In a city where you can throw a stone in any direction and hit an Indian restaurant, Bombay Delight holds its own, with wonderful service and food made from the heart. Writer Sanjuna Budhani pays a visit to try its creations for herself
Family run just like its older sibling, Bombay Delight is the new-ish offering from the owners of Mumbai Delight in Vauxhall.
Much like its name – Bombay was the old name of modern day Mumbai – Bombay Delight focuses on traditional recipes from the Indian subcontinent, while Mumbai Delight delivers more updated takes on Indian favourites.
A traditional British start to the meal
Ubiquitous on any Indian restaurant table in Britain, we were given a basket of poppadoms with accompanying chutneys.
Interestingly, while we still got the traditional fried poppadoms, the basket also included tapioca sago and chickpea flour poppadoms; the former, a layer of fried crunchy white sago balls clustered together and the latter a nutty and umami cracker with a satisfying snap.
There are dozens of variations of poppadoms and it’s good to see a restaurant branching out from the tried-and-tested fried poppadoms we’re so used to eating. The tamarind chicken wings that followed were sweet and sour and spicy and all of the adjectives you want when describing generously sauced and perfectly grilled chicken wings. The bare bones clattered onto our plates after relishing.
For mains, butter chicken is always something I order when I go to an Indian restaurant. One of the biggest reasons being that I do not want to witness the sheer amount of butter and cream needed to recreate the decadent dish at home and so I’d rather be blissfully ignorant to the process.
The butter chicken is exactly what you want from the iconic Punjabi dish, rich, creamy and softly sweet but laced with a refreshing acidity from the tomatoes. The garlic naan was the perfect tool to scoop and dip, sweep and tear into the weighty sauce.
We also opted for the catch of the day, king prawns quickly sauteed with lemon and butter. Although slightly underseasoned, the prawns were meaty and the saag aloo on the side was pleasantly herby.
Keen to indulge in some nostalgia with one of their more traditional desserts, our server recommended the rasmalai cake, a riff on a traditional dessert consisting of soft, sweetened milk curds spiced with cardamom and saffron, in a milk and cream sauce and topped with nuts.
The texture is halfway between bread and cake, and it’s a childhood favourite of mine. Long story short, we drank every last drop of that sweet sweet nectar, scraping the plate to make sure not one drop was wasted. The cake is an absolute triumph, melt in your mouth but with enough texture to keep it interesting, subtly perfumed with cardamom, beautifully silky. We were bowled over.
The Drinks
Bombay Delight has a generous cocktail list and their signature cocktails are simple fruity pairings that just work, we ordered; the “Ooh la la” – Bombay Gin, basil and passionfruit – a fun adaptation of the Basil Smash and the “Your choice” (self explanatory), a choice of either Absolut Vodka or Bombay Gin with lychee and blood orange.
The Wordrobe Verdict
In a city where you can throw a stone in any direction and hit an Indian restaurant, Bombay Delight holds its own, with wonderful service and food made from the heart. What more could you want?
Make it happen
Where: Bombay Delight, 271-273 The Broadway, London SW19 1SD
How: Find out more and make a booking via bombaydelight.co.uk
Words by Sanjuna Budhani, freelance writer
