Dishoom King’s Cross: Two of You Cannot Book After Six

Two of you cannot book a table at Dishoom after six o’clock. Not at King’s Cross, not anywhere.

“Dishoom is mostly a walk-in café. All are welcome, any time, no reservations needed. However, if you’d like to make a reservation, groups of any size may book during the day. After 6pm, we accept bookings for groups of six or more.”

That single rule explains the queue. Every couple, every three, every four, arriving for dinner, is in it. The only parties who walk past are six and over.

So there are exactly three ways to eat here in the evening without waiting: be six or more, go before 6pm, or go for breakfast.

Breakfast is the loophole

Worth saying plainly because it is the single most useful fact about the place.

King’s Cross opens at 8am Monday to Friday and 9am Saturday and Sunday, and groups of any size may book during the day.

A table for two at 9am on a Tuesday is bookable. The same table at 7pm is not. The Bacon Naan Roll, the Parsi Omelette and the House Granola are all breakfast, and so is the chai.

If you have been told Dishoom means queuing, you have been told about the wrong half of the day.

King’s Cross takes sixteen online. Shoreditch takes twenty-six

The branch difference nobody publishes side by side.

King’s Cross: “We accept bookings online up to four months in advance for up to 16 guests and accept enquiries for 16+.”

Shoreditch: the same four months in advance, but for up to 26 guests, with enquiries above that.

Ten people, same company, same booking system. If you are organising a party of twenty, Shoreditch will take it online and King’s Cross will make you enquire.

Four months is the horizon at both, which is longer than most London restaurants and worth knowing for a December booking.

The Nalli Nihari Biryani is only here

Each Dishoom carries its own specials, and these two are King’s Cross only.

Nalli Nihari Biryani: lamb shank layered with rice and caramelised onions, sealed under a pastry blanket, served with kaleji raita and nihari gravy. Dishoom describes nihari as synonymous with celebration and the biryani version as doubly so, and recommends sharing it.

Tanchoi Silk Fix: oak-aged mandarin shrub, ginger, Hayman’s Gently Rested gin, quinine and Szechuan pepper. The name is a Parsi reference: the merchant Sir Jejeebhoy sent three weavers to China to learn brocade silk, “tan” being three and “choi” the teacher’s name.

Shoreditch’s specials are different: Prawn Pathia and the Hunterwali’s Julep. So “going to Dishoom” is a choice of dish as much as a choice of postcode.

It is in a railway goods shed

The building is the reason this branch is the one people photograph.

Dishoom King’s Cross occupies a former Victorian railway transit shed, which Dishoom calls by its Bombay name, a godown. For over a century the building moved goods between Britain and the rest of the world.

The design tells the story of Indian Independence. On the walls are original posters and portraits including Sarojini Naidu, the activist and poet; Homai Vyarawalla, India’s first woman photojournalist; the revolutionary Bhagat Singh; Princess Sophia Duleep Singh; Rani Lakshmibai; and Pirojsha Burjorji Godrej.

One sign on the back wall is based closely on an original 1928 sign protesting the Simon Commission. There is also a photograph of the show of hands voting for Partition on 14 June 1947.

So the thing to do, if you are waiting anyway, is look at the walls properly.

This is the branch with a lift

An access difference between the two that matters and is easy to miss.

King’s Cross lists a wheelchair-accessible entrance, a wheelchair-accessible lift, wheelchair-accessible seating, step-free access to the front door, a loo on the same floor as the dining area and a disabled loo.

Shoreditch lists the same except for the lift, which does not appear on its list at all.

If a lift is part of what you need, this is the branch.

Facilities here are semi-private dining spaces and outdoor seating. The kitchen is vegan-friendly, vegetarian-friendly and halal-friendly.

The hours are the same at both

Monday to Wednesday 8am to 11pm.

Thursday and Friday 8am to midnight.

Saturday 9am to midnight.

Sunday 9am to 11pm.

Note the weekend start: 9am rather than 8am, so the Saturday breakfast everyone wants begins an hour later than the weekday one.

