Permit Room Cambridge will open on 20 June and will have space for 156 followed by another, which will open in North Bailey House on New Inn Hall Street in Oxford in October and will have 126 covers.
The Permit Room is an all-day bar-café inspired by the permit rooms of 1960s and 1970s Bombay. The two new openings follow the success of its launch in Brighton (pictured above) in November last year.
Both sites will serve a range of 'drinking food' that will include snacks, chaats, salads and sharing plates as well as breakfast naan rolls. Menu highlights will include a spicy chicken puff; crispy spinach chaat; aunty’s anda egg curry; and coconut caramel custard, described as a 'Parsi Parisian pud' of egg custard, set to wobble, caramelised with jaggery, and spring of brittle hammer-smashed coconut chikki.
They will also serve brand a new breakfast dish chicken keema pau made with spiced minced chicken topped with a fried egg for yolky-richness served with freshly baked plump pau; alongside new options that include patra - colocasia leaves stuffed with a mix of gram flour, tamarind, coconut, and spices, and cooked until crispy; shakkar malai toast - jaggery-sprinkled malai spread thickly on a toasted bun.
It was also have a mango lassi soft serve in a waffle cone and garnished with sugar coated fennel exclusive to the Cambridge Permit Room.
Drinks are also a key part of Permit Room's offer, with cocktails to include a Thums Up Sazerac, a twist on the classic New Orleans cocktail pays tribute to the much-loved Indian soft drink; Mango Lassi Punch; and Orange Wine Margarita.
Restaurant reported earlier this year that the company had secured the former Strada site on Cambridge's Trinity Street for its second Permit Room and that it was also in talks to secure a site in Oxford.
"I've had quite a few friends living in Cambridge over the years," says Shamil Thakrar, co-founder of Permit Room and Dishoom.
"When I think back to my early twenties, Cambridge pub crawls and gate-crashing the odd college party are a happy feature. I have rosy memories of hanging out there, and I’m very excited for the chance to return with our own Permit Room.
"I'm also looking forward to hosting our own pub crawls this time around.”
