The team behind Dishoom believe that the music revolution in Soho in the ’60s helped to kick-off a new music scene in Bombay – and this is what has inspired their latest café. Of course these days Carnaby Street is filled with designer stores and upmarket pubs and restaurants, but it is still very much seared into the national consciousness as a byword for swinging London and the ’60s. The Dishoom team says it is incredibly excited to be moving into such an iconic locale. It includes a Permit Room cocktail bar, several all-day dining rooms, an open kitchen and an enclosed terrace. As with the group’s other three outposts (King’s Cross, Shoreditch and Covent Garden) the restaurant will provide a surprisingly genuine homage to the old Irani cafés of Bombay. I'm really disappointed with the way this has been dealt with, or not as the case may be.This perennially popular small chain of cool Mumbai-style cafés is set to open Dishoom Carnaby on Kingly Street in Soho this October.
Coeliac disease is an auto immune disease and even the tiniest amount of gluten can make me very very unwell. I am still suffering the ill affects of having had gluten. I've called and left messages and not had a reply. Over a week later and I've heard absolutely nothing. My friend went in to pay the drink bill and was spoken to very rudely, we were made to feel like shop lifters! I called the Covent Garden branch the very next day and explained the situation, I was assured that this would be taken very seriously and handed over to a general manager who would be in touch. If they had said at any point the food would not be charged but drinks would, we would have course been happy with that. I also said that they in fact should be paying for my transport home as I was not well enough to travel on public transport. I said at no point had anyone told us we needed to pay part of the bill, in fact we'd been assured it would be taken care of. Within about 30 seconds of leaving the restaurant we were chased down the street by another manager and a waiter, they told us our bill had an outstanding amount to pay! I asked if they were kidding?! Unfortunately they weren't. At no point did anyone else come over to see if I was ok! When we decided to leave my friend went and spoke to staff, she told them I was very unwell and that we were leaving now and thanked them for having the decency to not charge us for our meal. We stayed in the restaurant for another hour before I felt able to leave. She also said that the bill would be taken care of. I immediately spoke to staff and a manager was very apologetic, she assured me they take food allergies and intolerances very seriously and said she would speak to the kitchen. My stomach swelled very badly like I was pregnant and was rock hard and painful, I found it difficult to walk, I had hot sweats, stabbing pains and an upset stomach. I'd not eaten since breakfast and we ordered lots of food (all the usual things I've eaten before apart from a pistachio kolfi) within 20 minutes of finishing our meal I became very unwell. I was with friends and our booking was at 1.45 on a busy Saturday. The reason I eat here frequently is because I'm a coeliac and they have a great GF menu and good knowledge of cross contamination etc. This was my second visit to the new one at Carnaby. I've been eating at dishoom for a few years now, always Covent Garden & it's always been fabulous.