Where it is

Dishoom King’s Cross, 5 Stable Street, London N1C 4AB.

King’s Cross St Pancras is the station. Telephone 020 7420 9321.

Stable Street runs through the Coal Drops Yard development behind the station, which puts the restaurant a few minutes from the Granary Square fountains and the Everyman cinema on Handyside Street.

How to plan it

Table for two in the evening: you cannot book it. Six or more only after 6pm.

Want a guaranteed table for two: go before 6pm, or for breakfast, when any size can book.

Party of 17 to 26: book Shoreditch online. King’s Cross stops at 16 and makes you enquire.

Booking a Christmas table: four months ahead is allowed at both.

Want the lamb shank biryani: it is King’s Cross only.

Need a lift: King’s Cross, not Shoreditch.

Weekend breakfast starts at 9am, an hour later than weekdays.

Dishoom King’s Cross

Address

5 Stable Street, London N1C 4AB

Nearest

King’s Cross St Pancras

Hours

Monday to Wednesday 8am to 11pm. Thursday and Friday 8am to midnight. Saturday 9am to midnight. Sunday 9am to 11pm

Booking

Mostly a walk-in cafe. Groups of any size may book during the day, but after 6pm bookings are only accepted for groups of six or more. Online bookings up to four months ahead for up to 16 guests, with enquiries above that. Call 020 7420 9321

Price

Breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, with branch specials including the Nalli Nihari Biryani and the Tanchoi Silk Fix

Standing

A former Victorian railway transit shed, or godown, in Coal Drops Yard, decorated with original posters and portraits telling the story of Indian Independence

How to get in

After 6pm Dishoom only takes bookings for groups of six or more, which is why couples queue. Any size can book during the day, so breakfast and lunch are the loophole. This branch takes online group bookings up to 16 where Shoreditch takes 26. It is also the branch with a wheelchair-accessible lift, which Shoreditch does not list. The Nalli Nihari Biryani and Tanchoi Silk Fix are specials found only here.

Where to go next

Dishoom Shoreditch takes ten more people online and has a verandah that allows dogs, and the Dishoom page covers the rest of the branches.

King’s Cross restaurants covers what else is around Coal Drops Yard, and the Indian restaurants page puts Dishoom against the rest.

Questions we get asked

Can you book a table at Dishoom King's Cross?

During the day, yes, for groups of any size. After 6pm Dishoom only accepts bookings for groups of six or more, so a table for two in the evening cannot be reserved and has to be queued for. Dishoom describes itself as mostly a walk-in café.

How do you avoid the queue at Dishoom?

Go before 6pm or go for breakfast, when groups of any size can book. King's Cross opens at 8am Monday to Friday and 9am at weekends, and a table for two at 9am on a weekday is bookable where the same table at 7pm is not. The alternative is to be a party of six or more.

How far in advance can you book Dishoom King's Cross?

Up to four months, online, for up to 16 guests, with enquiries accepted for larger parties. Note that the Shoreditch branch takes online bookings for up to 26 guests over the same four month horizon, so a party of twenty can book Shoreditch online but must enquire at King's Cross.

What is special about Dishoom King's Cross?

Two branch-only items: the Nalli Nihari Biryani, a lamb shank biryani sealed under a pastry blanket with kaleji raita and nihari gravy, and the Tanchoi Silk Fix cocktail. The building is also a former Victorian railway transit shed hung with original posters and portraits telling the story of Indian Independence, including a back wall sign based on an original 1928 protest against the Simon Commission.

Is Dishoom King's Cross wheelchair accessible?

Yes, and it is the better of the two north and east branches for access. It lists a wheelchair-accessible entrance, a wheelchair-accessible lift, wheelchair-accessible seating, step-free access to the front door, a loo on the same floor as the dining area and a disabled loo. Shoreditch lists all of those except the lift.

What time does Dishoom King's Cross open?

8am Monday to Friday and 9am on Saturday and Sunday. It closes at 11pm Monday to Wednesday and on Sunday, and at midnight Thursday to Saturday. The hours are identical at the Shoreditch branch.