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, ease yourself into a chair and order an East India Gimlet, a Viceroy's Old-fashioned, or our very good Dishoom IPA. Take a long draught. Exhale contentedly.
ABOVE: Chicken Berry Britannia – The Dishoom variation on the legendary Irani café special, with cranberries.
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 – a space dedicated to the most delicious and sincere tipples, great music and good cheer.
These past months have brought strangeness and uncertainty for so many of us. Since we shut the doors of our restaurants in March, we haven’t felt like ourselves at all. The very point of Dishoom is to welcome you through our doors and to serve you the most delicious food and drink we can summon up in the warmest possible way.
We have arrived at a very sad, but inevitable and clear choice. As of now, all Dishooms are now closed to diners.
It’s a funny thing, hunger, isn’t it? Not the everyday hunger that most of us feel before mealtimes, but real, gnawing, empty-bellied hunger.
Not long ago, a team of enterprising and energetic Dishoom chef-wallas sauntered into the kitchen and put their heads together. They were musing over how to make breakfast bigger, better, more exciting, more delicious for all.