A lively, all-day spin-off from fan-favourite Dishoom, Dishoom Permit Rooms Liverpool brings the energy and heritage of a modern permit room to Merseyside’s Dale Street. The concept is a tribute to the beer bars, permit rooms, and drinking holes of 1950s Bombay, when, after liquor was banned, people found refuge in the front rooms of residential houses, often with drinks served by aunties in the family.
Dishoom Permit Rooms’ Liverpool site offers a distinctly modern interpretation, drawing on that nostalgia, all set against a backdrop of funk, punk, hip hop, Bollywood and more, with local DJs taking over each week.
Open all day, the menus reflect the same flexible, come-as-you-are ethos that defines the wider Permit Room concept. Expect menus that cater to all occasions, with the all-day menu served from midday and designed to suit everything from lighter bites made to accompany drinks to more substantial meals.
The Dishoom Permit Room Liverpool menu reflects a diverse food scene. You’ll find a ‘snackery’ section offering bar-style bites like masala nuts and chilli cheese garlic naan bites hot out of the tandoor, along with ‘small-ish’ plates like aloo tikki chole, crispy spinach chaat, lamb samosas made with Gujarati filo, veggie samosas with Punjabi-style shortcrust, onion bhajia and garlic pepper prawns.
Grill dishes, meanwhile, stretch from zingy hot wings in a buttery tamarind-honey marinade and red chutney, and charred lamb chops in raw papaya, ginger and cumin, to lamb tawa kebabs served with fresh green chutney and kachumber on the side. Can’t decide? Simply opt for the mixed grill to get a taste of the whole lot.
The Permit Rooms menu also includes some of Dishoom’s most popular ‘ruby murrays’, including the famed Dishoom chicken ruby in a rich makhani sauce, chole chickpeas roasted with cumin, black tea and dried mango, and the comforting Dishoom black daal to have on the side.