 😉

Without further ado, let me tell you that the restaurant in question is Dishoom. They have many branches dotted around in London but the one that I went to was in Shoreditch – the cool hip neighbourhood in East London. And I went for breakfast/brunch. It was pretty early on a Saturday morning because that’s the only reservation that we managed to get. It’s a busy place!

There were two sections in the restaurant. One is a conservatory-style, bright, light area looking out onto the street. We chose to sit in the second section – the one where you get the feeling that you have entered into a sepia-mode photograph of Irani cafes from Bombay. Yes, you heard me right! I am not calling it Mumbai. Somehow, Irani cafes go better with Bombay.

Mosaic tiles, slow-moving ceiling fans, green gingham table-cloths, random family photographs, equally random signs typically found in road-side dhaabas and railway stations – Dishoom has managed to set the vibe right. And they have managed to get the food right too. We started with Bun Maska – a classic Irani cafe staple. It basically means toasted buns with butter. Eating these soft buns dunked into the house chai was heavenly! The chai itself is superb – milky, mildly sweet, with perfect balance of spices. I am not a chai-lover and I ordered a bottom-less version. That says a lot! Moving on, we ordered the Keema per Eedu and Akuri – both are again classic Irani dishes. Both were delicious and most importantly, authentic!

Food, service, ambiance and location – all in all, a big Thumbs Up from me!

However, I must add that a lot of my friends have been to Dishoom for lunch and dinner and they never had a good thing to say. That’s why I would only recommend trying the Irani menu which is available for brunch. You’ve been duly warned 😉

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