The Dishoom Permit Room Oxford is a lively all-day bar-cafe inspired by the beer bars and drinking wholes of post-prohibition 1970s Bombay. Settled on one of Oxford’s oldest streets, it’s the kind of place made for neighbourhood revelry, with local DJs and a menu suited to quick drinks, snacks, and leisurely gatherings. It’s a more vivacious alternative to Dishoom, the successful Bombay restaurants that have amassed cult status across the UK.
The name comes from the 1970s permit holders, who having gained a liquor license were able to buy alcohol ‘for the preservation or maintenance of health.’ Before then, resourceful Aunties would secretly serve drinks from front rooms signalled to those in the know by boiled egg vendors outside. As a homage, The Permit Room Oxford serves an Aunty’s Anda curry, a rich and aromatic tomato curry concealing boiled eggs.
The Permit Room menu is made to be enjoyed alongside cold beers and an inspired cocktail offering that includes a kumquat Blushing Dawn Paloma, Mangosteen Daiquiri, and a non-alcoholic sweet-spiced Negroni. Food is divided into sharing plates of snack items, such as chaats, patties, curries and sweet dishes. You’ll still find plenty of Ruby Murrays and Dishoom favourites, including the 24-hour black daal and mattar paneer with peas and tomato gravy. It’s a more informal location to drop in without a reservation for bar snacks and bowls of curry with friends or dates.
There’s a dedicated party spread menu with all the punchiest dishes, sides and specials. It’s best enjoyed in company, ideally while sipping on a Kiwi Colada Shimmy. For the morning after, brunch lovers will find an extensive breakfast menu, featuring freshly baked tandoori naans with bacon and sausages, bun maska chai (a bun with butter to be dunked in hot Chai), and cooked breakfasts like The Full Permit fry-up.