After a meeting with a creative agency about launching a FoodieBoys app we were left twiddling our hungry thumbs in Shoreditch.
“Shall we grab a bite to eat, James?”
“Sure thing.”
“Indian?”
“We’re not going to Brick Lane.”
“No, I know this great little place. Do you trust me?”
“I trust you.”
We got to the door of Dishoom, only to be told that there would be a half hour wait to be seated. Undeterred, we decided to prop up the bar until they found room for a couple of peckish ones.
Perhaps someone from the restaurant recognised the Foodie Boys were in the house, because we had barely got our lips around the Limca Collins and large Kingfisher beer we’d ordered when we were informed via a nifty buzzing device that a table was free.
As we were taken towards our table we overheard a fellow guest perfectly concluding that this section of the restaurant “was like being in the garden, but inside,” for we were seated in a conservatory-like building.
We were approached by two lovely waitresses, Mariko and someone else:
“Hi, I’m Mariko and this is (someone else), she’ll be shadowing me tonight is that ok?”
“Two for the price of one,” we both quipped.
Unperturbed by our twin-like response, and after explaining we knew we weren’t buying them, they made us immediately well-at-ease.
“Have you been here before?” Enquired Mariko.
“No.” James.
“Yes.” Rob.
We were presented with the menus. We settled on a couple of light bites to kick us off, some Okra fries and lamb samosas.
Both were delicious, especially with the assorted chutneys to accompany them. One spicy, one less spicy and one not spicy at all. The Three Indian Bears would have had a field day!
MAINS
Again, we shared.
Now, don’t judge us but yes we had chicken tikka:
1. The Dishoom chicken tikka
Succulent bites of chicken, bursting with ginger, turmeric, garlic and green chilli flavours. Lovely.
2. Gunpowder Potatoes
These were smoky potatoes with brown skins, broken apart, tossed with butter, crushed aromatic seeds and green herbs. We discussed why they were called Gunpowder Potatoes, as there was limited spice to them. James ventured that it was perhaps a reference to our colonial past, and we quietly contemplated the lives lost to the Empire. These were again, lovely, but being spice lords, we would have liked an extra punch.
3. Black House Daal
Rob knew he was ordering this as soon as he set eyes on it. Having lived in India, daal makhani, a lentil based dish, was a staple part of his diet. He presumed this would be the same thing, and it pretty much was. Dark, rich and simmered for ages. It was a nice change to the meatier, potatoey options of the other two courses.
SIDES
1 x Naan – nuff said
1 x Garlic Naan – nuff said
DESSERT
It was offered to us, and the chocolate mousse with chilli and salt really appealed. But it was quite late by now and we were tired.
Rob ordered a small Kingfisher to polish off while James finished his big Kingfisher. We asked for the bill, which as you can see below came complete with a personalised message – thanks Mariko or the other one!
FULL DISCLOSURE
It was only after leaving the restaurant that we realised we hadn’t been charged for the drinks we had at the bar. We’d asked for them to be added to our tab before we headed off to our table.
We would like it to be known that we would have written a good review regardless of whether we got some free gin and beer.
Foodie Boys 