Reviewer's Summary: Bland Food; Nice Desserts
The good thing about the food at Bombay Palace restaurant in Midtown Manhattan is that it is non-greasy. Unlike most Indian
restaurants on the East Coast, there is no greasy layer of oil floating on top of your food here.
The bad thing about the Bombay Palace food is that with a few exceptions this restaurant serves some of the most bland and
unappetizing Indian food in New York City. And this from a restaurant whose slogan is "Gateway to Superb Indian Cuisine." If
ever a restaurant's claim about its food rang blatantly false, it's Bombay Palace's slogan.
In our view, a more appropriate slogan for Bombay Palace would be - Gateway to Bland Indian Cuisine.
We sauntered hungrily into Bombay Palace in Midtown Manhattan the other day with ambitious hopes of gorging ourselves on
their weekend lunch buffet ($14.95).
Located on West 52nd Street in New York City, Bombay Palace is quite a spacious restaurant. As our eyes swept around the hall, we
saw mostly Caucasian diners with just a smattering of Desis.
Bombay Palace's takeout menu brags that the restaurant is celebrating its 25th Anniversary. Must be true. Must be true. After all, the sofas are torn, the table cloth has seen better days, there are cracks in the restroom washbasin and the fossilized waiters amble about like tortoises. We wonder if the sofas, tablecloths and washbasins are also celebrating their 25th anniversary.
Bombay Palace offers quite an extensive spread with its weekend lunch buffet. We remember at least six entrees from the
buffet table - Matar Panner, Tomato Karhee, Lentils, Tandoori Chicken, Chicken Curry and Lamb Rogan Josh. Then, there's the
Naan bread and Peas Pulav.
Appetizers included in lunch buffet were Chaat, Mini-Samosa, Alu Tikki and Channa Masala. Alu Tikki was a bit soft while
Chaat and Channa Masala barely made passing grade. The Mini-Samosas was the only WOW item among the Appetizers.
There's also a decent salad bar with cucumber salad, green salad, mixed vegetable pickle, raita, mango chutney, mint chutney,
and tamarind sauce. The salad bar also had a plate of green chillies, presumably to spice up the restaurant's bland food.
But Bombay Palace's extensive spread cannot mask the complete lack of attention to quality of the food.
On the vegetarian side, Matar Paneer and Lentils were hopelessly bland. These dishes are staples at any Indian restaurant and
no reason for a 25-year restaurant like Bombay Palace not to get them right. A MTR or Tastybite "Heat N Eat" curry packet
from your Indian grocery store would yield better Matter Paneer or Lentils.
The creamy Tomato Karhee amply made up for the disappointing Matar Paneer and Lentils. Tomato Karhee is not a dish you
encounter often in an Indian restaurant and was absolutely divine.
Since both Peas Palav and Naan bread were forgettable, let's not linger there.
What is an Indian buffet without Tandoori Chicken, right? Well, the folks at Bombay Palace do know their Tandoori Chicken
(Chicken marinated in yogurt and freshly ground spices and cooked in a clay oven). It was good but not spectacular.
We swear the Chicken Curry and Lamb Rogan Josh we sampled did not come out of an Indian kitchen. It was so pathetic beyond
tolerance. What's wrong with this place?
Desserts were the highlight of our lunch. Both the Gajar Halwa and Rice Kheer were flawless - in sweetness and taste.
Oftentimes, Gajar Halwa at Indian restaurants has a raw taste. After the mostly bland and unsatisfying meal, we were grateful
for the nice desserts.
Besides the Lunch buffet, we also tasted some fixtures of Indian cuisine such as Mango Lassi ($4.95) and Masala Chai ($2.95).
The waiter who served us was unaware of how the Bombay Palace kitchen makes its Masala Tea - either the Indian style where
you boil the spices, tea powder and milk together or just offer black spice tea and milk separately.
To our relief, the Masala Tea was made in the Indian style. The Masala Chai was satisfying but did not raise to great
heights. Ditto with the Mango Lassi.
Indian cuisine derives its magical flavor from the rich array of spices that go into the food. But you wouldn't know it if
you visited this impostor of an Indian restaurant.
Bombay Palace is a Culinary Ambassador to distasteful Indian food in Midtown Manhattan.
And it'll be a long while before we head there again. After all, there's plenty of choice in Midtown Manhattan for authentic
Indian food, right? - © NYIndia.us
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