A Bombay-style bistro for breakfast?

I came across a recommendation for Dishoom while preparing for our trip to London. I heard great reviews of this place as a stop, especially for breakfast. London has some great Indian food and this place intrigued me. A bit of a departure from the norm so I made it one of our first stops for breakfast while in London.

Dishoom was located just south of Soho in between Covent Garden and Leicester Square on Upper St. Martins Lane. Funny enough it is right next to a Jamie’s Italian. Jamie Oliver is one of my favorite Chef’s. Recently he created The Food Revolution for TV to help change the way our kids eat in school, not to mention he won the TED prize. His Fifteen restaurant gives unemployed young people a chance at a better life. Anyway… I digress.

We arrived on on Tuesday morning around 8:30 for breakfast. At first the place was smaller and brighter than I had originally pictured. We were greeted by a lovely hostess who also turned out to be our server. As we were obviously American when we started speaking she gave us a few pointers on the menu. Turns out we were not the only ones from the US. She was raised in NYC and LA. She gave us the 411 on the free WiFi and recommended we try the chai as it is house made. It was a very good decision. The chai was steeping hot and full of flavor. Interestingly enough it was actually spicy. I have never had a spicy chai. So good!

She suggested we try a Naan Roll or the Full Bombay. We being still stuffed from the previous night decided to take it easy. We ordered the non menu combo of Sausage and Bacon Naan Roll and the Fruit Roomali. The Naan Roll was very good and I think I could have eaten another but the real winner was the sauce. Homemade chili jam that you could have put on a piece of cardboard. I still would have eaten the whole thing. Sweet, spicy and the perfect complement to the Naan Roll. The Fruit Roomali was also very good, fresh fruit wrapped up in a roti with marscarpone and honey. We also tried a delicious glass of their fresh squeezed orange juice.

The server invited us back to come and try them for dinner. In the blog-o-sphere I heard mixed reviews about dinner but the breakfast was so delish I wish we could have made another stop for dinner. We only had 3 days in London so it was a no go. Sad, I know!

Here are some other pics I took. They have another more intimate seating area with a full bar downstairs. I imagine it would be a fun place to hang with some friends for drinks and dinner. Great decor and yes… I took a picture of the bathroom. Hey, some of you might want to know! I thought it was cute and loved the soap dispenser. It was on a swivel. Clever.