[Invite] – click here

For those of you living under a rock the past few weeks, the Permit Room has now opened on Trinity Street 🥳

It is a cafe/bar version of the popular Indian restaurant Dishooms and pays homage to the permit rooms of Bombay. These were special shops where residents would need a permit to purchase alcohol shortly after strict prohibition laws were lifted in India.

Knowing this, it is unsurprising to know that the Permit Room is a great place for a drink, especially craft beer and cocktails. The event was held with an open bar and food aplenty, which gave me an opportunity to sample a bit of everything to expect from the restaurant going forward. I was really taken by their very own Dishoom IPA (5%) and Sean was also quite taken by their Old Fashioned cocktails.

The restaurant appears small from the outside but really opens up once you enter. It is decorated with brightly coloured walls and pop art-esc pictures on the wall. It has dim lighting that gives a moody, melodic, yet fun and relaxed atmosphere suitable for any occasion.

Food was being brought out by waiters throughout the evening. The photo above was this evening’s menu that gave us a taste of everything we were to expect. The Permit Room’s regular menu is much larger and can be seen under the table. There’s no losing your menu here 🤣

Appetisers

It was every man for himself with the appetisers, so you had to grab them while you could or risk losing out. This meant I wasn’t able to get a note of exactly what we had but I will let the pictures do the talking, as everything was superb.

Main course

The main course was incredible, with everything you could possibly want from an Indian. I was delighted to see Dishooms famous black daal along with their Chicken Ruby, both served with naan bread and a type of biryani rice.

The chicken ruby Curry was incredibly thick and creamy with a prevalent taste of tomato. It had such a warm comforting feel that reminded me of a spicy cream of tomato soup. It was painfully addictive and I found myself constantly dipping it into my naan bread. 

The black daal was a bowl of smooth buttery goodness. I could honestly eat this forever without even stopping. My only criticism is that they don’t serve this in bathtub portions 😭 This is an absolute must for anyone who visits for the first time.

The ‘Prawn Moilee’ is described as a “very peaceful” curry made with coconut milk, golden with turmeric, curry leaves, fresh ginger, garlic and spices. This is a South Indian recipe made with juicy prawns (or vegan with cauliflower). This was nice and creamy with a sweet coconut flavour, similar to a Korma or Thai curry that will be accessible to everyone.

Conclusion

The Permit Room offers a fun, stylish, and delicious take on the Indian restaurant. There is nothing else like it in Cambridgeshire and there are half a dozen reasons to come visit. It’s more than just a restaurant but a great place to meet friends for a few drinks too. I cannot recommend their black daal and chicken ruby enough but fundamentally, anything you decide to order will not disappoint.

I was pleased to see that they don’t shy away from giving their food a spicy kick too, which is often one of the first things to go when a trendy restaurant does their own take on Indian food.

I cannot wait to return and explore the menu in detail.

Thanks for reading and don’t forget to check out the video of our evening below 👇👇👇