From bacon naan to last orders: Dishoom Leeds finds its feet

Dishoom has been on Vicar Lane for less than three months, but it is already making a play to be Leeds’ all-day address. We sat down with head chef Ragunath Dhanabal to talk about the dish made just for this city, and why the café is now staying up later.

A Bombay café on Vicar Lane

After years of rumours and a planning application or two, Dishoom Leeds opened its doors on 3 August with a ten-day soft launch, before officially opening on 14 August. It took over the former Flannels building at 68 to 78 Vicar Lane, an 8,000 sq ft space over two floors between Victoria Gate and the Victoria Quarter.

Every Dishoom comes with a backstory, and the Leeds one is a heist that never quite happened: a tale rooted in 1944 Bombay, when gold bars were scattered across the city. The fortune it imagines runs through the mid-century interiors and artwork. The house rules have been given a Leeds twist too, including a polite request not to settle your bill in corn, a nod to the city’s old habit of bartering grain for a meal.

The dish made for Leeds

The Leeds-only Malvani Lamb Curry looks to the Konkan coast of Maharashtra. Leg of lamb is slow-cooked with roasted coconut, cardamom, chillies, turmeric and pippali pepper, then served with flaky laccha paratha and a sharp onion salad.

Breakfast to late

Dishoom has always pitched itself as a café rather than a restaurant, and the Leeds team is leaning into that. The day starts with bottomless house chai, Bacon Naan Rolls and The Big Bombay, and runs through lunch, dinner and cocktails. Most tables are kept for walk-ins, so it is as much a place to drop into as one to book.

For the lunch crowd, the weekday Lunch with Promptitude set menus are designed for two to share and served from 12pm to 5pm, Monday to Friday, at £15 or £18 a head outside London.

At the other end of the day, Dishoom Leeds has now launched a late-night menu.

Settling in

Dishoom Leeds is at 68 to 78 Vicar Lane, LS1 7JH, and is open daily from breakfast until late. Most tables are held for walk-ins, and bookings can be made through the Dishoom website.