Unfortunately this meant I couldn't walk properly for around a week and had to miss the Tri. I have signed up for another one (less than a week to go!) but in the blur of A&E, doctors appointments and desperately trying to get back into training, blogging or even eating out wasn't top of my mind!
Anyway, I'm sounding like a bit of a stuck record. Back to the topic in hand, and that is Dishoom! Now Dishoom makes a lot of sense when you think about it… there was a gap in the market for a trendy Indian restaurant. We had trendy Mexican (Wahaca), trendy Korean (Flesh & Buns), trendy Burgers (Honest, Byron, Patty & Bun)… you get the idea. As a massive fan of "Indian" food (and by that I mean I'm more than partial to a Chicken Tikka Masala/other stereotypical not actually in any way Indian food) I was keen to go and try it. I actually went to dinner there back in March and to brunch last week, in the interest of a balanced review of course!
Dishoom is based on the idea of a "Bombay cafe in London". Now I have never been to Bombay, or Mumbai as its now known, so I can't attest to the authenticity of this claim but it is definitely a big and airy space with a quirky vibe.
By Day..
By night..
The bar as you enter was pretty buzzing and rightly so- the drinks were delicious. I had what might have been the best gin fizz I've ever had… and I've had a lot.
Onto the food. For dinner we ordered a lot of dishes to share which was the best route to go down because we got to try a lot of the menu. The standouts were probably the lamb and the fried okra. To this day I still don't know what okra is but who cares when it's fried!
Apologies for the poor quality photos, my iPhone was really struggling at this point! The food was really good but on the spicier side (not a problem for me) and I distinctly remember there being a lack of sauce (a bit of a problem for me- an abundance of sauce is a big necessity!). It was obviously nothing like Indian as I knew it..and I feel a bit guilty admitting that I probably prefer a really creamy naughty takeaway… but it was great in a different way.
On to brunch. For some reason Dishoom brunch has been really hyped up so I was expecting the worst when we rocked up at 11am on a Saturday but luckily we managed to get a seat at the bar. We both ordered the breakfast naan- mine with bacon and Freddie's with sausage. This seems to be their signature brunch dish and if I'm honest I was expecting a lot… and it didn't quite deliver. It's a cool twist on a traditional bacon/sausage sarnie but didn't really rock my brunch world. We shared the masala beans (a take on baked beans) too which were actually really delicious and I had a juice which was lovely too so maybe we just ordered badly- I did see some other dishes around which looked good.
All in all, I would probably recommend Dishoom. I wouldn't exactly rave about it and I'm not in a huge rush to go there again but I would happily go if the opportunity presented itself. Its a cool concept unlike any other place in London and the atmosphere/vibe is great. I have to admit it did make me want to book a trip to India though...
