Reservations/Guest services

Have you got Seva?

Every day, hundreds of people get in touch with us wanting to celebrate a birthday, book a big table, tell us about an allergy, or simply ask what time we open. You're the person they reach. Before anyone tastes a Bacon Naan Roll or hears the buzz of a Friday night café, they've spoken to you, and that first conversation sets the tone for everything that follows.

This is a proper hospitality role that happens to be at a desk. You're not reading from a script, you're looking after people.

About the role

You'll be part of our Guest Services team, based at Babu House (head office) and looking after guests across all of our cafés and Permit Rooms. Phone, email, social, live chat. You'll handle bookings, requests, questions and the occasional grumble, and you'll be the link between our guests and our café teams. It's fast, it's varied, and no two shifts look the same.

What you'll be doing

• Being our guests' first impression. Greeting everyone with real warmth, whatever channel they come through, and making them feel instantly at ease.
• Becoming a genuine expert on Dishoom. Our menus, our reservation policy, our sites, our stories, so you can answer confidently and find a way to say yes wherever we can.
• Listening properly. Not waiting for your turn to talk, not jumping to conclusions. Understanding what someone actually needs, then going a step further than they expected.
• Taking ownership when things go wrong. Leaning into problems, finding the fix rather than passing it on, and looking for ways to solve things once and for all.
• Keeping it positive. We tell guests what we can do rather than what we can't.
• Recording everything beautifully. Dietary requirements, special occasions, access needs, all captured clearly so the café team is never caught out.
• Being the bridge. Flawless communication between guests and our café teams so everyone has the same information and nobody is surprised.
• Asking your Babu (Manager) for help when you need it, and flagging when a teammate needs a hand.

So, what are we looking for?

• Some customer-facing experience behind you, ideally 6 to 12 months or more. Hospitality, retail, contact centre, guest services, anywhere you've had to look after real people in real time.
• Experience with reservations, bookings systems or guest comms would be brilliant, though we'll teach you our systems from scratch if the rest is there.
• A natural communicator, in writing and on the phone. Warm, clear and human, never robotic.
• Organised and detail-minded. You get things written down properly and you follow a process without losing the personality.
• Calm under pressure and self-aware enough to keep your own head straight on a busy day.
• Comfortable with tech and happy to learn new tools.
• Above all, Seva. Big-hearted and first-class in everything you do.

What to expect

• £15.50 per hour. We pay monthly.
• A full-time role, 5 days a week, with Monday to Sunday availability required.
• Based at our head office.
• A weekly changing rota provided at least 6 days in advance.
• Access to our award-winning training programmes. We focus on your development from day one and proudly promoted 211 Dishoomwalles last year.
• The usual number of days holiday a year, paid at your usual rate. We're closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and if you have children we'll give you an extra day to take them to their first day at school.
• No uniforms here. Smart casual and comfortable is key, and of course trainers are fine.

How we'll support you

At Dishoom, we care about supporting you and your wellbeing, inside and outside of work. We tend to think about it in a few different ways.

Financial

• Free weekly wage advances and emergency cash.
• Access to our savings support and financial health planning tool.
• Up to 50% off when dining at Dishoom with friends and family.
• Enhanced family leave and pay, plus specific Dishoom-walle benefits for those growing little families.

Mental and physical

• All Babus (Managers) are fully trained in mental health support and First Aid.
• A confidential advice helpline for you or anyone in your household, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
• On demand GP appointments, free counselling sessions and life coaching through our wellness app.
• Free fitness sessions every month, including yoga and spin.
• Calling all cricket fans, we have our very own Dishoom Premier League, an in-house tournament where you compete with your team at Lord's.

Socials

We love nothing more than bringing our teams and their families together to celebrate everyone's hard work.

You'll be invited to our Family Mela (our family summer festival) and our huge Christmas celebration, plus we host regular team events across our cafés.

Team members who reach 5 years with us are invited to Bombay Bootcamp, an incredible once-in-a-lifetime educational guided tour of Bombay. Over 200 people came last year.

A little about us

Since 2010, our restaurants have celebrated the Irani cafés and all of the food and drink of Bombay. We have Dishoom cafés across London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow. Our Permit Rooms can be found in Brighton, Cambridge and Oxford, with our newest Bar-Café in Portobello. We also have kitchens across London so our guests can enjoy our food at home.

We're proud to be recognised as one of the best places to work in hospitality. And we care about doing more, from planting trees with our teams in the UK and India, to tying Rakhis with our guests, to Meal for a Meal. Since January 2024 we've donated 20 million meals and counting, with each Dishoomwalle contributing 55 meals per shift.

At Dishoom, everyone is welcome. We are committed to having an inclusive and diverse workplace and strongly encourage people from all backgrounds, identities and experiences to apply for roles with us.

Guest Support, Guest Services, Reservations, Reservations Agent, Bookings, Customer Service Advisor, Contact Centre, Guest Relations, Hospitality, Front of House, Guest Experience, Customer Support Advisor.