skip to main |
skip to sidebar
We've been hearing about this place and finally made it there today for lunch. It's been in business for two years and when we walked in today, it was empty. That can't be good.
There are about nine tables set in a pleasant atmosphere and six chairs lined up against a street-facing window.
We walked in and were greeted with "to go or here?" Not the most welcoming greeting by our server. We seated ourselves and perused the 6-page menu. Appetizers & salads, two pages of entrees, beverages-smoothies-desserts, an ala carte and kids page, and a lunch menu. We had to start with a few appetizers ~ Samosas and Falafel. Our server, "is that all?"
The samosas were served with delicious tzatziki sauce and the falafel arrived draped in tahini and parsley. This was all made to order and we waited for it, but it was worth the wait. We next ordered from the entree menu, Gyro and Kafta. Each entree comes promised with salad, rice, hummus, fresh pita bread, and optionally served as a wrap or plated. We took plated. And we need to talk about the salad first.
We'd like to eat this everyday, seriously. There's a lemony dressing (house recipe) that tops off radishes, parsley, tomatoes, onions, lentils, pita chips made on the premises, and pomegranate seeds. The salad is alive with flavor and texture and is altogether amazing. The Gyro then arrived.
Hummus, rice and gyro were beautifully presented. As we are waiting for the Kafta, the owner and/or chef stepped out to ask whether I'd like tzatziki or garlic sauce (he whispers 'garlic'). How could we not take the garlic :-). He then notices our notes and camera. "Are you food critics?" Well, we do have a blog. "Why didn't you tell me? I would have taken good care of you." No. That's not how we like to review restaurants. And when the Kafta finally came out he accompanied it, chatting up the food, and due to his hovering we neglected to get a food photo, until the leftovers arrived at home :-)
There are 16 spices in the rice, according to our chef, and the garlic sauce and the rest of the food was well prepared and fresh. The garlic sauce was a great recommendation so don't miss it. We asked about the lack of customers and our guy said it's always like this because no one knows about them, which is sad because the food is wonderful. It's made as it is ordered, table for table. Pita bread is brought in from Detroit and was promised with the Kafta entree but never arrived so we can't comment on that other than we didn't get it.
Ideas for improvement? Train your servers to be more welcoming and customer savvy. Add building signage and update the tacky sandwich board sign. Clean the one bathroom customers use. Avoid loud conversations between the server and chef while customers are waiting for food, and don't make customers listen to your phones ring as well as to your subsequent conversations. And maybe change the soundtrack to a consistent mideastern vibe rather than a random jazz/pop thing.
Online reviews complain about the prices but there is a lunch menu available with reduced costs. We hope he stays in business and maybe he does well enough with take-outs and catering to stay alive.
The smoothies were recommended to us by the chef as being all natural with no added sugars, etc., so we took two to go. Delicious! Check out this place, at least for the falafel, hummus, garlic sauce, and the salad! They have local delivery service and you can find them on facebook and at www.raadsgr.com
Sad Update 2/18/16 ~ we drove by earlier this week and the restaurant is closed and the building vacant.
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.
