Bombay's Indian Restaurant Inaugural Review Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
Sonal Vyas, Owner of Bombay's
Chicken Biriyani, Peachy's favorite:
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It's not who you know, it's Whom You Know and we know Prashant Bhatt and his genius restaurant Aahar, which opened last year and has already advanced to Peachy's Picks.
If we are impressed with an entrepreneur, we always want to know what else they do and quite often they have one more trick up their sleeve. Prashant and his wife, Sonal also own Bombay's Indian restaurant, located downtown at 60 Pearl Street.
Bombay's has been open since March 2008 and it's clear why once you start tasting their genius. As you know, we always are interested in a green salad and we started with their House Salad: traditional Indian salad with house dressing. They put the dressing on the side and it was perfect. Cucumber, carrots, tomato, craisins and lettuce were joined by something we'd never had before: moong beans. They are delicious! Bombay's sprouts them on premises three times a week. It is an incredible feat 8.5 years into this for anyone to have us try something we have not had before.
Peachy and Prashant
A winner of an appetizer is the Tandoori Shrimp, a terrific summer finger food. The shrimp is expertly barbecued with authentic tandoori marination yielding terrific flavor. They grind their spices every two weeks at Bombay's.
We next tried a vegetarian appetizer: Tandoori Mixed Vegetable Platter. This is not only super healthy in our opinion, but also fragrant and delicious. If you think vegetables are not exciting, you don't know Sonal yet. Both red and green peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and our favorite vegetable (cheese!) - paneer (this is homemade cottage cheese that is popular in India) are marinated first and then grilled. On one of those days coming up this summer when you think it is too hot to eat in Manhattan, you will want to eat this.
A non-vegetarian appetizer to revel in is the Chicken Tikka, a classic. Tender pieces of chicken are marinated in yogurt and spices. We were incredibly impressed with the moistness of this chicken which outshone their competitors. Bombay's may be a neighborhood restaurant but it has quite elevated tastes.
Naan is a word you should learn because it means bread, and below meet the Garlic Naan. It is clouds of delicious carbohydrate fantasy freshness that has just the right amount of garlic; naan is the basic Indian bread. Onion Kulcha is above, and it is equally fantastic. This bread is stuffed with onions. Both are exquisite dipped in any one of these dishes, and also excellent standalone.
Though the hue may shock the unfamiliar, the Chicken Saag is surprisingly delicious and know that the green is because it is loaded with spinach goodness. Murky looks never tasted so incredible and do not let the color scare you because it, like everything else we tried, is spiced just right. This is our first visit to Bombay's, and if you are in Battery Park City or Wall Street it is a must-visit.
Above, the Fish Malabar is accentuated with yellow mustard, onion, spinach and chick peas and again, they excel at moistness. All dishes are served with basmati rice that is exactly what you'd want it to be. As Peachy Deegan is progressing in her Indian fare (she only started eating Indian at all a few years ago) she is becoming braver. Note you can indicate the spice level you are comfortable with when ordering. Peachy bravely ordered the Chicken Vindaloo:
One of our panelists is from England and he eats this all the time and is an expert. We tried it once at another venue when he had it and decided to try it on our own for the first time at Bombay. If you have a low tolerance for spice or have never eaten Indian, do not start here. This is the Boardwalk of Spicy if you are playing Indian food Monopoly.
They made it medium spicy for us and it was just right. Red chili flakes, white vinegar and garam masala spices enhance the chicken, giving it quite a kick.
Sonal suggested the Goan Shrimp Curry, which boasts lovely delicate flavor of onion sauce balanced coconut. Tumeric powder, red chili powder, cinnamon and cardamom make the taste of this shrimp quite tall, lording over your tastebuds.
Finally, we tried the old standard Chicken Tikka Masala because it really is our favorite although probably quite boring on an Indian palate. It is kind of like the spaghetti and meatballs of Indian food and it hits the spot at Bombay's. If you are new to Indian food, start here.
Our all time favorite is without a doubt Chicken Biryiani in Indian food right now. We had this for the first time last summer at Aahar and Peachy loved it so much she dreamed about it. This restaurant was born before Aahar so by definition we imagined it would be equally fantastic here; we were correct.
Sonal's favorite dish is the Malai Kofta, one of their vegetarian entrees. If you are a vegetarian, note we count over 16 vegetarian entrees so you could never be bored with this menu. The Malai Kofta is composed of mixed vegetable croquettes in a divine almond cream sauce; it is superb.
Bombay's Indian Restaurant is a winner on their first review and we look forward to seeing how they progress.
