The best, and perhaps only, way to definitely find a table at any of the three wildly popular branches of the Dishoom restaurant chain in London is as follows. You call up co-founder Shamil Thakrar and convince him to join you for a lunchtime chat about Dishoom. And then you also convince Thakrar to book the table.
This is what I did a few weeks ago when I met Thakrar for lunch at the massive branch of Dishoom that opened in November at the achingly hip Granary Square near King’s Cross station in London.
Thakrar was a few minutes late for our meeting so I passed the time sipping on a mango and fennel lassi.
First-class yoghurt with fresh mango pulp and fennel seeds. £3.70
When Dishoom first appeared in Covent Garden in 2010, it plugged a gap in the London dining scene that few people thought existed. But what is this gap? What was the niche Thakrar and his fellow founding partners—cousin Kavi Thakrar, Amar and Adarsh Radia—aimed for when they first began Dishoom-ing?
Many worldly wise people, food writer Vir Sanghvi chief amongst them, will tell you that London is where you can eat the best Indian food in the world. But there is a subtle difference in saying that some Indian restaurants in London are great, and in saying that Indian food in London is excellent.
In fact, most Indian food in London, and indeed anywhere in the UK, is atrocious. Over the decades, Indian—by which I mean Bangladeshi—restaurateurs in this country have run a race to the bottom, competing on who can serve the cheapest weekend bowl of “meat in gravy” that can adequately congeal lager-laden bellies.
Which is perhaps why Dishoom works. Because, for all its meticulously designed interiors, nuanced menus and rich themes, it wears its Indianness lightly. You go to Dishoom to have a good meal. That this meal has an unshakeable Indian soul wrapped in 21st century hipster ingenuity is somewhat incidental.
The knack, Shamil Thakrar tells me, is to balance two tendencies—having fun and being authentic. “For example, our dal is as it should be, a straight, true and delicious black dal. However, we also have a lot of fun with, say, the Bacon Naan Roll which is, frankly, a homage to London. The sort of London dish an Irani might serve here, and it’s authentic in its honesty and simplicity. It has a great cult following and it’s a large part of the reason we have such a popular breakfast.”
Prawn Koliwada: Bombay’s Koli (fishermen) Wada (district) recipe: a bowl of delicate, crispy morsels with tamarind and date chutney. (S) £5.90
Thakrar used to be a management consultant earlier and is quick to point out that he had no experience in the food and beverage business before he opened his first branch with his partners. “The closest I came to this kind of thing was my family’s business,” he says. Thakrar’s family, originally from Porbandar, Gujarat, has a basmati rice business in India and divides its time between London and New Delhi.
Thakrar’s hunt for a suitably new concept for a restaurant in London eventually led them to Mumbai’s legendary Irani cafés. The founders visited many of the three dozen or so remaining Irani eateries in Mumbai, drawing up ideas for food, decor and ambience. They then hired head chef Navid Nasir, previously of ITC Aurangabad (now WelcomHotel Rama International) and, along with food consultants Karen Anand and Stephen Parkins-Knight, designed an eclectic, engaging menu that perfectly straddles the exotic and the familiar.
As we reach for a bowl of dal, Thakrar tells me how a key inflection point in the business came about.
Black House Daal: A Dishoom signature dish—dark, rich, deeply flavoured. It is simmered over 24 hours for extra harmony. (V) £4.90
“At one point, we realized that we were spending way too much time obsessing over costs and profits and business metrics,” Thakrar says. That is when the founders realized that they had to approach their business from a new angle: “Good food and great service.”
Good food and great service? That was the new angle?
Thakrar explains with an example. “Initially, we tried to standardize the way our waitstaff interacted with customers.” Interactions were scripted to a high level of detail. But this took the life out of these interactions and robbed many staff members of their ability to engage with customers.
So they changed everything. “Today, I like to think that my staff do seva. I know it sounds a little up in the air. But I genuinely think that when you approach this with a sense of service…that you have an opportunity to do something great…which is feed someone…it changes the way you work.”
Thakrar now says that the company spends a lot of time and money training its people on this concept of seva.
Chicken Berry Britannia: The Dishoom variation on the legendary Irani Café special, with cranberries. £8.50
I ask Thakrar how they develop dishes on their menu. How do they arrive at that real-but-not-so-real-that-it-is-boring balance that Dishoom is famous for?
“We try a lot of dishes. A lot of our inspiration comes from when we are in Mumbai. Trying food on Mohammed Ali Road, or in Irani cafés or wherever. We’re working on some different desserts right now; for example, a fantastic falooda. As a team, we try dishes many times with iterations and tweaks before we’re happy that it’s Dishoom-ified and ready for our menu.”
As I tuck into dessert, Thakrar asks one of his crew to bring me a “Dishoom King’s Cross key chain and the matka”.
Guju Chocolate Mousse: Intense, dark and rich, with just a touch of chilli and salt. Graced with Gujarati shrikhand fruited yoghurt and blackberries. (V) £5.20
“We give one of these to all our regulars,” he explains. Holders are invited to roll a dice after their meal. Throw up a six and your meal is free, no questions asked. I roll a three. This is the story of my life.
I save my most important question for last. When is the first Dishoom in Mumbai opening?
Thakrar is non-committal. “Right now we want to focus on London,” he says. Which is not a “No”. If I were a Mumbaikar, I would be praying for Dishoom to take over one of those dilapidated old Irani cafés. If only for that Guju Chocolate Mousse.
