It’s been 14 years, so why are people still queuing for Dishoom?
‘The world could be ending and there would still be a queue outside of Dishoom.’
This is the first post that greets me when I search for ‘Dishoom queue’ on X and its author, @safx41, is just one of many who are disparaging about the wait times at the Indian restaurant chain (myself included).
If there’s one thing you can count on in London, it’s that there will ALWAYS be a queue outside of Dishoom, no matter the season, weather, or time of day.
It’s downright impossible to try and nab a booking in advance online, with most of the cafés being walk-in only. As such, lines wind down the street, curving around corners at each and every one of the locations (there are seven across the capital).
At peak times there are waits of up to an hour, according to the FAQ section of Dishoom’s website, but some customers claim they’ve waited more than two hours to make it across the restaurant’s threshold.
The food business has been going strong since 2010, with the first Dishoom café launching in Covent Garden the same year. This means people have been tucking into the flavours of Bombay for 14 years.
Given today’s financial climate, it’s undoubtedly an impressive feat to still have massive queues down the block after all this time, but it does beg the question: after all this time, why are people still treating Dishoom like it’s the latest viral hotspot?
There’s likely a psychological element behind it, as behavioural economist Meg Elkins explained to the Sydney Herald that queues suggest something is ‘desirable’, because ‘why else would people forgo their time to wait for something that isn’t quality?’
And if you haven’t tried it, this desirability can also give way to FOMO (fear of missing out), which might also prompt you to join the queue.
This is true for several other restaurants in London, including Padella in Borough Market, which is well known for its queues. However, unlike Dishoom, it’s changed the way it operates and now uses Dojo (formerly Walkup), which allows you to virtually join a queue, instead of waiting out in the cold.
It’s curious that Dishoom hasn’t adopted this modern method… some might wonder if they want to keep the queues outside, after all, it’s great free promo for them.
And if you’ve thought this, you wouldn’t be too far off base. Shamil Thakrar, one of the chain’s founders, previously confessed to Eater London, that he didn’t want the queues to disappear, and the thought of that happening kept him up at night.
‘My biggest fear is that people don’t love Dishoom any more, and the queue is a proxy for that. The queue is a signal that people like what we do.’
All of this aside, there is one very obvious benefit to queueing for Dishoom — the free drinks.
As wait times stretch on, staff attempt to appease frustrated queuers by offering glasses of chai in cold weather, and shots of alcohol or homemade lemonade in the evenings. They’ve also been known to bring out umbrellas when the heavens open.
MasterChef judge and top chef Marcus Waering, is fascinated by the queues outside Dishoom but you won’t ever spot him standing in one of the lines either.
‘Dishoom is really interesting,’ he told Metro.co.uk. ‘You see them dotted all around now. I remember when they opened the first one in Covent Garden and the reviews had been absolutely outstanding, and their story was beautifully told… Owning a restaurant opposite it, and watching people queue every day was one of the hardest things to see as a restauranteur.’
Despite refusing to queue, Marcus is still a fan of the food. ‘I don’t go very often now, because I don’t want to queue outside of a restaurant, I just can’t be bothered, but they’ve not lost me as a customer, if I happen to walk past and I’m hungry and there’s no queue then I’ll go in.
The expert went on to share his thoughts on what drives the queues, and for him the answer was obvious: it’s the power of social media.
‘I actually went to one a little while ago in Seven Dials for a breakfast meeting. It was a wet, horrible Tuesday, 8 o’clock in the morning, it was pouring down with rain, I walked in and my mouth just dropped on the floor, because it was full.
‘It’s like what the f**k? How do you do this? What is their magic? Because it’s not just there, it’s at all their restaurants, and that’s social media, that’s TikTok — it’s really re-invented the way that people go out and eat.’
He’s not wrong, while there are many sassy posts online about the queues, when it comes to Dishoom on social media, the hype is unparalleled — and TikTok has certainly made queuing for food the norm. (Case in point: Cédric Grolet).
Content creators on TikTok have hailed Dishoom as ‘London’s most famous Indian’ and ‘the best Indian food in London’, and with reviews like that, you can see why people might be willing to wait for a table.
But is it actually worth standing around for?
I can’t lie, the chai at Dishoom is some of the best I’ve ever had, and the fact that it comes with unlimited refills makes me love it even more.
As for the food itself, it’s good. We all know it’s good (especially that House Dhal). The biggest draw for me is that it’s consistent. I’ve never had a bad meal at Dishoom, and I always know exactly what to expect when I order.
But I’ve never queued for Dishoom and I never will.
Why? There’s just no need. London has an incredible restaurant scene, and if you can’t get into one place, there’s always somewhere else serving up delicious food around the corner, or perhaps even right next door.
You can also quite literally skip the queue and have the food delivered straight to your front door these days thanks to Deliveroo.
Top tips for getting a table at Dishoom:
Dishoom’s managing director, Brian Trollip, shared some advice for customers hoping to dine at one of their restaurants.
‘As a rule, I’d say that when there are queues, they’re generally between 5.45pm and up until 9.15pm,’ he says. ‘There’s rarely a queue before or after these on any day.’
He goes on to say you can ‘generally’ walk into a Dishoom and get a table straight away on weekdays, but he urges people to avoid trying this during the ‘busiest’ hour of the day, which is between 1pm and 2pm.
Brian’s other top tips include heading to Dishoom in Battersea for a table, as this restaurant is new and not quite as busy as the others. Alternatively, head to Dishoom restaurants outside of London.
‘The Dishoom ‘Permit Room’ in Brighton hasn’t been open for very long and has a brand new menu and cocktail list. It takes bookings for any time of the day or night and for any number of guests.’
Typically at Dishoom in London you can only get bookings for groups of six people or more, after 6pm.
Dishoom say they ‘never imagined’ they’d have queues when they first opened, as they feel their food is quite ‘simple’, but they aren’t going to complain about their popularity any time soon — unsurprisingly they think the queues are a positive thing.
Brian Trollip, managing director of Dishoom, told Metro: ‘Our menu is all about the comfort food of Bombay. Simple, delicious dishes that have been around for tens if not hundreds of years — delivered in the best way we possibly can.
‘These aren’t necessarily fancy dishes that you’d reserve months ahead for — they’re made for everyone — and we never want anyone to feel like they can’t just turn up at Dishoom and have us look after them because they haven’t made a reservation.
‘I don’t know if [the queues] help our business as such, but they allow us to be more flexible and to look after anyone who wants to dine with us on any given day.’
If you’ve never been to Dishoom, it’s definitely worth a try, and you can avoid queuing if you’re clever. Just swing by around 3pm or 4pm on a weekday for a late lunch/early dinner and hope for the best.
And if you still can’t get in, be thankful that London isn’t short of fabulous Indian restaurants, many of which you can breeze right into.
From Pravaas in South Kensington, to Kokum in East Dulwich, Cinnamon Bazaar in Richmond or Covent Garden, and The Coriander in Vauxhall, there are plenty of delicious options out there for when you just don’t want to wait.
