Hi again, it’s Hayley and I’m back with another food review! It’s been a while since I’ve been in London, but when I heard about Dishoom, Borough’s soft launch boasting half-off prices, I knew I had to be there.
But of course, as one of the most popular (and debatably overhyped) restaurants in London, I had to fight to snag a lunch reservation during their promotion period. This outlet, situated just around the corner from Borough Market, makes it the franchise’s eighth London location.
The second floor
Two-stories tall, the restaurant is decorated in its signature eclectic and homey style with vintage-style posters decking the bold-coloured walls. Inside, it’s a hubbub of activity, tables full of chattering, hungry people, and waitstaff darting between chairs.
Since everything is half-off, I naturally go way overboard and order double as much food as I need to. The menu’s expectedly very pricey, not something I’d recommend as an easy student meal - Dishoom is typically a treat saved for when my parents are covering dinner. In full transparency, I paid a whopping £47 even after the discount… but the leftovers lasted me three separate meals so… worth it? Read along to see what I ordered, and you can make that decision for yourself.
For drinks, I got their chocolate chai for £5.40. Pro-tip: order their house chai instead (£4.90), because they allow you to refill both flavours no matter which one you order. For the incoming cold weather, I think their chai is always a good option - the temperature of the drink itself warms you up from the inside out, but their house blend of spices really ignites the flame deep in your throat, mellowed out by the chocolate.
Their pau bhaji
In terms of actual food, I ordered their pau bhaji (£8.70), Goan monkfish curry (£21), mattar paneer (£17.90), and the outlet-exclusive Keralan pepper chicken (£17.90 for a half plate). Their pau bhaji arrived first, two soft buns pre-sliced and a steaming mix of mashed vegetables to stuff inside. The vegetables weren’t over-mashed into a sticky puree, with a pleasant mouthfeel that still gives some texture with every bite.
After a long wait, everything else arrived at once. The Keralan pepper chicken was definitely the star of the show, served with a pepper-heavy dry rub, a generous serving of black pepper sauce, some pickled vegetables as a palate cleanser, and a flaky paratha fried to golden-brown perfection. The pepper perfectly marinated the juicy meat, so the flavour wasn’t just surface-level. The paratha mopped up the black pepper sauce well, but I think it would’ve paired better with a biryani.
From previous visits to other outlets, I already knew the Goan monkfish curry was orgasmic, so I couldn’t miss out on ordering it again. The curry’s flavour is very well-balanced, with creamy coconut and tangy tomato pairing perfectly with the paratha. However, I did feel the fish chunks weren’t the freshest, which made the £21 I paid feel like even more of a pinch to the pocket.
Their mattar paneer is a tomato and onion-based curry, with a generous amount of paneer cheese floating inside. It was intensely smoky and sweet, you could definitely taste the time it took to slow cook. The green peas simmering inside also gave it a nice bite.
From top-left, going clockwise: Goan monkfish curry, mattar paneer, chocolate chai, Keralan pepper chicken
If spice is a concern, pretty much everything I ordered is safe for sensitive taste buds. Everything was mild, the spiciest thing being the black pepper chicken.
All in all, I hate to say it, but I really don’t think this restaurant is overhyped. Pricey? For sure. But for me, it’d be worth every penny when celebrating a special occasion. And of course, it’s simply criminal to pass up on such a good promotion!