Night at the Bombay Roxy

Nostalgia. It’s something the phenomenally successful Dishoom chain has built an entire brand around, with both its restaurants and dishes styled around the Irani cafés of Bombay’s fading past. Now it’s opening its fifth London restaurant in the former Barkers department store on Kensington High Street: a sumptuous art deco building, and the perfect site for a piece of immersive theatre set in Jazz Age Bombay.

Make no mistake, this place is a beauty: from the glass chandeliers to the dark-polished panelling to the posters of Bollywood film stars. It’s even installed (inactive) motorised fans on the walls, as if we have the sweltering Indian heat to contend with. After being ushered inside and handing over our coats, we’re asked to seal our phones in envelopes. Then, over a glass of prosecco, we’re introduced to the Bombay Roxy’s proprietor and reformed hustler Cyrus Irani (Vikash Bhai). He’s being pressed for info on the whereabouts of an escaped convict by the city’s crooked police inspector. Throw in the aforementioned fugitive, Irani’s jazz singer girlfriend, a missing handgun, a few big band numbers, and you have all the makings of a cookie-cutter noir that largely unfolds between the tables as you enjoy your three-course meal.

In terms of dramatic substance, it’s pretty slight. But if you have Dishoom’s fiendishly good plates of minced lamb, black lentil dal, paneer masala et al to get your chops around, who cares? It hardly undermines Swamp Studios’ production to say it all hinges around the food, since the food, ultimately, is why you’re here. And you can either cynically diagnose this as an elaborate piece of content marketing for Dishoom’s latest expansion, or accept it as a piece of light entertainment as you dunk your naan and get a bit merry. Like nostalgia, it’s not without its problems – but it isn’t half entertaining.