Dishoom Redux - Mar 2013

Ah Dishoom... The place I want so hard to love. Buzzy, relatively inexpensive and quirky, geezer-ish Sub-Continental street style food in a pukka Indian cafe, slap bang in the middle of Covent Garden. What's not to love?

They've certainly garnered support over the past year, not to mention another permanent location, this one next to Shoreditch House, threateningly close to the street flyer Kessel Run of Brick Lane.

With its amiably geezerish descriptors, the menu feels like it could been written by a Chowpatty Jamie Oliver, the spiritual brother of their next door neighbour. And like their next door neighbour, it feels like it's ripe for rollout. The all day 'cafe-vibe' schtick a shoe-in for shopping centre supremacy.

The service is shopping centre suitable too. Fast, well trained and entirely impersonal, operating on efficient pre-scripted rails from the moment you're sat down.

The food is pretty good, if not entirely quite there. The 'Ruby Murray' is good, and obviously well cooked with decent quality chicken but it's a little too 'mellow' for me. Keema Pau, a bland minced lamb served with English muffins has little to say for itself sadly. The house black dhal was admittedly lovely, the one dish I'd come back for, braised into a sauce rich and deep enough to feel meat infused, it had flavour to spare. The squid was over fried and the lamb chops a pale grey copy of those at Lahore or Tayyabs. It's all been done worse than this at a thousand curry places around the capital, but it's being done a whole load better at a critically acclaimed handful. On my evidence Dishoom isn't close to that Premier league.

There are just too many really decent Indian, Pakistani and Bengali restaurants I'd go to for a pre-planned curry trip and too many other restaurants in Covent Garden that get my attention for a walk up. Both of which are a slight shame, as it's really not that bad.

  PR photo from restaurant website

Indian options for casual Soho lunches - Jan 2012

Central London curryhounds have never had more options for relatively low budget and (occasionally) healthy options to satisfy their cravings. Over the season of goodwill I had a fair amount of lunchtimes out and seeing that the cold snap has finally arrived, a warming lunchtime ruby was a popular option. Here's a selection of my favourite casual curry emporia in and around Soho.


Roti Chai - Portland Mews South
The latest street food joint, this one round the back of Selfridges, to pay a passing nod to the Indian railway cafes and their magpie like borrowing of cultural and culinary influences. Casual table settings and a selection of small plates are ideal for lunchtime sharers. The pick of the bunch are their insanely addictive chicken 'lollipops'. Moist meat pushed up the bone, dipped in a heavily seasoned flour before a deep frier dunking. Served with a soothing dipping sauce, they're the devil's own party food. Freshly cooked samosas and papri chaat, wheaty wafers covered in spicy chickpea and cool yoghurt, also score highly. I wouldn't say it was a healthy option, but you do walk out without feeling like you've drunk a vat of cooking oil.

Moolis - Frith Street

A very quick and very satisfying lunch experience can be found wrapped in the roti rolls of Moolis. A firm favourite of mine, I'm going to miss the densely packed rolls of chicken, beef and goat now I'm no longer in Soho. I've salivated over them at greater length here and in the 18 months subsequently haven't had cause to change my views, despite many repeat visits.

Kati Roll Company - Poland Street

Another street food take out joint, this time on Poland Street. Randomly the first UK outpost of a very small Brooklyn chain, they also specialise in small curried rolls of goodness. They're thinner than the elephant legs you'll get at Moolis and with an amount less salad these definitely aren't a healthy option. Hefty doses of spice stay with you throughout the afternoon, but the minced lamb with egg is a thing of beauty and possibly one of the finest things to munch on as you stride down chilly Soho streets. 

Masala Zone - Marshall Street
A popular mini chain from the same stable as Chutney Mary and Veeryswamy focussing on good value curries and thalis. It's nothing life changing, a decent enough spot for a little bit of what you fancy (and what you know...) Starters are better than the mains in general and the lunch special is worth a look if you're in with a bigger group. 

Dishoom - St Martin's Lane
I wasn't massively impressed when I first went, but enough people are talking about its slightly corporate take on Indian cafe culture for it to be worth a think about. The tourists will be frotting against the windows of Jamie's Italian and so you should be able to get a table here if push comes to shove and you can't persuade your lunch partners any further.