Biff! Bang! Dishoom makes a noisy start
St Martin’s Courtyard is described on its website as "central London’s newest inspirational shopping and lifestyle destination". I suppose where and what you eat could be considered a component in a lifestyle. Mine is all over the place. The three restaurants currently up and running — Bill’s Produce, a Richard Caring production, is scheduled for an autumn opening — are an evocation of a Bombay "Irani" café, the first West End branch of Jamie’s Kitchen and a British franchise of an American Mexican chain, all open throughout the day.
In old Bollywood movies Dishoom! was the sound effect of a blow or gunshot, what Western comics might render as Pow! or Bam! The Iranian cafés that London’s Dishoom commemorates — because sadly they are fast disappearing in Mumbai — were meeting places for all sorts, started by Persian immigrants in the late 19th century. The Indian-Jewish poet Nissim Ezekiel wrote a poem called Irani Restaurant Instructions — some lines being Do not spit / Do not sit more / Pay promptly, time is valuable / Do not comb / Do not make mischief in cabins / Come again / All are welcome, whatever caste — which is alluded to at the London restaurant entrance.
Ceiling fans, marble-topped tables, bentwood chairs and a version of a huge railway clock are all present and correct but nostalgia and atmosphere must be sought via sepia photographs, film posters, quaint advertising campaigns and inappropriate music; the surroundings are uncharacteristically spick and span and loud with a sleek kitchen open to view.
The authenticity of the food offering is by the by. You wouldn’t actually want to bear too much reality. A couple of visits impressed with the freshness and immediacy of the cooking and the willingness of the staff, although our waitresses seemed unable to work their electronic ordering pads. These devices, once connecting, mean that food arrives fast and hot, sometimes too fast.
Standout dishes include tomato shorba, a soup soured with tamarind and spiced with cumin; the two paus, warm, generously buttered toasted soft white rolls topped with spiced minced meat (keema) or mashed vegetables (pau bhaji); the Ruby Murray of the day (namely lamb in yoghurt); slow-cooked, sonorous house black dhal; vegetable biryani strafed with saffron-coloured grains sealed into its pot with a ribbon of dough; the floppy roomali roti (handkerchief bread); and fresh mango with vanilla yoghurt.
India hands will welcome Chowpatty Beach Gola Ice for dessert and Thums Up, Bhang Lassi (sadly minus cannabis content) and sweet house chai to drink. Breakfast of a sausage naan roll with chilli jam would be a champion way to begin the day. Biff! Bang! Wow!
Dishoom
12 Upper St Martin’s Lane, WC2H 9FB
