Dishoom eyes USA for first overseas restaurant

Dishoom has brought in advisers ahead of plans to launch its first overseas restaurant in the US.

The Indian restaurant group is understood to see a strong opportunity for the brand after running a successful pop-up at New York restaurant Pastis over the summer.

Plans are in the early stages, but Dishoom is expected to have identified a site, potentially in New York, and will be ready to hit the market within the next 12 months.

The group is currently taking advice and may bring in an investor or partner to help fund the launch.

Shamil Thakrar, co-founder of Dishoom, said, “We have had a long-standing ambition to bring Dishoom to the US. It’s an important step, and while we’re in no rush, we’re taking the opportunity to get advice from people who can help us.”

It comes amid a period of expansion for Dishoom, which employed nearly 300 new staff last year as its sales topped £100m for the first time.

The Indian restaurant group reported pre-tax profits of £7.4m in 2023, up from £4.7m in the previous financial year.

Sales were boosted by the opening of a Restaurant Dishoom with 235 seats in London’s Battersea Power Station in 2023, while Permit Room spin-off bars opened in BrightonCambridge and Oxford in the last two years.

Dishoom, which is inspired by the old Iranian cafes of Bombay, was founded by Shamil and Kavi Thakrar in London’s Covent Garden in 2010.

The group now runs seven Dishoom restaurants in London and one each in Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham.

It is understood that Dishoom continues to see opportunities for further growth in the UK market as well as overseas.