Dishoom, WC2H

On Wednesday Rich, my Dad and I went to Dishoom in Covent Garden for a post birthday dinner. I'd been dying to go there for ages and finally managed to convince Rich to brave the queue. Kudos to him, he queued for 40 minutes before I (running late as usual) met him right at the door. We queued at the bar for another 40 minutes but there were plenty of drinks and snacks to keep us going. Lucky old Dad turned up just after we'd been seated at our table!

So Dishoom... yes it was an hour and 20 minute wait but my oh my was it worth it. From start to finish in the queuing process staff were extremely attentive, made an effort to remember everyone's names and relayed that through the restaurant. I wish I had better photos because I feel like these really don't do it justice. The house black daal is a must have and the chicken ruby is also amazing if you like curries with a bit of sauce. We ended up sharing all our dishes as everything looked so good, all washed down with some locally-brewed London beers and a couple of Kulfi.

It was a perfect experience. And when I came home and started to read up about the restaurant I understood why. Shamil Thakrar, the owner of Dishoom, is incredibly passionate. Passionate about the food and culture of India. Dishoom is set to represent the traditional Iranian cafes set up by immigrants in Bombay in the 1920s and 30s which are now sadly dying out. He is also an incredible writer. If you get a chance read his overview of 2014 on the Dishoom blog. He has also done speeches, most noteably at Dezeen Live. All of this comes through in the design of the restaurant and, of course, the food. What Thakrar said is true, "when you take a bite of [the] food, you're tasting the century of tradition and heritage, which makes the food more than just food".

So please go to Dishoom. The food, the people and the atmosphere are amazing.