Welcome to Dum Kensington

ACCOMPANIMENTS

BIRYANIS

DRINKS

PUDDINGS

VEGAN

FOR CHILDREN

DAIRY INTOLERANCE

GLUTEN INTOLERANCE

YOUR MAJESTY'S BANQUET

ACCOMPANIMENTS

BIRYANIS

DRINKS

PUDDINGS

VEGAN

FOR CHILDREN

DAIRY INTOLERANCE

GLUTEN INTOLERANCE

YOUR MAJESTY'S BANQUET

Welcome to Dum Kensington

Contact details

Menu

BOMBAY, 1948.
It is a close and heavy monsoon night on Marine Lines. Despite the weather, there is a jostling of people outside the Bombay Roxy. Well-turned-out gentlemen and flirty-eyed women clad in Banarasi silk saris all crane to catch a glimpse of Bombay’s finest musicians. The heavy doors to the club swing open and closed. Hot jazz spills out into the street.

The club didn’t always have this pull or indeed its current reputation. It is housed within a former cinema. The previous owner’s savings had been frittered away on the floors of marble, panelling of Burmese teak and four large chandeliers. It had been a beautiful but bankrupting experiment in Art Deco extravagance.

Under new management, it is café by day and club by night. The fortunes of the Bombay Roxy have been turned around, and now it shines brightly where darkness once stood. Bombay society comes here, to see and be seen. Local hustlers try to get the better of American card-sharks. Wealthy men of industry eye up coquettish women in cholis that expose more of their midriffs than strictly considered decent. A moustachioed Maharaja with an accent polished at Harrow or Eton exchanges pleasantries with several glamorous ladies who have perfected the art of looking beautifully bored.

The building has become a hot-tempered, noisy beast in the city’s belly, roaring through the night until the sun rises.

The man behind this reinvention is the charismatic Cyrus Irani. His name was once synonymous with Bombay’s racketeers, with murky allegiances, and with police escorts to Arthur Road Jail. Now no longer a jailbird, Cyrus fully intends to put the Bombay underworld behind him. And his new venture, the Bombay Roxy, might just be his redemption.

[Enter CYRUS IRANI.]

~
Reservations

Dum is mostly a walk-in café. All are welcome, any time, no reservations needed. However, if you’d like to make a reservation, we hold a handful of tables back for groups of all sizes every day until 5.45pm. After 6pm, a small number of tables are available to be reserved by parties of six or more, at specific times.

Food & Drink at Dum Kensington

BEGIN YOUR DAY AT DUM with breakfast, which might be a Bacon Naan Roll, a Kejriwal or a Big Bombay. Then lunch lightly on Roomali Rolls and Salad Plates, or linger with a feast. Refresh your afternoon with a drop of Chai and a small plate or two. Dine early or dine late. Or just join us for a tipple – perhaps an India Gimlet, a Permit Room Old-fashioned, or our very good Dum IPA?

~
Menus

Bombay breakfast, lunch, afternoon chai, dinner and late tipples.

Welcome to Dum Kensington

IN THE 1930s, the global styles of Art Deco and Jazz swung into Bombay, shaking up the cityscape with their cheeky colours and patterns, quick tempo’d quicksteps and “hot” new music. Pianos appeared on cinema facades, swing bands were sold out and Bombay’s smart set loosened their trousers and cut a bob to be up to speed on the dance floor.

With the help of our friend Naresh Fernandes – whose book Taj Mahal Foxtrot tells the story of Bombay in swing time – Dum Kensington (and our one-off immersive theatrical production

Visiting the café

If you’re planning to join us at Dum Kensington, we do advise you take public transport as parking is limited.

Dum Kensington is just a short walk from High Street Kensington Underground station. There are also numerous regular bus services including daytime, night-time and 24-hour bus routes running immediately past the restaurant on Kensington High Street. For those cycling, bicycle stands are also located in very close proximity of Dum Kensington with the closest being on Derry Street itself with capacity for 18 bicycles.

We would strongly ask that you try and avoid parking in the residential areas close to the restaurant. We’d also ask that you please do take care to be quiet when entering and leaving the restaurant, especially in the evenings.

Further information may be found here

Visiting the café

If you’re planning to join us at Dum Kensington, we do advise you take public transport as parking is limited.

Further information may be found here