Bombay Cuisine, 1420 Lake Dr SE - 4/20/12

This is a crowd-pleasing place for lunch as evidenced by the packed room. We found one open booth that put us in a corner of a short hallway (leading into the attached Queen’s Pub) that’s behind the buffet (and a tall plant). So we couldn’t enjoy or experience the main room ambiance (which is charming) but we were happy we had a spot.

The lunch buffet is popular and our server assumed that’s what we wanted. But she brought us the requested menus and our water, and then disappeared. After about 15 minutes she returned and apologized for forgetting about us; she was used to lunch patrons eating from the buffet (service was perfect from then on - attentive, friendly, and informative).


From this very interesting two-page menu, we chose Samosa for our appetizer. The pastry puffs were filled with a slightly spicy combination of potatoes and peas and were hearty and delightful, and very large. The chutneys that accompanied them were just ok for us. We also ordered a side of garlic-topped Naan so had plenty of food before we even ordered our entrees.

Chana was selected from the Vegetarian Specials category and was an excellent choice. Garbanzos, green peppers, and onions were served up in a flavorful tomato sauce with basmati rice and plain Naan. It could have been spicier but we did not ask for it. All the same, it was nowhere near bland and the rice was cooked to perfection. (On the way out we perused the buffet and found Chana to be included; it didn’t look nearly as good as ours.)

From the Traditional Lamb Dish category came the Rogan Josh, also with basmati rice and plain Naan. The mild lamb flavor infused the entire dish, and the sauce came spicy, as requested. The combination of lamb, garlic, onion, ginger, tomato, peppers, and who knows what else made this dish a savory treat.

Nothing came out in a hurry and everything was freshly prepared. The timing between appetizers and main dishes was perfect and we were never rushed. In its defense, the buffet is huge and is your economical best bet.  We prefer to order from the menu, however, sometimes to negative effect (see Palace of India review, 2010.).


But Bombay Cuisine did not disappoint and we can’t wait to go back. They don’t have a website that we could locate but you can access their menu via mediafire.com; the menu there is not exactly identical to that of the restaurant but it's close. Find the menu link on their facebook page.