The Permit Room at Dishoom King's Cross - bar review

What they say: Dishoom's idea of an eccentric early 20th Century bar in Bombay, which specialises in a selection of cocktails which are first aged in bottles, then served over hand-chipped ice by the 'chota peg' or 'burra peg' — traditional Indian liquor measures.

What we say: A huge bar that made me dream of colonial Indian train cafes, divided by dark wooden panelling, padded by emerald leather seating and lit so moodily that you might mistake a complete stranger for the friend you're meeting and wave like a maniac. It's table service and it can be hard to flag down staff who are all dressed differently, but once you do you're in for a treat, with old-school cocktails that are divided into Juleps & Smashes, Sours & Fizzes and Martinis & Other Fancies.

Order: The Bollybellini, which looks as fabulous as it sounds: a deliciously sweet fuchsia mix of raspberries, lychees, rose and cardamom, fizzed up with prosecco. Or one of the aged cocktails by the chota peg: the Chai Paanch is a pleasingly complicated lemon shrub given an edge with Johnnie Walker, house chai and dark rum, as well as ginger and cocoa liqueurs. Make sure you order a bowl of 'Far Far' — a salty, lemony, crispy snack that my date described perfectly as 'posh wotsits' — to keep hunger at bay.

Good for: Post-work drinks and north London dates. It's definitely not just a place to wait until your table's ready upstairs.