Being from India its very difficult living in Amsterdam sometimes. The food, its just not the same. You miss the smell of the street food, the extra butter melting on that bread, the tastes of the spicy chilli marinated right into the meat, or even into the vegetarian dishes and oh so much more. I miss the crackle of the tawa (huge pan) on the streets, and the guy lemoning up everything I order in front of me.
Dishoom, where I was first like oh ok could be good, turned out to be amazing. The interiors reminded me of a 90s Bollywood movie set in Bombay. Those chairs, the posters on the wall and random artifacts kept as decoration.
When I saw the menu I got so excited, was like a child living her dream. They had all my Bombay street food and more. I literally ate everything snacky on the menu.
My favorite was the okra fries, and the pav bhaji. Oh they were so delicious.
So pav bhaji literally translated is vegetables and bread The vegetable is made of carrots, potatoes and some other veges that our moms can find in the fridge. They spicy it up and top it off with butter, coriander and lemon. It’s then served with soft bread thats been heated on the pan with butter. Best meal on a weekend growing up.
I would also recommend the naans there, I enjoyed the cheese naan and garlic naan with sheehk kebabs.
Kali dal, which translated is black lentils. Its cooked with spices, and topped with a bit of cream and coriander. Again one of my favorite indian dishes, and also a vegetarian speciality. Eat it with the naan, and you cannot go wrong.
You could tell the restaurant was popular, as there were about 30 people waiting outside at 6pm, it was packed and didn’t seem to be getting any slower 🙂 I went to the one at Convent Garden but I believe there are 2 other locations as well.
Address: 12 Upper St. Martin’s Lane, London
Number: +44 20 7420 9320
Bhukkad Diaries 