New launch dates announced for 'New' Dishoom Covent Garden
Just before the present lockdown, the Dishoom team were busy readying themselves to raise the curtain on the new-and-improved Dishoom Covent Garden, which closed in January this year to undergo a major redesign to mark the café’s 10th anniversary. Sadly, plans for the soft launch, which was due to begin in mid-November, were paused in light of the latest coronavirus restrictions. Today, the team are delighted to announce new (and extended!) soft launch dates for “New” Dishoom Covent Garden.
Bookings open for “New” Dishoom Covent Garden soft launch
In light of the facts that many of Dishoom’s more optimistic guests have already booked for December, and that bookings for the original soft launch dates need to be accommodated, the Dishoom team have chosen to extend the soft launch, which will now run from Saturday 5th December to Wednesday 20th January. Throughout the soft launch period (a critical stage of preparation and training for the team) guests will be offered 50% off food.
Bookings for the café’s soft launch are now open and can be made via www.dishoom.com/reservations. Throughout this time, Dishoom will be open all day, providing patrons with everything from breakfast and mid-morning chai, to lunch, afternoon tipples, and evening feasts; guests can also enjoy Dishoom’s much-loved Christmas specials and festive feasts until 24th December.
As part of Dishoom’s measures to keep everyone safe during the time of coronavirus, reservations are now taken for groups of up to six at all times of day, including evenings. Walk-ins will always be warmly welcomed, but reservations are advised for busier periods. Breakfast is served until 11:45am each day, and the all-day menu is served from 12pm onwards. Guests are politely requested to observe present government guidance with regards to coronavirus safety measures and restrictions on household mixing at the time of their booking. For further information about Dishoom’s extensive coronavirus safety standards, please see www.dishoom.com/safety.
The new restaurant is reopening at its old home on Upper St Martin’s Lane, part of the newly redeveloped series of interconnecting courtyards, The Yards. The café will pay loving homage to the Irani cafés of Bombay, whilst also telling the story of Bombay’s theatrical journey from Parsi theatre to silent film and the thrill and amazement of the Talkies era. The new story and design of Dishoom Covent Garden draws on the heritage of the Bombay theatres that were reincarnated as state-of-the-art cinemas, becoming home to the early Bombay Talkies. These early silver screen Talkies were “all talking, singing, dancing” Indian-made dramas featuring bold, outspoken and feisty heroines who cast a glamorous spell over picture house audiences. These cinemas represented a world of modernity, glamour and freedom. Dishoom Covent Garden’s new founding myth (the unique story that informs all aspects of the café’s design) transports us to this thrilling age of evolution and reinvention, during which time cinema was introducing Bombay to an intoxicating world of adventure and liberty. To read the story of Dishoom Covent Garden’s leading ladies, Yasmin and Ruby, please see www.dishoom.com/covent-garden.
Executive Chef Naved Nasir’s menu of Bombay comfort food will be served from breakfast-time until late. From Bombay breakfasts to street food staples; hearty dishes of biryani to the curries of Mohammed Ali Road, and the famous grills of Colaba, the Dishoom menu brings together the food of all Bombay. Patrons of Dishoom Covent Garden can also enjoy the brand-new Chef’s Special, Tila-Foi’s Very Best Masala Fish, created by Chef Naved especially for the reopening. Aunty-ji’s recipe, refined over decades with love, the dish sees two fillets of sea bream marinated in Tila-foi’s masala with ginger-garlic, black pepper, lime juice, carrom seeds and red chilli. Griddled within a banana leaf and served to share, to be eaten with the companionable Coconut Chaas.
Dishoom’s award-winning cocktails, teetotal tipples, chai, coolers and more will be served from the restaurant’s Permit Room bar, so named after the official term for all Bombay drinking establishments, in which, according to the Bombay Prohibition Act of 1949, only permit-holders may consume alcohol. Dishoom’s resident daru-wallas have been busy curating a series of specials befitting of “New” Dishoom Covent Garden and are delighted to present four special new tipples for the café.
Tipples created for Covent Garden include Yasmin's Fancy, a smoky affair kindled from a potent mix of two coveted whiskies (Johnnie Walker Black Label and Ardbeg), spiced Dishoom Chai tincture, sweet vermouth and dashes of Bénédictine, which create a delicious, dramatic and intense libation. The Black and Thunder Flip is a radical reduction of Thums Up (Bombay cola), nogged with egg, cream and unstinting Johnnie Walker Black Label. The third, the Ruby Royale, is the sort of drink that cannot be missed at talkie-star’s parties, containing fizz of Spumante and a touch of seasonal fruit liqueur with cardamon, thyme and black pepper warmth. Finally, the Diamond Thriller Cosmo, named for the 1940s films that featured actress-and-star Fearless Nadia, who captivated Bombay, is a classic mix of Cointreau, cranberry and Luksusowa vodka with chilli and lime shrub to induce deliciousness, flamboyance and swashbuckling.
For every meal served at Dishoom, the team will donate a meal to one of their long-term charity partners, Magic Breakfast and Akshaya Patra, two excellent charities that provide free, nutritious meals to children who might otherwise go hungry.
A note on the reopening of all other Dishooms
In light of the latest government guidance, the Dishoom team will open the doors to the rest of their London cafés on Wednesday 2nd December. Dishoom Edinburgh remains open until 6pm daily, in line with present local guidance. Reservations can now be made until the end of January via www.dishoom.com/reservations.
Throughout the festive season, guests can enjoy first-rate feasts for groups large and small. Taking centre stage at the Dishoom Christmas table will be the Turkey Raan, a whole turkey leg, prepared in the traditional Indian raan style, cooked slowly over a day until meltingly tender, served with a spicy cranberry chutney. For those wanting a fulsome feast, the Dishoom festive feasting menu sees thaals (large communal plates) laden with plentiful portions of Dishoom’s best-loved dishes, including Small Plates, Grills, Biryanis and slow-cooked Turkey Raan or, for vegetarians, hearty bowls of Chole. To finish, a veritable array of desserts, including the indulgent new Mince Pie Kulfi.
Dishoom’s festive specials will be available until 24th December. Christmas specials are available to all guests, and the festive feasting menu can be booked for groups of 4 to 6, priced at £39 per person, with veg and non-veg options available. A small deposit of £10 per booking is kindly requested for all bookings in December, which will be deducted from the final bill, or refunded without question for cancellations made up to 48 hours in advance of the booking. For menus and particulars please see www.dishoom.com/christmas-feasts. Reservations are now open and can be made via www.dishoom.com/reservations.
Dishoom Manchester and Dishoom Birmingham are both in tier 3, and as such remain closed until guidance changes. For those who are not currently able to visit the cafés, there are now very many ways to enjoy Dishoom at home. The Dishoom Store is stocked with treats and gifts for all occasions (with more inventions on the way!). Guests can enjoy first-rate Bacon or Vegan Sausage Naan Roll Kits, (containing all the ingredients and know-how to recreate the iconic dish at home, with chai), the team’s first-ever cookery book, “Dishoom: From Bombay with Love”, and the restaurant’s album of Bombay-London grooves, “Slip-Disc”. All this (and more!) is available now for nationwide delivery via the Dishoom Store: www.dishoom.com/store. Patrons in many parts of London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Brighton (the brand-new location of our very first delivery kitchen outside London) can also enjoy a fix of Bombay comfort food dishoomed to their doors from Dishoom’s cafés and delivery kitchens - to check locations, hours of operation, the eligibility of postcodes for delivery, and to place an order, simply visit https://delivery.dishoom.com.
- ENDS -