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Time Out says
Wed Oct 31 2012
Jugaar (pronounced ‘joo-gaar’) is the word used in Hindi to describe a certain type of problem solving. ‘Improvisation’ is one translation; ‘makeshift’or even ‘dodgy’ might be another. The point of jugaar is to get results, not to follow the rules.
The second Shoreditch branch of Dishoom looks at first to have a jugaar approach to the decor – an industrial space has been turned into an aspirational Indian restaurant. But the interior design is inspired by the ‘Irani cafés’ of late twentieth-century Bombay. A sign reading ‘permit room’ greets you at the entrance – Indian English for ‘alcohol-licensed premises’. The giant clock suspended from the ceiling is a small copy of the one at Victoria Terminus in Bombay (now called Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai). The tiled floors and bentwood chairs are also faithful to true Bombay style.
There’s nothing jugaar about the menu or cooking though. Sit in the basement dining room and you can watch the Indian chefs at work. Our seekh kebabs arrived well spiced, the minced lamb juicy, served piping hot from the grill. Many more distinctively Bombay dishes are on the menu, including bhel (a spicy puffed-rice snack) and pau bhaji (spicy vegetables in a bread roll). More modern creations are there too, including the lamb raan bun, which owes more to the current barbecue and burger craze in London than it does to Mumbai.
Dishoom is great for atmosphere and for its all-day opening hours. The small-plates menu may not be faithful to Irani cafés in their post-independence heyday. But what’s wrong with a little jugaar?
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