NOW that’s what you call a breakfast to set you up for winter. It’s how to start your day at Dishoom this comforting spread centred around Chef Naved Nasir’s legendary Bacon Naan Rolls. ToM has wolfed them down in a couple of the much-loved chain’s cafes in London – and gone on to explore large chunks of the all-day Indian with-an-Anglo-twist menu.
We’ve known for months they were heading for Manchester Hall to open their first venue, Edinburgh aside, outside the capital. Now all the red tape has been sorted and they’ve officially announced their arrival this winter. The CGI images they’ve released reveal a sensitive blending of their house style of replicating the old Irani cafés of Bombay with the carefully preserved features of what was the Freemason’s Hall. We love the ceiling fans. Are they recruiting punkah wallahs, we wonder?
The food formula also follows their other six operations small plates, grills, biryanis, salad plates, rolls, curries and all the comfort food snacks of the Mumbai melting pot.
Dishoom Manchester will also feature a Permit Room bar, serving Daru-wallahCarl Brown’s cocktails, including the non-alcoholic versions, known as ‘copy tipples’.
Carl’s job description loosely translates as ‘the guy with the alcohol’. We like the sound of him already. If you want to check out the kind of food they’ll be serving follow this link.
We’ll let the Dishoom team recount the back story of the brand…
“Irani cafés were once part of the fabric of life in Bombay (today’s Mumbai). Opened early last century by Zoroastrian immigrants from Iran, there were almost four hundred of these cafés at their peak in the 1960s. Now fewer than 30 remain.Their faded elegance welcomed all: courting couples, sweaty taxi-wallahs, students, artists and lawyers. The cafés broke down barriers by bringing people together over food and drink. Bombay was more open and welcoming for their existence. Dishoom pays homage to these Irani cafés and the food of all Bombay.”
Freemasonry was big in Bombay as elsewhere across the Empire, so Dishoom is exploring the connections between that city and their new home…
“The creative team behind Dishoom always write a story – a founding myth – for each restaurant. This founding myth provides the basis for every design decision and is always deeply rooted in an aspect of Bombay history. And so, while exploring Bombay-Manchester links, the team were delighted to discover a forgotten Zoroastrian detective novel called ‘The Tower of Silence’, written by a little-known author named Phiroshaw Jamsetjee Chevalier, and originally published in 1927 (at the same time that Manchester Hall was under construction). The novel sees the fictional but famous British private eye Sexton Blake and an elusive Parsi vigilante known only as 'Beram' journey between London, Manchester and Bombay.”
If you want to see how Dishoom have adapted the story to mark their own arrival in our city you’ll have to read it on their Manchester website. We are just looking forward to tracking down that notorious Bacon Naan Roll. It would be criminal not to!
Dishoom Manchester, Manchester Hall, Bridge Street, M3 3BT.
