Restaurant Review
Dishoom Permit Room
1 Dale Street, L2 2PP
By Robin Brown | Indian | ££ |
Most days I get a text relating to medical procedures, my own or those relating to my children. A dermatology here, a cardiology there; a recent appointment with a maxillofacial surgeon was a particular highlight. So when a reservation for something called Permit Room popped up in my DMs recently, I assumed it was another meeting with someone who would make me feel guilty about my lifestyle or involve my arteries. As it turns out, my cholesterol was indeed about to take a hit.
As it turned out, I was being invited to a new Indian restaurant. Permit Room is a bar-led spin-off owned by Dishoom, a tilt at fine Indian dining currently reeling in positive reviews and customers down the M62. Inspired by late 20th Century Bombay, Permit Room pairs cocktails and beer with Dishoom classics like breakfast naan rolls and black daal. It’s a sort of amuse-bouche for the full Dishoom experience.
Why Permit Room? It all kicked off with the 1949 Bombay Prohibition Act, a slap of teetotalism that birthed clandestine, Goanrun ‘aunty bars’ in living rooms. By the 1970s you could legally buy a tipple only with a state permit ‘for the preservation of health’. Thus, the permit room emerged: dimly lit, functional drinking dens lined with Formica tables where men furtively downed quarters of hard liquor over spicy peanut masala. It’s a fascinating, vaguely groovy slice of mid-century rebellion, and now it lives in a former bank on the corner of Dale Street and Exchange Flags.
The ambiance and decor are lush – a little colonial and a tiny bit kitsch – and the curation here is on point to an absurd degree. I lusted over some massive ‘70s oak effect speakers, drank in the eclectic art and nodded along to a soundtrack that merged The Stranglers into Big Daddy Kane without blinking. There’s a newspaper, an actual bloody newspaper, for guests to peruse while they sip a chai or nibble a sausage naan.
The menu looks impressive and nighttime at Permit Room is an inviting prospect, however I went to check out their Ruby Murray set menu, an exercise in culinary monogamy: one pre-starter, one starter and one main to share for £29. This can save between £3 and about £15 depending on what you order and, if you share similar tastes, that might suit you beautifully. If you’re a meat and fish-eater and your wife doesn’t like fish or meat, well, bad luck.
One of the joys of sharing food is that you get to try different dishes. Digging into the same meal spoils the effect somewhat, it feels a bit like taking in the choices at a pick ’n’ mix and filling your bag full of cola bottles. Or going to a swingers’ club just to hold hands with your spouse. At Permit Room, the Ruby Murray is perfectly nice. Some chilli cheesy garlic naan bites arrive and are perfectly unctuous, even if they feel a bit like the burger at the seafood restaurant: a bit of a sop to people who only like pizza or chips.
A whimsical take on a chaat arrives: instead of crispy bread we have deep-fried spinach in amongst the various chutneys and yoghurts: messy, tasty and rather beautiful. I thought the matar paneer dish we shared as a main was a little ordinary and the boiled rice accompaniment hardly raises the stakes.
Food, but a bit cheaper and a fair bit faster, is no bad thing if you’re trying to fit in a meet-cute between office hours. From ordering to our main course arriving took a little over 17 minutes and service was superb, but I think Ruby Murray does The Permit Room a bit of a disservice. There’s not enough time to take it in, to salivate over a fascinating menu or simply enjoy being there.
If £15 a head (boiled rice is included, naans are a fiver extra) for a quick lunch suits you, you’ll enjoy the Ruby Murray. However, spend a bit more and you get access to a world of intriguing dishes, become the master of your own lunchtime and hang out in one of Liverpool’s most impressive spots. We tell ourselves we only have time for an express lane set menu, but taking the shortcut here robs you of the show. Permit Room is far too good a venue to experience on the fast track.
