Dostana, previously knowns as The Raj, is a family run restaurant turned café in Woolton Village, near Liverpool.  They own a take-away operation in the same village called Raj Express which is where the idea of a Mumbai street food café came from.

Dostana Mumbai Café

The client approached bwd after being recommended to us. The client’s current restaurant sits within a Tudor building which provided us with challenges for the internal fit-out and external signage.  The client briefed us to transform the internal layout as well as provide an external dining area, at the front of the restaurant, to offer outdoor dining in good weather.

bwd started by looking at what could/couldn’t be removed in terms of internal walls to try and open up the space.  We wanted to create a more casual dining space to what had been previously a formal Indian restaurant.  We always look for ways to maximise space and in this scheme we were able to make use of a small room on the first floor level. The first floor space not only increased the number of covers possible but provided an opportunity for a bit of private dining space. We were able to make use of existing architectural features such as exposed walls. Although the existing timber beams had been removed during previous refurbishments, we were able to introduce a modern twist on the ceiling with the introduction of a modern timber beam arrangement.