Bombay House

Bombay House

Finally I made it to Bombay House.  I feel that I gained a ton more credibility by coming here.  I just recently became a fan of Indian cuisine, so I felt it my duty to visit what many consider to be the best Indian food in the valley.  What do I think?  Until I try a few other places, I’m not going to crown them just yet.  But I’m going to give them mad props, because the food and service was OUTSTANDING.

Cool vibe to this joint

There was a really neat vibe to this joint.  All the servers had matching uniforms and were constantly attending to tables.  There were elephants and pictures of tigers on the wall.  In the main dining room, they had an awesome mural of India.  Even the entrance ways were domed shaped like the Taj Mahal.  It actually didn’t take much convincing of my wife to come here with me either.  She only likes certain types of ethnic foods, but she has never been to an Indian place, so I thought if I had any chance of recruiting her as my Indian food buddy, I might as well try to convert her with Bombay House.

The service at Bombay House was amazing.  The manager came over and I told him “This is our first time here, what would you recommend?”  He knew exactly what to do.  He pointed to three main dishes, a soup, and some garlic naan.  He ensured us that we were going to love them.  Basically he ordered for us, I just sat back and said “Sounds good to me”  He literally could have ordered anything, and I was going to just say yes.  The dude totally hooked us up with some awesome food.  I almost felt like Little Orphan Annie being spoiled by Punjab.

Mango Lassi

Monica and the kids went with Coke products, but I went with the Mango Lassi.  It was a delicious drink made of mangoes and yogurt.  The thickness was just right.  It wasn’t too thick like a milkshake, but it wasn’t too thin either.  It was cold and refreshing and went well with the rest of my food.  I also used it as a pallet cleanser when I was tasting the various dishes.  I wanted to relish the distinct taste of each of the courses.

Saag Shorba

We like to order creamy soups when we eat out so we have something to give our 9 month old Levi.  He puts everything in his mouth, and this wasn’t an exception.  I think he finished half the bowl on his own, and then Monica and I finished the rest.  Saag Shorba is a soup made from spinach, onions, tomatoes, and cream.  Yummy!

Chicken Tikka

This chicken was my kids favorite.  It was made in a tandoori which is a clay oven.  Bombay House will put on pieces of chicken, lamb, or shrimp on long skewers and bake them right up next to hot coals.  They will also bake some of the Indian breads by slapping them on the hot internal walls of the tandoori.  This specific dish, the Chicken Tikka, was marinated with yogurt, garlic, ginger and spices.  They give it to you with a big bowl of delicious rice.  If you are not a fan of a lot of sauce, but just want some good meat with bell peppers and onions, then I would recommend this dish.  It was excellent!

Chicken Tikka Masala

You can’t really see the chicken inside this delicious saucer of Tikka Masala, but it is there trust me.  The thing I loved about this dish, was the creamy sauce it came with.  I noticed other patrons that were eating in the dining room at the time all seemed to take the same approach.  You get 3-4 big spoonfuls of food, and douse it on top of a bed of rice.  That way the juices and sauce run down into the rice.  I feel it was spiced just right, and it tasted awesome.  This is the dish that really converted my wife over to Indian food.  She was a little shy at first, only taking a small spoonful to put on her rice, but after her first taste, she immediately added 2-3 more spoonfuls.

Chicken Coconut Kurma

Yes this is a different dish.  The main differences are that this dish is made using coconut milk, cashew nuts, and golden raisins.  Same plan of attack with this one.  Just scoop it up and put it all over your rice.  Your fork will do the rest.

Finally the garlic naan.  I’ve had naan before, but it was never gigantic and tasty like this stuff.

Garlic Naan

As the meal progressed, the garlic naan became the main battle ground for the 8 hands that were seated at the table.  The naan is tasty in its own right, but taking the naan and treating it like a tortilla, is truly special.  I loved putting the chicken tikki marsala inside the naan and making a burrito out of it.  Awesome!

I liked Bombay House quite a bit, and I also know there are tons of Bombay House fans out there.  I would be interested in knowing what your favorite dish is, so that when I go back, I will have some new things to try.