Is there anything better on a hot steamy night than a spicy Indian curry? I've eaten many times over the last couple of years at the Bombay Brazier on the corner of High and Limestone and watched the quality of its food and service improve at each return. This time I was going with a more critical eye, and I am glad to say that my guest and I found it to be the best yet.
However, there is always confusion as to which door is the entrance. The one on the High Street side of the building is in fact the way in, although we sat and watched just about everyone tackle what seems the more obvious entrance on the corner. This despite the very visible evidence of tables and a large palm tree creating a daunting barricade on the other side. Maybe guests feel that there are initial tests and challenges to gaining access. It beats fighting a Bengali tiger, I suppose. Once inside, though, the ambience is far from harried. The Indian music, the ceiling fans (sadly not punkah) and the general dÈcor create a relaxed and convincing Indian setting.
A basket of poppadums with three choices of dipping chutneys appeared for our enjoyment as we perused the menu. Each chutney - cilantro and mint; tamarind and raisin; and onion and tomato - offered a varying degree of spiciness: hot, medium and mild. It was an ingenious way of establishing our "spicy category" before ordering and avoiding the potential for blowing our heads off by overestimating our palate's tolerance. I imagine this probably spares the wait and kitchen staff a lot of aggravation from red-faced panting and sweating customers.
We ordered chicken chaat (boneless chicken topped with yogurt and a variety of chutneys, $7) and shrimp pakora (shrimp marinated in spices, batter dipped and fried, $7) as our appetizers. The chicken was delicious and artistically garnished with apple slices, although the raita was disappointing and a little thin. The pakora was also pleasing: Six shrimp, tails on, lightly coated and not at all greasy, served with a sweet dip. Sipping an Indian beer and sinking back into the rattan chairs, we were off to a good start.
Indian cuisine is not what we in the West consider "fine dining" because it is perceived as lacking in those painstaking flourishes of finesse. However, there are some dishes that are quite challenging. Any Indian cook worth his salt knows how to prepare a good biryani. We ordered the lamb (long grain basmati rice cooked with choice of meat or vegetables with spices, $18), to see how it would stack up. The chunks of meat were plentiful and tender, the vegetables fresh and the dish aromatic with cardamom and turmeric. We were pleased with our choice. As a preference though, my guest requested a bowl of plain yogurt in exchange for the raita, which again seemed thin.
In addition to a large selection of tandoori, biryanis and brazier classics, the entree menu rather uniquely lists a dozen or so different sauces, each specifically described, to which, in a "mix and match" approach, you add your meat or fish preference. I chose to pair the chicken with the mango sauce (onion and ginger garlic gravy with fresh tomatoes, cilantro, spices, mango chutney and mango slices, $14). I opted for medium spicy, which was just right: the type of heat that isn't immediate but subsequently floods the mouth with tingling warmth and flavors. The basmati rice was fluffy and scented with cloves. It was all quite good.
We all know that man cannot live by bread alone, but I have a friend who claims that if the bread was a naan, then she would have to contest that statement. We ordered the spinach naan ($3.50), and I now know what she means.
Rip Sidhu, the owner, is an attentive and chatty host. Yogurt is such a basic to Indian sauces and marinades, he told us, that they make their own. Apparently they use over 12 gallons of it a week, so in-house production would make good sense. We tried it in a mango smoothie and called it dessert. Definitely different.
The opportunities for business meetings are in a room upstairs, as I gathered when Rip gestured over my head. However, as he referred to it as the "Jungle Room" because of the dÈcor, the environment might be more appropriate for a landscapers' conference or bachelor revelers. Further gesturing and pointing indicated that he also owned a building across the street that could be used for meetings. My thoughts? The Bombay Brazier is a wonderful, quiet, clean, one-off restaurant to take a business guest for dinner who enjoys a good curry with all the fixings. Expect to pay around $60 for two, exclusive of drinks and tip.