Days and Nights @ Dishoom

Translation

It’s such a clever idea, especially in this tourist-infested area, to have a stack of colourful spray-painted bikes chain at the lamp-post in front of Dishoom because people stop, take pictures, and very likely, pop into the restaurant. “Restaurant” might not be the best term to describe Dishoom. The place claiming to emulate ambiance similar to Bombay cafes is a rather unfussy eatery, with posters and memorabilia from India adorned on all walls, semi-open-plan kitchen where one can observe the chef eagerly making naan breads and rotis. In the dining room, we are encouraged to order small and large dishes to share and we comply.

The menu at Dishoom isn’t one of the most extensive. You have similar ingredients and flavours combination poshed up in various forms. For example, Malai Chicken can be ordered as a wrap or as a grilled miniature main course. This doesn’t, however, hinder the goodness of the food here. Upon my visits to Dishoom, I find their best dishes in the Starter section, I like many of the grilled dishes, I love their daily meaty and veggie Ruby Murrays, and the Kulfis are ones of the creamiest I’ve tasted.

Dishes:

(1) Chilli Cheese Toast
Literally it is made of finely sliced chilli with cheese on toast. The dish is quite spicy. Flavour-wise, it’s not bad but has only two dimensions. It works better if you order this to share and as part of a well-balanced meal.

(2) Pau Bhaji
This thick, perfectly spiced mashed vegetable dipping is one of my most favourites. The flavour is quite intense, with the spices well-balanced. The lightly-toasted Chowpatty Beach style bread has the texture not too remote to a brioche, just slightly more chewy.

(3) Dishoom Calamari, Lime and Chilli
Their version of deep-fried calamari is a must–crispy, sour and sweet with a hint of chilli.
(4) (5) Ruby Murray
The curries of the day. On the left it is a Lamb Curry with Ginger; on the right a Herb Curry with Ricotta Cheese Dumpling. The lamb curry is satisfactory, on the mild side. It looks like such a tiny dish but the chef doesn’t scrimp on the tender meat. The Ricotta curry is brilliant, indulgent with kicks of spices and chilli. The cheese dumplings are massive! This goes well with their grainy Basmati Rice.

(7) Sheekh Kebab
Perfectly grilled kebab made from some very good quality mince. You can tell this is a different league from some corner kebab shop! I find this Sheekh Kebab particularly worth the money compared to the more expensive Lamb Chops, which most of the time I find fat rather than meat on the bone. I forgot to mention the grilled dishes are accompanied by three dipping sauces: sweet tamarind, chilli, and mint yogurt.

(8) Pistachio Kulfi
Very sweet and very creamy. Literally, you can chew the Kulfi off the stick. The pistachio flavour isn’t too strong.

(9) Chocolate Fondant, Vanilla Ice Cream
Warm gooey fondant with not-too-rich chocolate flavour. It is a humble-looking, yet very pleasant dish.
(10) Seasonal Fruit Crumble
The crumble is stuffed with pineapple–is pineapple seasonal?–and overall I am not pleased with the dish. The sweetness of the pineapple cuts through and once combined with the equally sweet ice cream, the whole dish just flops.

Dinner done, and I feel the thing about Dishoom is that they can do very good food but it doesn’t stand out much from any other good Indian eateries. The only difference is, indeed, Dishoom’s branding and the nostalgic stamp materialised on the walls, decor and even the toilets!

That said, my other bib and I are relatively pleased with our dinner and give Dishoom another go with their Indian breakfast. We go for the Full Bombay and the Sausage Roll made from naan bread. Both of the dishes are eye candies but far from amazing. The omelette is perhaps the major flaw in the Full Bombay. It is very thin and dry. Flavour-wise, despite lots of chopped vegetable, I can only taste the chilli pricking my delicate palette. This is akin to eating something you might expect as part of an airline food before the company goes into administration. The sausage roll, however, isn’t bad, but as it comes with sweet gravy, might not be to everybody’s liking.