Gooey Naans, Seductive killer prawns that pack a punch and Harry Potter Butter Beer? Yes, believe it or not, I am talking about the eagerly anticipated opening of Dishoom in Birmingham.

The last two months social media has been dominated by Tiger King/Normal People memes, the cat with nine lives we call Aston Villa, and of course, The Kardashians, one lost their marbles, one faked her millions and one that just needs to be bloody single for Christ sakes. Ergh what a headache right? However, one thing that has been dominating our feeds and is “headache-free” is the exciting announcement of Dishoom opening in Birmingham on Chamberlain Square. In which, is now open operating their soft launch with 50% off food until their official opening date on 6th August 2020 was just the welcoming addition to the city that so many of us Brummies need after the last few months.

With branches operating over London, Manchester, and Edinburgh, it was only a matter of time Dishoom was going to make the wise choice of opening their next restaurant in the second biggest City Birmingham. I have heard so much about Dishroom, I have never dined there before so I was really looking forward to my first experience dining with them. I had a brief look at the menu before me and my cousin Jess went for our 5.15 pm sitting but even then, I couldn’t decide with the generous offering of food on offer.

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We arrived on time and already it was quite busy, we sat in the bar area for two minutes just skimming through the menu and then we was taken over to our table. The tables are nicely spread out, the layout of the restaurant is big, spacious with indoor and outdoor seating. I was feeling quite chilly that evening so thank goodness we were sat inside. The staff wore face masks, there was hand sanitiser stations and everyone was keeping to the social distancing rules, so I felt 100% safe dining here.

The interior of Dishoom has really been thought out through out the whole of the restaurant, bringing Bombay to Birmingham (Wish I could of get more pictures, but it was so busy!) and very cleverly has its own story of Roda Irani finding her voice and incorporating that story into the design of the restaurant which is so creative and wonderful to dine in and feels like you are reliving the story. It’s classy and it’s 1930s Bombay Bab.

Within 5 minutes of sitting down, we were greeted by our server Diogo ready to take our drink orders. Diogo is absolutely fabulous, a right character that knew his stuff, he was like a walking and talking encyclopedia of Dishoom, he knew everything. Feeling quite parched I fancied an alcohol beverage, I was thinking more on the lines of a fruity cocktail but then the words “Forget beer, drink only this” caught my eyes. What came was what I can almost describe as one of those Harry Potter butter beers but tasted so much better and tasted like…well, beer. Hoppy butter paanch is a Foam beer with a butter syrup base with a sprinkle of ginger that gave it a tangy sweet kick, different but I really liked it! Jess ordered the Colaba Colada cocktail, however, Diogo came back over to tell Jess they just sold out, he asked her what does she like to drink “gin” “something sweet” she replied and with a click of his fingers “I know exactly what to get you” Diogo went away and came back with a fabulous gin cocktail with a hint of lime, fizz, and fruit that she really enjoyed.

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Diogo returned to take our food orders, he talked us through the menu and suggested the number of dishes to order, he also made the best decision for us to opt for a cheese AND garlic naan instead of ordering cheese and garlic naan separately, excellent choice Diogo! 

The afternoon menu has a variety of small plates, grills and curries on offer for you to share or not share! There is so much on offer that we defiantly didn’t order everything we wanted especially missing out on the exclusive Birmingham dish, the mutton korma but there is always next time right?!

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We first ordered small plates of Lamb samosas and prawn koliwada that came literally in five minutes. We were told that the food in different sections may come out at different times, we didn’t really care as long as there was food! The lamb samosas were a nice light dish and tasted beautiful, as for the prawn koliwada, my goodness! these babies blew our heads off! Small and delicious but don’t be deceived these prawns pack an almighty punch, accompanied with a mint chutney dip to cool down the fire in my mouth. A little bit on the spicy side for me but tasted very nice. Both of these dishes are the perfect beer snack so make sure you order a few of Dishooms IPAS.

Now, in comes the feast! We opted for chicken ruby murray curry, paneer pineapple tikka, gunpowder potatoes, 2 x cheese and garlic naans, steamed basmati rice and the Vada Pau (Bombay’s version of London’s chip butty)

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The colour, the smell, and the saliva dripping from our mouths everything just looked incredible. My favourite dish out of the food would have to be the Chicken ruby murray curry paired up with basmati rice which was an absolute winner. Silky texture, sweet, and chicken that is cooked to perfection and easily just melts in the mouth. The gunpowder potatoes tossed in butter, crushed aromatic seeds, and green herbs tasted nice, nothing to get overly excited about however, a nice accompany dish to the paneer pineapple tikka that I really enjoyed. The Paneer cheese had a gorgeous mouth-watering coating of tikka paired up with pineapple which left a cool refreshing taste in my mouth which helped to knock down some of those spices.The Vada Pau (Bombay’s version of London’s chip butty) I wasn’t a big fan off sadly, a little bit too spicy for me so all I could taste was fire in my mouth.

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The naans were of course, bloody sensational. So gooey, and I am all for the cheese! it was just dripping and oh my god, I have literally just had to wipe the saliva off the keyboard thinking about this so let’s just end it here as it was pretty sexy… (apologies for the saliva on keyboard images)

The review doesn’t end here, oh no, we went for pudding Ladies and Gents, and we went for the Dishoom chocolate pudding with chili ice cream. All I got from this pudding was PURE JOY, melted chocolate mixed in with a vanilla/chili ice cream is the pairing that I need in my life, a sensational dish. Finishing off with a nice cup of Assam, the food must have knocked me out a bit because instead of asking for Assam tea I asked for “Sam” in which Diego was quite amused, Bill, please!

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So, the bill came to £63.41 with the 50% off that included an optional service fee of £10.61 that we were more than happy to pay and more.  For all that food and the quality, it felt like we had won the lottery with Dishoom.  

The customer service is something I will always remember at Dishoom, from the host on the door to our amazing server Diogo, it was such a pleasure to dine in Dishoom as they are so attentive, and it almost makes you feel like you are the only ones dining in the restaurant. Of course, we weren’t it was completely packed out. To deliver 110% service on a packed-out Thursday with every table full and a queue outside the restaurant is absolutely fantastic and I applaud Dishoom and especially their hardworking staff.

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A very happy welcome to Dishoom, a restaurant that will settle in just fine and will be celebrated by Brummies and all for a very long and foreseeable future here in Birmingham. The taste of Bombay in Birmingham is the light at the end of the tunnel that we need after the last worrying months. Thank you for the fantastic dining experience Dishoom and you will, of course, see me very soon….How does Breakfast Monday morning sound?

I would advise pre-booking your table as it’s pretty busy, you can just turn up but expect to wait!
Soft launch (50% off) ends 5th August 2020
Vegetarian/Vegan friendly
You can book your table here

Bab about Town