CRISP AND ORGANISED Roda Irani leads her daughter through the narrow gullies of Swadeshi Market. “Come, let us get to the café.”
They begin to walk the length of the market, shoulder to hip. Each gully is lined with stalls separated by thin partitions or simple thick cloth. Roda and Farah navigate past shoppers haggling over the price of scissors, padlocks, bolts of cloth – an array of products with one thing in common: all made by Indian hands on Indian soil.
Weaving through the hubbub, Roda exchanges nods and namastes with traders. Many of them have known her since she was a young girl when she’d visit them with her father. “Keep up, beti, keep up!” her father would say over his shoulder, her chappals scraping the concrete as she tried to walk faster.
BEGIN YOUR DAY AT DISHOOM with breakfast, which might be a Bacon Naan Roll, a Kejriwal or a Big Bombay. Then lunch lightly on Roomali Rolls and Salad Plates, or linger with a feast. Refresh your afternoon with a drop of Chai and a small plate or two. Dine early or dine late. Or just join us for a tipple – perhaps an India Gimlet, a Permit Room Old-fashioned, or our very good Dishoom IPA?
Since 1949, and to this very day, Bombay has been under a state of prohibition. Set apart from a family room, there is a special place where only permit holders may consume liquor, which has come to be known unofficially as a Permit Room. Our Permit Room serves the most delicious and sincere old cocktails, recalling the days before Independence, such as Gimlets, Juleps and Sours; Fizzes and Old-Fashioneds, and a Bombay Presidency Punch.
Dishoom Birmingham
One Chamberlain Square
Birmingham
B3 3AX
Tel: 0121 809 5986