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Bombay Grill NYC
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Address: Bombay Grill NYC
344 Lexington Ave(Bet 39th & 40th St) New York, NY 10016 Closed Other NYC Indian/Pakistani Restaurants |
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Bombay Grill NYC Review: Lousy Pineapple Kulfi; Mediocre Food; So-So Service
If Bombay Grill on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan closes its doors one of these days, our Filipino manager/waiter Deepak has no reason for worry.There's always Bollywood as an alternative career option for folks like Deepak.
You see, when we asked Deepak for his recommendation on desserts the other day, he spun such a nice yarn on the restaurant's Pineapple Kulfi that we fell hook, line and sinker for it.
With eyes wide open and all earnestness, our middle-aged, goateed waiter Deepak told us: "You must have it."
So we did. And so we suffered.
It was the worst Kulfi we've had in over four decades of eating Kulfi. If that white abomination in the pineapple shell Deepak brought us was Kulfi, then I'm Emperor Akbar of India! The white frozen mass of ice tasted like some cheap lemon sorbet sold in an American supermarket.
Since Deepak easily conned us with his tall tales, we think if Bombay Grill pulls down its shutters he'll easily find new work as a script-writer for Bollywood movies.
Like that pretender of a Kulfi, much of the food at Bombay Grill turned out to be lamentably below par.
Tandoori Chicken was lukewarm and less than tasty while the bland Chicken Tikka Masala had a tiny piece of bone in it. In over a decade of eating Chicken Tikka Masala in the U.S, this was the first time we encountered a bone.
On the vegetarian side, after tasting some of Bombay Grill's Navratan Korma we felt its place rightly belonged in the desserts category. You see, it was that sweet.
Channa Masala was a tasteless, spiceless caricature of the real thing but Alu Bell Pepper was a flavorful item that went well with both rice and Naan Bread.
One of the few exceptions of our mediocre meal was the bowl of Madras Aloo. Prepared with curry leaves and mustard seeds, the tasty Madras Aloo came hot to our table and was quickly finished with much enthusiasm.
Coconut Chicken was the second exceptional item in our dreary meal. Cooked in a nice thick gravy, Bombay Grill's Coconut Chicken was delicious, its memories lingering long after the meal. Eat the Coconut Chicken with Naan Bread or with Plain White Rice and either way you are a winner.
As for Bombay Grill's Lamb Curry, don't get us started on this travesty.
Since the regular Naan Bread was too small and too thick to please us, we ordered Garlic Naan, which was alright but nothing remarkable.
Bombay Grill's inept kitchen couldn't even bring us a decent cup of Masala Tea, one of the easiest beverages to make for an Indian restaurant. Our cup of Masala Tea lacked the fresh taste or fine aroma of Indian spices that give Masala Tea its great reputation. What landed on our table was plain Tea made with milk.
If Bombay Grill's Pineapple Kulfi was awful, the restaurant's Rice Pudding besmirched the reputation of Indian desserts. Rice Pudding is fairly common in most Indian restaurants in New York and is not a complex item. But the Rice Pudding we got was a tasteless white mass of rice in flavorless milk.
Service is an afterthought at Bombay Grill. We repeatedly struggled to catch the attention of our waiters at Bombay Grill.
For some strange reason, Deepak and the other waiters would slink off to the the cash counter at the back of the restaurant. Either there must be a treasure chest buried at the back that they were all guarding or they were cozying up to the restaurant's Sindhi owner Prem Mehtaram.
Having exiled us to the Siberia of tables in the restaurant, our indifferent Bangladeshi waitress gave us the cold shoulder as she was too busy telling American diners about her impending marriage and plans to move to Lancaster (Pennsylvania) in January. All we can say is, sweet relief for diners of Bombay Grill.
Service issues at Bombay Grill extend beyond the dining hall. The restroom at Bombay Grill was dirty and the flush did not work.
Even by the deplorable standards of most Murray Hill Indian restaurants, Bombay Grill is a letdown.
With its mostly mediocre food and so-so service, Bombay Grill is yet another Indian restaurant in New York City that gives Indian cuisine a bad name.
Yeeks, we can still feel the awful taste of Bombay Grill's Pineapple Kulfi in our mouth. - © NYIndia.us