The people have spoken. After a lengthy electoral process in the UK, the voters have shunned the established institutions of old and cast their ballots for a vision of the future—ironically, one based on a glorious past. No, this is not an early prediction for the flag-waving, Rule Britannia-themed clutch of Xenophobes known as the UK Independence Party winning the national election—but a sign that no name or reputation in the British restaurant trade can withstand the sway of the masses.
Dishoom, a relatively modest and tantalisingly good restaurant in London’s Covent Garden district, has been voted the nation’s best eatery by the British general public. The big names that tend to dominate such lists usually made by food critics—Heston Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsay et al—are up and around the higher end of the list, but this restaurant, based on the Bombay Irani cafes of the 1930s, has kept the diners of the online review site Yelp so happily fed and happy their reviews propelled it to No 1.
Naturally, the owners are thrilled. Two of them, Shamil and Kavi Thakrar, told Outlook: “We couldn’t be more delighted to hear this news. We feel privileged just to be able to serve the guests who come through our doors for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and perhaps share a little bit of our love for Bombay food and culture with them. We’re truly blown away that so many people have chosen to share their opinions of us online to help us reach the top spot.”
The London restaurant scene is as fickle, pretentious and generally obnoxious as in any other big city—foodie trends come and go, the search is perennially on for whatever arcane cuisine can next “take the world by storm” and prices that leave customers flagellating themselves after, with whips made from their credit cards. Dishoom is popular as it does none of these things. It doesn’t take bookings, so anyone can get a table, as long as they are happy to wait, which, in the sumptuous cocktail bar downstairs, is no chore.
Dishoom pays tribute to the Irani cafes of old Mumbai, when it was emphatically still Bombay. Usually owned by Zoroastrian immigrants from Iran, they numbered around 400 at their peak in the ’60s. So customers in London gaze on dark woods and white tiles, with ornate, colonial script on the walls and the old world casting shadows on heavy porcelain surfaces and lightweight paper room dividers.
The place, opened in 2010, is indeed a seduction of the senses, as sampled a few times by your correspondent, but no seduction is complete unless it lives up to its promise—in this case, the food. And boy does it live up to it, with a stunningly original menu that cries havoc and releases the dogs of flavour to cause mayhem among typical fare of both Indian and British-Asian dishes: from desi takes on the bacon sandwich to chicken berry Britannia, a twist on an already mish-mashed classic, and the Kejriwal, a spicy, eggy take on cheese on toast, a joyful aberration.
As the Thakrars say, “Of course, India is familiar to many Brits, but we’re not a traditional ‘Indian restaurant’ as most British people would understand it. We felt there was a vibrancy, a heritage of food and culture and a real sense of fun Londoners needed to be introduced to.”
“Our food is also quite different—with its emphasis on grilled food rather than curries for example. And, of course, we serve breakfast. At breakfast, the bacon naan roll is our bestselling dish. We think it might be the best bacon sandwich in London. The House black daal is always very popular (and deservedly so)—it just goes beautifully with everything on our menu. Our freshly baked breads also sell really well alongside the grills, biriyanis and rubies (curries).”
The Thakrar family has roots in Gujarat and used to own the famous Tilda rice brand. Shamil, 43, worked as a management consultant and now oversees strategy, design and marketing. Kavi, who handles day-to-day operations, worked at the World Bank.
With three venues in London now—Shoreditch in the East End and King’s Cross being the other two—Dishoom’s profile and handle on the restaurant scene will surely only go higher. What perhaps has left diners most impressed, after the food, is the reasonable prices—most meals with wine and a pre-dinner cocktail set you back about the same as a main dish in some of London’s more swanky establishments.
It’s frankly no surprise the rank and file restaurant-patronising public have named it the best. Living up to its name, Dishoom delivers a hit of such taste and splendour—you’ll be queuing up to be punched again.
By Saptarshi Ray in London
