Dishoom has come a long, long way since it opened it’s very first café in London’s Covent Garden in 2010. All those years ago, founders Shamil and Kavi Thakrar had a vision to open a restaurant emulating the aesthetic and atmosphere of 20th century Bombay’s Iranian cafes. Now, people queue for as long as two hours to experience a Dishoom dish in one of its 14 branches across the country, and the brand has just opened its first hotel.
This summer, Dishoom is making its debut in Glasgow, and its official opening date has just been confirmed. Dishoom’s Glasgow café is opening in Nelson Mandela Place on Friday, August 29. It’ll be the chain’s second Scottish site, after its Edinburgh restaurant which has been around since 2017.
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As well as classics like its bacon naan roll and house black daal, each Dishoom has its own special dish– in Covent Garden it’s prawn pathia, in Manchester it’s nalli nihari biryani and in Edinburgh it’s salli boti. Dishoom Glasgow’s special will be lamb chettinad and malabar paratha, which the menu says consists of ‘lamb, tender with patient preparation, married well with rich coconut-tomato sauce. Handsomely spiced with black pepper, red chilli and earthy stone flower. Messy contentment of flakiest, butteriest paratha’.
This café’s decor will be uniquely themed around a fictional story centred on a character called Miss X – ‘a former covert agent from Bombay, who now runs a bustling Irani café at the bottom of the Glasgow Stock Exchange’.
Arun Tilak, Dishoom’s executive chef, said: ‘Bringing Dishoom to Glasgow has long been a dream of ours. The team has worked hard to create a space and a menu that feels authentic to Bombay while celebrating the character of Glasgow and the heritage of its South Asian community. We cannot wait to welcome our first guests through the door for shared stories and leisurely feasts.’
Dishoom is also planning to open it’s first restaurant in Leeds.
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