New restaurant opens in historic Isaac House
One of Christchurch’s restored heritage buildings has reopened with The Permit Room, a restaurant with an Indian prohibition theme.
Anup and Sadhana Nathu bought the 1920 Isaac House, opposite Victoria Square, fitting out the ground and mezzanine floors as a restaurant and setting up the floors above as office space.
Anup Nathu said they wanted to put a restaurant into a space that was appropriate to the building, and there were no corners cut during the fit-out.
The restaurant is having a soft opening over the next few days before a full launch early next week.
Nathu said the menu was South Indian and leant towards vegetarian and seafood offerings, with tapas-style southern Indian food. Three Boys Brewery have brewed a wheat beer infused with cardamom and ginger especially for The Permit Room.
The mezzanine floor looked out over Victoria Square and was ideal for private functions with groups of up to 50 people, Nathu said.
He said the restaurant had been a long time coming. It was originally hoped to open last September but was pushed back because of delays in the design and building consents, and issues with installing a lift that forced a section of structural interior wall to be removed and reframed.
The Nathus opened Indian street food restaurant Mumbaiwala in nearby Hereford St in 2016. Anup said Mumbaiwala’s success had given them confidence in the city. ‘‘We’d sort of said that Mumbaiwala would be our last project but when we were given the opportunity to have a look at this site, what really got it over the line was the ability to be owner-occupier.’’
Nathu said the food at The Permit
Room was totally different, and the space felt a bit more classical compared to Mumbaiwala.
From a business perspective, the building was a no-brainer with the Town Hall, Convention Centre and Crowne Plaza close by, he said.
Nathu said there had been a lot of talk about restaurant failures but being an owner-occupier reduced the risks as it meant there were no rental increases and it was building up equity.