BEGIN THE DAY with a bowl of Date & Banana Porridge or a Bacon Naan Roll. Savour the fragrance of freshly-baked pau, the rich salty taste of butter melting on a bun dipped in hot chai, the warm indulgence of Akuri, the wistfulness of a moment.
At lunch, waiters find joy in delivering trays of abundant food to your table. Roomali Roti Rolls, baked and filled to order, humble and delicious Mattar Paneer, or fresh salads. Refresh your afternoon with a drop of Chai and a small plate or two, while a thin coil of sandalwood smoke rises from gently burning incense.
And as evening falls, the café fills with calls of old friends meeting, chatting – a lovely and lively hubbub. To the table come smoky, melt-in-the-mouth grills, slow-cooked and aromatic biryanis, robust and spicy curries. Plates are passed around, shared, enjoyed.
Then, retreat to the Permit Room — the bar within our cafés, ease yourself into a chair and order an India Gimlet, a Permit Room Old-fashioned, or our very good Dishoom IPA. Take a long draught. Exhale contentedly.
SINCE 1949, and to this very day, Bombay has been under a state of prohibition. A personal permit is required by law if one is to 'continue to require foreign liquor and country liquor for preservation and maintenance of one’s health.'
Set apart from a family room, there is a special place which has come to be known unofficially as a Permit Room. Herein liquor can be sold and imbibed, but only for the goodness of one’s health.
We warmly invite you to step inside The Permit Room — the bars within our cafés dedicated to the most delicious and sincere tipples, great music and good cheer.
Stop by any Bombay tapri (street stall), café, or home, and you will likely find yourself with a gently steaming glass of chai in hand. Before the invention of chai, Bombayites drank kadha, an ayurvedic remedy for coughs and colds made of boiled water and spices like cardamom, cloves and nutmeg. Eventually locals started adding tea leaves, milk, honey and sugar to their ‘kadha’. Chai was born.
Bedecked in their annual finery of baubles, tinsel and lights, our cafés are ready to receive you for your Christmas celebration. So too are our chefs, who have assembled a most excellent array of festive fare for your table.
In Bombay, a city surrounded by the sea, seafood is fresh and available in abundance. And feasting on it is a regular and exuberant activity — almost a birthright. Bombayites, raised on the spoils of the sea, crowd into famed spots for favourite dishes. Mahesh Lunch Home for Jumbo Crab and Butter Pepper Garlic Prawns. Trishna for Tandoori Lobster and Squid Koliwada. Or Gajalee for Clam Masala and Stuffed Pomfret.
No party is complete without some delectable pours to toast the host with the most. For the crafty amongst us, bring out the shakers and strainers and the channel knife and pour your energy into building our festive concoction – The Taj Ballroom Toddy. A warming tipple inspired by The Taj Mahal Palace hotel, where Bombay’s jazz age was born.