The Adelphoi Music studios are favourably placed for food and drink, being handily placed on the edge of London’s Soho and theatreland. Taking our neighbours, The Ivy (infamy is all well and good, but being known for celeb-spotting is highly over-rated, even if their house dish is a cottage pie) and Le Beaujolais (one of London’s best kept secrets, amazing and unpretentious French nosh and plonk) out of the equation, you’re still left with a large amount of supreme restaurants and watering holes.

Last night I took my better half to Dishoom, a classy contemporary take on a Bombay café on St Martins Lane. If it wasn’t for the dilapidated fluro bicycles chained outside on the pavement, I’d probably walk past it unknowingly every day, which is a damn shame.

The menu is limited, but that’s a good thing surely? A selection of sharing plates and Tandoori dishes are supplemented by biryanis and salads. We went for the following by way of an example… spiced crisps with dips, deep fried calamari, followed by paneer tikka (don’t be afraid of the cheese!) and lamb biryani, accompanied by the house daal. Starters were pretty straightforward, but the mains were right up there. The biryani was the best I’ve had since a trip to India last year; proper flavours and perfectly balanced. The paneer actually tasted like it had come out of an animal and the tikka sauce was creamy and rich.

All-in-all, I wanted to make a dent in the rest of the menu right there and then, but shall instead return repeatedly to make sure I don’t miss out. In fact, tempted by a really interesting breakfast menu, I returned this morning for bacon wrapped in a naan, with chilli jam and yoghurt. A little more pricey than a traditional sarnie from a caff, but blimey it was well worth it! They also gave me a spicy chai whilst I waited. How lovely of them.

Taking into account I had a takeaway recommended by Michel Roux Jr. last week which cost more per dish than Dishoom’s menu (and didn’t taste anywhere near as good) and also that my angle on this is tainted by celeb-chef/masterchef addictions come pretentions, I would recommend this over all others, bar perhaps a spicy kiss from Atul Kochar at Benares.

Fancy a curry in London, but don’t want to break the bank? Go to Dishoom.

Here is their website.

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