More details revealed for Dishoom’s Brighton 'bar café' Permit Room
Set to launch in November, the venue will take its influence from the ‘permit rooms, beer bars and drinking holes’ of 1960s and 1970s Bombay.
Permit Room’s drinks offering will take its cues from the flavours and ingredients of Bombay across each of the menu’s categories: Highballs, On the Rocks, Twisted Classics, Short & Boozy, Frozen Lipsters, Morning Glories and the non-alcoholic Teetotal.
Menu highlights include Aunty’s Anjeer Manhattan, Feni Martini, Mango Lassi Punch and Espresso Martini riff Chai Caffè Martini.
More than 50% of the dishes on Permit Room’s main menu (and all the side dishes) are vegetarian or vegan, and no red meat will feature.
The bar-café will also be open for breakfast, serving the group's famed naan rolls alongside coffee, chai, fresh juices, Bloody Marys and Mimosas.
The food menu at Permit Room is designed to complement the drinks selection, with a range of dishes suitable for any time of day and drinking occasion including; Bar Snacks, Chaats, Patties & Salads, Ruby Murray (curries) and Permit Specials as well as Sweet Things.
Menu highlights, all of which are new dishes, include chakli and peanut masala; aunty’s makli fry, magic masala whitebait and aunty’s anda (egg) curry; jackfruit berry pulao; and jelly and ice cream with orange blossom jelly.
Brighton collaborations will be ‘integral’ to ‘the neighbourhood hangout’. On the drinks list, an exclusive Permit Room Sour beer is in partnership with local brewery, UnBarred Brewery.
The menu will also feature a beer in collaboration with Hand Co Brewery; a peach lager, served in a can. Other local suppliers will include: Tigermoth Coffee Roasters, Goldstone Rum, Madam Jennifer Distillery and Boho Gelato.
Kingfisher, the Permit Room Sour and Dishoom’s IPA will be served on tap, alongside a selection of bottles and cans, while the wine list will offer a natural, sustainable and biodynamic selection.
The bar café’s relaxed, retro interiors will be complemented by artwork by 'Bombayites, Brightonians and young Indian artists', and an eclectic playlist of funk, hip-hop, New York punk, disco and soul.
“We’ve been going to Bombay for decades now, and have had many a merry time in bars whilst on our travels,” says co-founder of Permit Room and Dishoom Shamil Thakrar.
“We’re also dedicated fans of cocktails and the UK’s drinking scene, and were genuinely inspired by the rebellious spirit and heritage of Bombay’s aunty bars, permit rooms and drinking holes. It feels like the right time to try something new.”
