Dishoom Indian Restaurant, Covent Garden, London

Dishoom Indian Restaurant, Covent Garden, London

When Mrs NMFS and I are strolling around London we enjoy peering into small cafes and gazing at the menus of the many restaurants. Sadly, much of what we see are outside of our diet being full of gluten, meat or dairy. Hence when we do try out a new restaurant we usually only have a limited menu to choose from even if a supposed gluten-free option is available. I can remember a few occasions being disappointed by a supposed gluten-free menu to discover alas that it was merely an excuse to charge you the full amount whilst serving you up less. We are therefore more careful now, only going to places where the menu has just enough items to constitute a choice. 

It was on one of these wanders, that we came across Jamie’s Italian in Covent Garden which we stopped to gaze into since we had just seen one of his shows on TV recently. Unfortunately and not surprisingly given the Italian theme, the menu was a gluten heaven. It led us to move down the road and we were similarly intrigued by the get-up of Dishoom and given that its menu was Indian, we knew that we would have sufficient options to be able to consider it a menu.

Dishoom has already acquired quite a reputation and rightly so given its ingenious ‘Bombay cafe’ style get-up. It will soon be seen by many in pop-up form on the South Bank this summer. The place has a buzz about it whilst having a family feel as well given the sheer number of families that frequent the place. It perhaps does not quite meet the hype though as far as the quality of its food goes. If it made a few tweaks it would be a regular haunt of ours given the mostly great atmosphere.

The dining area is divided into three distinct areas – the larger tables at the front, the cafe style tables nearer to the open kitchen and booths at the back. There is also a private function room in the basement where the toilets are located.

The walls are adorned with cute images of Indian culture in the 60’s. I loved it as I could imagine my parents dressed up like some of the images when they first came to London as a couple on the eve of a new life together. It is for that reason that we brought my mum and niece to spend a post-birthday lunch.

We wanted to sit at one of the booths to enjoy the privacy that they offer and requested as such to the front of house waitress. We were seated at a cafe style table in the meantime but were waiting for the booths. We even asked our waitress again to let us know when one became free. Seemingly our requests were not clear enough. A table who had come after us were directed to a booth that became free by the same waitress! She told us that they said they were first! I am not sure why this was taken as true but needless to say this was not acceptable. We waited for another booth but this was a let down in service which is odd since usually the service is good. 

The service was also poor in terms of food knowledge. Perhaps it was just an accident and the waitress was new perhaps but I could just be clutching at straws. My mother was on a no-salt diet on the day that we visited so whilst we knew that she would not be able to try much there must have been some items that could be prepared fresh without salt? The waitress told us no, even the Desi Crisps. When we asked about the House Chai she did not seem to think it could be made without salt! She had to ask to check. Very poor knowledge of basics I think.

Cafe Crisps (£1.90)

My niece being only 3, wanted crunchy items so she went for the Cafe Crisps  which essentially are deep fried pieces of thin roti with a sprinkling of spice. She seemed to enjoy them mainly due to the crunch!

Desi Fish Fingers (£1.90)

Desi Fish Fingers (£1.90)

She also like many other 3-year olds, loves fish fingers so she tried the Desi Fish Fingers which were fried pieces of fish in a spicy coating. Again she seemed to enjoy them. They were not too oily and the spice raised the taste of the fish.

Dill Salmon Tikka (£8.50)

We went for the Dill Salmon Tikka which we have enjoyed here previously. The spice marinade together with the dill really make this a nice dish although today it was not up to its usual standard. It tasted a little bit dry and the marinade did not taste like before. When done properly though it is a nice dish although a bit pricy.

Paneer curry (£7.90)

The Ruby Murray of the day is usually a veg and non-veg and today the veg option was a paneer curry which we have had before. It was unfortunately a bit creamy which is a fault of their House Black Daal (£4.50). I do not know whether this is on purpose but the creaminess was overpowering and detracts from what should be the stars of the show – the balance of the spices. It left a poor taste in the mouth. A little less creaminess and more flavour would improve these dishes no end.

Vegetable Biryani (£6.90)

Biryani, in Indian culture is often used as a celebration dish so we ordered the vegetable biryani  It plays such an important part in culture due to its rich taste and use of saffron, the most expensive spice in the world, and other spices brought together in a lengthy cooking process that gets the best out of the spices. The one we tried though was sadly lacking in flavour. It had a passable resemblance to a biryani but did not have the wow factor that it ought to have had. It was nicely presented though and came just cooked from the oven.

Kulfi On A Stick (£2.50)

On to the treat dessert for our niece and a plus point of the menu is the Kulfi On A Stick. We opted for the pistachio one but also on offer are mango and chocolate. It was deliciously creamy and for once this creaminess was fitting! It is a great serving idea for children and the young at heart to enjoy since as it melts the trick is to look sensible as it pours down your chin! This kulfi works and would be an ideal ending to a spicy meal. Cream plus more cream adds up to too much cream though and the ending was spoiled by the poor service and disappointing food.

House Chai (£1.90)

A quick mention to the infamous House Chai, infamous not for its taste but because the waitress had to check whether it could be offered salt free! It was ok but lacked a bit. I expected more of the cardamom to come through but it was a bit limp.

Dishoom has a winning formula in the Bombay cafe concept but needs to focus a bit more on improving the taste of its food.

So, are you familiar with the term Ruby Murray?