[DFW] -- Bombay Chinese

[Kirk B]

Forgive me if someone has already posted about this restaurant. I am relatively new to eGullet and am not sure I searched or checked very well. This is a post of mine from Chowhound, and I thought I would bring it over here in case anyone is interested in this unusual (to me, at least) cuisine.

Bombay Chinese (located in the "Richardson Heights" strip mall on the access road of the west side of Central Expressway about a quarter-mile south of Belt Line in Richardson) is worth checking out. It's more than an unusual -- or novelty -- cuisine.

 

We tried Bombay Chinese recently (on a Thursday night), and thought the food was very good. (I do have to say that I don't have another Indian Chinese food experience against which to measure it. In absolute terms, though, I think it will become a favorite, especially because I haven't found a consistently good Szechwan or Hunan restaurant in this area.) The restaurant was remarkably uncrowded when we arrived around 7, although they seemed to be doing a fairly brisk take-out business.

 

The flavors, quality and variety of textures reminded me a bit of Thai, Vietnamese and other southeast Asian cuisines that have integrated Chinese food themes into their own vernacular and then enhanced them with local ingredients, spices and heat. The menu states that the flavorings are spicy (or medium spicy), but we didn't find the heat overpowering by any means. There is an extensive vegetarian menu, in addition to the "core" non-vegetarian selections.

 

We ordered:

 

A combination appetizer platter to start, which came with large portions of two types of chile-coated dry-fried chicken, vegetable spring rolls, and fried wontons. The chicken appetizers tasted a bit like buffalo chicken wings, but they had a depth of flavor (ginger, star anise, cloves?) that was really very nice. The platter came with two chile-based dipping sauces, one sweet, garlicky and hot, and the other hot and garlicky like a Thai sriracha sauce.

 

For main courses, we shared "Bombay Chinese Special" goat, which was nuggets of very tender braised goat tossed with cabbage and onions in a very rich red sauce that didn't seem to have tomatoes. We also shared a Fish "Sizzler," which was a very lightly breaded fish (seabass or tilapia, my wife suggests) covered in a spicy, tangy sauce (again red) with mild green and red chiles with onions. The seasonings were very much like a "dry" tikka or bhindi masala. (The "sizzler" part involved the dish being served on cast-iron (fajita-style) platter. To be honest, there wasn't much platter-sizzling going on when the dish arrived at the table, but the dish was very tasty nonetheless.) The fish dish came with a steamed rice (cooked with corn, egg and interesting spices) on the side, but we also ordered Shrimp Fried rice, which had a strong (but good) curry/masala flavor like some Burmese rice dishes I've had in the past.

 

Bombay Chinese serves beer and wine, along with soft drinks and juices. (Mango Lassi is listed as a dessert, rather than as a drink as at most Indian restaurants in the Dallas area. We'll have to try it on another trip to see whether it is any different from "the usual.") The Kingfisher lagers we ordered were a great accompaniment to our dinner.

 

We definitely over-ordered, but takeout boxes will provide another meal sometime in the next couple of days. The cost of dinner for two, with two beers apiece, was $65 before tip. Without ordering the combination platter (which could have served four), and with only two main courses, we could have easily done dinner for under $50.

 

Service was knowledgable, friendly and helpful. Decor is bright and very clean.

 

The menu says a buffet lunch is served Monday through Friday for $6.99. I think I saw a weekend brunch advertised in the window, as well.

 

I think this is a find -- could become a favorite of mine -- and would like to hear what others think of it.

 

Bombay Chinese Restaurant

17 Richardson Heights (mall)

Richardson, TX

972/808-9990

Cheers,

Kirk

[skchai]

Welcome to eGullet, Kirk B, and thanks for your very interesting post. Here links to some discussions about Indian Chinese food that have taken place in the India forum:

Indian Chinese

Indian/Chinese

I don't live anywhere near Texas, but seems like you're quite lucky to have one of the few Chinese Indian restaurants in the U.S.!

[Kirk B]

I don't live anywhere near Texas, but seems like you're quite lucky to have one of the few Chinese Indian restaurants in the U.S.!

Hmm... Trading availability of Indian Chinese for the chance to live in Hawaii? The CHOICES we have to make!!!

Seriously, I hope the Dallas outposts (apparently there is a second one here) are the start of a trend. I can think of any number of cities that would do well to have an equivalent of Bombay Chinese.

Thank you for the welcome, skchai, and the links to some very interesting conversations.

[skchai]

Now all we need is some Indian Tex-Mex (which, believe it or not, does exist). . .

[nessa]

I went to Bombay Chinese today for lunch. I wanted to go to the Taj grocery and I met a friend in the parking lot for lunch. There were at least three Indian restaurants there and I saw one of them was Bombay Chinese. I recalled the glowing reports so in we went. We won't be back. I'm guessing their buffet fare is far different from their dinner menu. The concept was nice, and the food wasn't *bad*.

The buffet is small, half is vegetarian, half is not, and each half is the mirror of the other. Chicken tikka on the meat side was paired with vegetable tikka on the other. Nice concept. First off the waitress cautioned us strongly against a certain dish because it was "very hot".

I thought to myself, "Oh goodie!!" and took a helping from both the vegetable and the chicken side. It was warm. Slow burn that built a little but far from hot enough to warrant a caution. It was tasty, but nothing to write home about.

The soup was miserable, hot and sour that had a pink tinge, was very gelatinous and in desperate need of salt. Nothing really stood out as anything I'd care to eat again except the sauce they had for dipping the tikkas in.

The entrees swam in nondescript sauce, and by swim, I mean you had to fish for anything resembling a chunk of chicken or a shrimp. I found that a tad odd. We got there pretty much as lunch started so there wasnt time to deplete the resource yet. The shrimp Szechuan was battered then left to become soggy in its swimming pool of sauce.

I'm glad I tried it, and like I said, it wasnt bad, just blah, ho-hum for the most part. Service wasnt bad, wasnt great.

I'm sure their dinner menu must be quite different but I won't be back with all the other Indian and Chinese restaurants that I have yet to try.

Incidently, the weekend buffet is $9.99

[Kirk B]

Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy it. The lunch buffet is just OK, I agree. Nothing to travel far to get. But not bad for $7.99.

I was there again for dinner last night, and had a really tasty meal. My teenage sons accompanied me, and they also enjoyed it. We had the same experience you mention: being warned about "very hot" dishes, but I think this was a case of well-intentioned servers who wanted to keep the WASPs from running out of their restaurant screaming in pain. So far, nothing on the menu has struck me as exceedingly spicy, but I am a big fan of vindaloo dishes so my capsaicin receptors may be more jaded than most.

We really enjoyed the "Lollipop" chicken, and a dry-fried Ginger Goat. I know they don't serve either on the buffet.

Kirk

[nessa]

No they don't serve anything quite so exotic! I guess thats what I was expecting, exotic food that was intriguing and that wowed me. But I am glad that you have a place that you enjoy so much.