"At Dishoom, you’ll find the food of all Bombay ... its cafés, grills, street stalls and homes. This food evokes fond memories: the simple pleasure of sipping masala chai with buttered buns, the fire of a street-side Vada Pau and the snackery of Bhel, or the fragrant warmth of a potted Biryani shared with friends. Dishoom serves true Bombay comfort food inspired by its most treasured corners of the city," reads the restaurant's website.
Dishoom serves much-loved Bombay comfort food – hearty breakfasts to street food staples. Biryani to the curries of Mohammed Ali Road, and the famed grills of Colaba, along with first-class Small Plates, Breads and Rice.
There are about 10 locations throughout the city, each with their own personality, but all designed in the style of Irani cafés popular in Mumbai. Bri and I visited the Shoreditch location, which had a bit of a wait, but once we were inside, it was upscale but cozy.
We enjoyed VEGETABLE SAMOSAS - Crunchy Punjabi-style shortcrust pastry, pea and potato filling warmly spiced with cinnamon. Tamarind chutney for dipping. (Ve, V)
I also tried their famous CHICKEN RUBY - Tender chicken in a rich, silky makhani sauce. A good and proper curry redolent with spice and flavour.
"The origin of our Chicken Ruby hails not from Bombay but Delhi, where the chef at famous Moti Mahal originally fashioned Butter Chicken (by its other name) from leftover tandoori chicken for his staff. It has been their most famous dish for many years," according to Dishoom's Instagram.
The name of 1950s Belfast singer "Ruby Murray" is apparently well known as Cockney rhyming slang for curry. That's the section this dish is listed under in the menu.
We also enjoyed some naan, basmati rice, chutneys and lassi.
Everything was wonderful. The Chicken Ruby is in the same vein of butter chicken or chicken tikka masala – sweet, savory, a little spicy – but more complex in flavor. And absolutely delicious.
Grade: A
"In 1965, Hal Guthrie, a proud Auburn Alumni, opened the very first Guthrie’s as a drive-in restaurant in Haleyville, Alabama. In 1978 Hal walked into his restaurant and announced to his wife, Melissa, and four children that they were going to start serving chicken fingers. But not just any chicken fingers. The golden fried standard of chicken fingers–marinated and fried to perfection. Hal realized that he had to have a delicious, totally irresistible dipping sauce to accompany his perfectly golden fried chicken fingers. He held a contest among his younger children, Hud, Joe Kelly and Anna Margaret, to see who could create the best sauce. Hud’s sauce won. Little did they know that this sauce would make restaurant industry history," according to the website.
Huntington is home to one of these new drive-throughs so I had to try one of the chicken boxes with toast and crinkly fries. I think these were good - nice crispiness on the chicken. Fries not so much. But DQ is my gold standard for chicken strip baskets, and this wasn't quite there.
Grade: B
I tried out NMC, which is a meal prep service in the Charleston-Huntington area. Each meal is $7 and under 500 calories. There's a good variety, and all you have to do is heat them up. I figured this is a perfect solution for those super busy weeks where it's tough to find time to cook dinner, but you also might not want to spend the money ordering out. Bonus points that it's in a portion-sized container so it can help with those diets. And, they deliver for $5.
I reached out to them last week and ordered 6 meals for the week: Seafood Pasta - Tri-colored rotini with shrimp and crab with some veggies and a mayo-based sauce, Turkey Enchiladas Stuffed Peppers, 3 Meat Lasagna with Broccoli - with zucchini, Hibachi Chicken with Fried Rice and Mixed Vegetables, Pork Egg Roll Bowl and Honey Jerk Chicken.
Everything was pretty solid, even though it was "healthy." My favorite was the stuffed peppers because there was a lot of flavor, and I also enjoyed the seafood pasta for something different. I'm not crazy about the skin on the chicken or grilled chicken in general, but not bad.
This week, I'm going to be trying the following:
CAPRESE PASTA (vegan)
BUFFALO CHICKEN STUFFED PEPPERS
424 CAL. C15G, P 466. F 22G
SWEDISH MEATBALLS W/MASH & GREEN BEANS
465CAL. C 48G, P 32G, F 236
CHICKEN TERIYAKI & STIR FRY VEGGIES
P 32G. F 14G. C 26G, 350 CAL
HOT HONEY SALMON W/S. POTATO & BROCCOLI
P 30G. F 5G. C 46G. 367 CAL
BBQ PULLED PORK C.MAC
P19G, FI4G, C30G, 308CAL
"Poppies fish and chips are fun, a guilty pleasure and an old fashioned Great British classic. For mouth tingling, lip smacking, ketchup pouring, gravy drowning indulgence we are the experts at all things fish and chips," according to their website.
I had to try some traditional fish & chips while in London. Traditional British fish and chips consist of battered and deep-fried white fish, usually cod or haddock, served with thick-cut chips. The dish is commonly seasoned with salt and malt vinegar and often accompanied by sides like mushy peas, tartar sauce, or pickled onions. In some regions, curry sauce or gravy is also popular. Fish and chips are typically purchased from a takeaway shop, known as a “chippy,” and served wrapped in paper.
Poppies takes its name from born and bred East-ender Pat ‘Pops’ Newland who captained the ship and steered it on its way. Pops career began in the fish and chip business aged 11, when he got a job on the Roman Road cutting up The Daily Mirror newspaper to wrap fish and chips in for takeaway. Half a century on, Pops realized his lifelong dream and founded his own place in Spitalfields using his passion for fish and chips, decades of experience and love of British popular culture to create an award-winning restaurant filled with warmth, charm and retro memorabilia collected throughout his life.
The fish was indeed white and flaky, though not batter-crisp like I hoped. Similarly, the chips were thick and flavorful with the malt vinegar, but no crisp to speak of. Flavors on point, texture could use some work -- at least for me.
Despite being absolutely stuffed from noshing all day, I splurged for dessert, too: CARAMEL STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING WITH 1 SCOOP OF ICE CREAM.
Wow. Talk about rich, sweet, heavy and oh so satisfying.
Grade: B
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