London is enormous and overwhelming. The scale of Manhattan seems minute in comparison — the grid makes things orderly and the fact that it’s an island means things don’t feel like they’re sprawling on forever. Because they’re not. Which is why when I’m in London I’m literally there to just see friends and hang out — if I try to do anything else I’m lost instantly.
But anyway, enough rambling. I was lucky enough to find myself in London for a few days this summer, and one day I met up with my friend Kate — her blog is here. Kate and I went to college together in Boston, and she’s recently moved to England. I haven’t seen her in ages, though, so it seemed like a good time to catch up.
I’ve been wanting to go to Dishoom for literally years. I came across the place reading design blogs, and the interiors seemed insanely well put together. And, as neither Kate nor I had any other ideas, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try it out. Decided, we planned our rendezvous in Covent Garden.
So. The food. We decided to order a few things to share, and I’m glad we did — everything was delicious and perfect. We started with the vegetable samosas — perfectly filling on their own, but split they made a great teaser into the cuisine.
We split the chole frankie — spiced chickpeas with herbs, pickled vegetables and chutney — two orders of naan, the house black dal — the house signature dish — and an order each of the chicken tikka and the spicy lamb chops.
Overall the flavors were light yet saturated — best described as more textures that came together in a tapestry of delicious. The relative lightness of each dish also kept us from feeling like we were about to doze off or die of over-consumption.
I also have to spotlight the lamb chops — they’re marinated overnight in a lime juice and jaggery mixture, and seasoned with spices, ginger, and garlic. Served charred on the outside and lightly pink inside, garnished with pomegranate seeds, they were something out of this world.
Our total bill was £40, with gratuity.