The Permit Room at Dishoom

Since 1949, and to this very day, Bombay has been under a state of prohibition. A personal permit is required by law if one is to “continue to require foreign liquor and country liquor for preservation and maintenance of my health.” Set apart from a family room, there is a special place which has come to be known unofficially as a Permit Room. Herein liquor can be sold and imbibed, but only for the goodness of one’s health.”

A Bombay-style Permit Room has arrived in Shoreditch. A dedicated bar serving the most delicious and sincere old cocktails, recalling the days before Independence, such as Flips, Gimlets, Juleps and Sours; Fizzes, Old-Fashioneds, and a Bombay Presidency Punch, devised from a recipe written down by the Governor of the East India Company, General Sir John Gayer.

Whether a tipple before dinner or a Julep after work, a Saturday sundowner or a cosy nightcap, the extensive Permit Room menu has much to offer the discerning drinker.