15 Best Indian Restaurants in London

Tell us about your first impressions when you arrived.
This isn't Dishoom’s original venue (that’s in Covent Garden) but it is its newest, and my favourite outpost of the Bombay café-style Indian in the reinvigorated King's Cross. The place, in a vast former warehouse, is all about looks. There’s colonial-period fans, lots of rattan and wood, sturdy tables, and original portraits of Parsi bodybuilders and Indian stars from the Bombay jazz age. Dishoom is spread over two levels with plenty of open and secluded seating options, and as you may have guessed is all about the atmosphere.

What was the crowd like?
Being King's Cross, the crowd is a mix of art students from Central St Martins art college next door, and European bankers from the newly built financial headquarters, plus Google employees from their spot next to the St Pancras Eurostar train station. It's as varied as it gets.

What should we be drinking?
The drinks here are seriously considered new takes on classic cocktails with stories around almost all of them—this can be a bit perplexing if you just want a simple G&T, but fascinating if you’re into the history of the place. In the end I opted for the Cyrus Irani, a mix of lime juice, tequila, and turmeric-honey lassi syrup, which—though not as "charismatic" as the menu describes—did go down a treat. The rest of the drink menu is pretty big, with plenty of good wines by the glass as well as bottle, plus a selection of non-alcoholic cocktails that are worth a punt if you’re committed to dry January. They even do their own Dishoom IPA, which, alongside India’s favourite lager Kingfisher, is a good choice to wash down your samosas.

Main event: the food. Give us the lowdown—especially what not to miss.
Dishoom’s food is slightly more arty than hearty; the menu is long and there’s something for everyone. Many dishes are variants with touches that don’t always work (the Chicken Berry Britannia slow-cooked biryani with cranberries feels unnecessarily clever) but the bhelpuri, spicy lamb chops, keema, and my favorite deeply flavored black dahl are seriously good. Overall it’s the curries that work best, including the vegetarian and vegan ones. Go for the subtle Paneer Tikka, flavored with capsicums, and the Chicken Ruby coupled with a roti, and the lovely cucumber/yoghurt raita. Dishoom is open for breakfast, too, which is always a joy—who doesn’t want a super tasty bacon and egg naan roll to get you going in the a.m.?

And how did the front-of-house folks treat you?
Being such a big venue, there's a lot of staff and quite a few different ones ended up serving us. They were a little late with removing plates, but overall on the ball.

What’s the real-real on why we’re coming here?
For a story and comfort food, from cheesy naans to a fine chocolate pudding with chili ice cream, Dishoom is the perfect choice. If you ask, the greeter will happily talk to you about the old-Bombay Irani-cafe concept, plus there's plenty of info on the menus all about it. I like it for an atmospheric cocktail, a selection of small plates, and a good catch-up with your mates.