Bombay Bistro

820 Marquette Avenue
Minneapolis, MN
(612) 312-2800
http://www.bombaybistromn.com/

Category: Indian

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 5
Service: 1
Ambience: 7

Recommendation: Average. Great downtown Minneapolis location but inconsistent execution and high prices. We recommend you go elsewhere (Chapati or India Palace) if you're looking for good Indian food.

Bombay Bistro, serving North Indian cuisine stands out compared to other Indian restaurants in that it actually has an ambience. The restaurant is simple, elegant, and clean with some Indian art on the walls. Its location on 8th street and Marquette makes it ideal for the downtown lunch crowd. It recently opened a South Indian restaurant on Nicollet Mall.

We went there for dinner last week with a group of friends. While some dishes were good, others were atrocious. Some dishes just tasted stale as if they had been re-heated several times over. The meat didn’t seem fresh and was mostly flavorless. This type of inconsistency is just unacceptable for a restaurant that claims itself to be a “fine dining” establishment. For appetizers, we had the Samosas, which are potatoes and peas wrapped in light pastry and deep fried. They are served with four different sauces..our favorites were the cilantro mint sauce and the tamarind sauce. While the Samosas tasted great, we found them to be very greasy. The Kathi Roll, which is marinated chicken wrapped in a paper thin rumali roti was simply embarrassing. The chicken had no flavor and instead of the traditional rumali roti, it was wrapped in what seemed like store bought tortillas. This dish should be taken off the menu if the chefs don’t intend to change the ingredients. There is nothing Indian about it.

Our favorite dish was the Chicken Makhani ($11.95) - marinated chicken cooked in butter cream and tomato sauce. A very traditional North Indian dish, it goes really well with fluffy warm Naan (flatbread cooked in a clay oven). The Naan was the other highlight of the meal. We tried various different ones – Plain, Plain with butter, Garlic and Onion and they were all fabulous. In fact, if we had just eaten the Chicken with the Naan all night, we would have left quite satisfied. The Kadai Paneer ($10.95) - cheese cooked with peppers, onions, tomatoes and fresh spices was great. It had a slightly smoky flavor and was very aromatic. The Malai Kofta ($10.95) - fried cheese and vegetables balls cooked in mildly spiced cream sauce was a tale of two cities. The sauce itself was creamy and delicious but the cheese ball was awful, hard, and inedible (probably because it was a few days old). Unfortunately, the classic Dal Makhani ($9.95) - black lentils cooked overnight on a slow fire with butter cream and herbs was horrifying. The lentils were overcooked, literally burnt. This dish should never have been served. The Malai Tikka ($12.95) - boneless chicken marinated in spices and yogurt sauce then roasted in clay oven is a classic Tandoori dish - it was awfully executed. The meat was not only dry but also bland. The Lamb Cilantro ($13.95) - boneless lamb cooked in cilantro and nuts with spices had a great gravy but the lamb was dreadful…it tasted old and lacked any distinct flavor. The Goan Shrimp Curry ($13.95) - shrimp cooked with coconut and Goan spices was ok. Even the complimentary Raita (yogurt with minced cucumber and onions) was bad. The vegetables seemed to be too mushy. The restaurant also skimped on portions especially the measly amount of meat in the curries.

Service couldn’t have been any worse. Even though the restaurant was practically empty, we got no help on recommendations and had to ask for several basic things. The automatic 18% gratuity just added salt on our wounds.

$$. Parking is validated if you park in the Metro Park ramp (enter on 9th street).