Dishoom

Aiming to bring ‘a slice of cool Bombay living to London’, Dishoom is the city’s first Bombay-style café—if you’re familiar with Mumbai favourites Leopold and Britannia you’re on the right lines—and the management insists you not confuse it as yet another Indian restaurant cropping up along London’s lanes. Put straight, Dishoom (the eatery is named to sound like the noise made by a firing gun), is the go-to place when you’re craving a touch of Indian masala that can’t possibly be satiated elsewhere. Open all day from breakfast till dinner, the interiors are casual and warm—a quirky mix of chequered tiles, mismatched cane and wood seating, low wrought iron lanterns, oak panels and marble-top tables, and the walls are adorned with photographs ranging from the owner’s family portraits, to hilarious Indian print commercials. It’s the sort of place that encourages you to linger—nibbling your way from breakfast all the way to dinner. The menu features a long list of fun, contemporary dishes, and the stars are the bhel puri and the lamb raan—the Indian rendition of a burger, where a leg of lamb is marinated overnight in spices before the meat is pulled off, flame-grilled, and served between a sourdough bun along with onions and pickles, with a side of deep fried green chillies, a spicy salad and crisps—which will be reason enough for you to return.