Bombay Bel

[maxmillan]

Had a great meal here located on 4266 Hastings Street in Burnaby, the same block as, ugh, Anton's.

Very reasonably priced, authentic delicious food with simple Indian ambience. A very extensive menu, good service and most importantly, clean bathrooms!

We had the cold poori appetizer sampler, tandoori chicken, butter chicken, baingan bhurtha (eggplant) and their delicious fries sprinkled with spice.

They were written up in the papers a while back, didn't seen the reviews.

Their website is www.bombay-bhel.com

[Daddy-A]

Yeah, we've been a couple times. I agree, nice room, friendly service, good value for money. They also do take-out which is a great addition to our neighbourhood.

Here's the review of my first visit.

A.

[giblert]

Yum! We stopped by Bombay Bhel last night on the way home from work. It's a lovely room - not what I was expecting based on other Indian restaurants. Nicely roomy with an attractive tile floor.

The two of us started with the Cold Appetizer Sampler which includes 4 dishes: Bhel Poori (far and away the best thing we had all night), Sev Poori, Dahi Poori and Papri Chaat. This seemed to us to be a good deal at $10.95. We ordered this at "mild" and it had the perfect hint of spice for my bland taste buds.

For my main, I ordered the Fish Tikka. It was fabulous - the fish was really moist and not dry like other times I've tried this dish. The garlic Naan was also good - tasty and not slathered in butter like I've previously experienced. My boyfriend had the Lamb Vindaloo and was pleased to report the heat level of "hot" was accurate. Normally he is underwhelmed by the spice levels and judging by the sniffles, he liked this one. Basmati was light and fluffy, and nicely dry (I seem to always make it too wet at home).

We had enough left over from our mains to be heating things up for lunch today. I'm looking forward to it already.

The only mis-step was one of the co-owners was seated at a central table doing paperwork and using his laptop. As the room started to fill up, this seemed a little odd and didn't really do much for the ambiance.

Overall, this is a great find and I'm glad it's out in my neck of the woods. I'm really looking forward to a return visit.

[Feedbag]

REALLY glad to hear this place is good. Another Indian

restaurant opened and closed in this neighbourhood last

year. (I tried it, so I'm not surprised.) Look forward to

trying this one. I also mean it when I say "hot", so glad

they take your word for it.

Glad I don't have to go downtown for good Indian food

anymore. (My fave, A Taste of India on Robson, was

not mentioned in the other thread, so not sure if my

buds are the same as everyone else's.)

Off topic, wonder why my first and only (new topic) post

has disappeared. Did I do something wrong?

[Mooshmouse]

Don't worry. Your post didn't disappear; it was relocated to the General Food Topics forum as TPTB (the powers that be) figured it was a more global than local question.

Click here to go to your Caesar salad thread.

[giblert]

My fave, A Taste of India on Robson, was

not mentioned in the other thread, so not sure if my

buds are the same as everyone else's.

←

I'm with you on this! I love this place. I usually order my spice level as "mild". On one visit, the owner (?) came over to tell me that I should upgrade to "hot" as it is better for my sex life! He even produced a faded photocopy of a newspaper article to back up his claim. It was a hoot.

[Feedbag]

Wow. That is a hoot.

So...... did you? And was it?

[maxmillan]

Went back for a birthday party and the food and service was fantastic.

A finicky friend said she thinks Maurya is a bit better in taste but for the price point difference, Bombay Bhel is definitely better.

[bimbojones]

After reading about it here on the forum we decided to check it out last Tues and had a great meal. The server was very nice and knowledgeable about the dishes. We started off with some cocktails which, to me, were reasonable at $6.95. I had a Lichee/Vodka drink which was really good. We had both the hot and cold appetizers. Our favorite was the cold one. The pooris were very tasty! However, I thought the hot appetizer was a bit over priced, but really good.

For mains we ordered Butter Chicken, Saag Gosht (lamb in spinach), Shrimp Masala, Bhindi Masala (okra) and the best Tandoori chicken I've ever had! You only get two pieces and priced accordingly at $6.95 but I'd gladly pay more for a larger portion! Amazing. Also had the spiced fries which they don't have in Toronto. Different for an Indian restaurant but really good, none the less.

All the dishes had their own distinct flavor, as a lot of the curries in Indian restaurants seem to taste the same after a while. The other thing that's great is you get naan or rice included with each main dish which, in most restaurants, you have to pay extra.

We also ordered desert: Kulfi, Chai brulee and Gulab Jamun. All three were fairly good but I have had better Gulab jamun down on Main/49th.

It's great to have such a good Indian place only five minutes from us, too. I will definitely return and looking forward to trying the Fish Tikka!

[Feedbag]

I was sooooo looking forward to this place being great,

since it would be nice not to have to trek into Vancouver

for Indian every time I get a craving.

Went last night and it was, well, OK. I'm always aware

of little picky things that could easily be overcome to make

an experience perfect. Like why the host seated us in the

middle of the room when there were much more comfortable

tables against the wall. I hate being on display, hate my back

exposed. (I'm weird, I know.)

Anyhoo, started with the samosas (really surprised the choices

were vegetable and BEEF - no sacred cows here, apparently).

Another picky: when two people are sharing, why bring three

samosas? I notice this with a lot of tapas that are obviously

being shared. When there are two people, the dish invariably

contains three or five items. Would it bankrupt them to throw a fourth

or sixth in there? As it turned out, I wouldn't have eaten a second. The

samosas looked and tasted like they came out of a grocery store's

freezer. A Taste of India's samosas are still the best in the land -

love that orangy oniony thing they come with. Never seen that

anywhere else.

Onto the butter chicken. Quite different from any other I've ever had.

Bright red in color, smoky in taste. Enjoyed it. The aloo gobi was

OK. Ordered both hot and they took our word for it - glad there was

a fire hydrant out front.

Unlike most other Indian restaurants I've been to, you have to order

rice separately, and they charge you for it here.

Minor quibble: the waitress, who was very friendly, dropped off our

food then disappeared into some vortex. Never came back to ask

how everything was, never asked if we'd like another beer (yes,

we really would have liked another beer). When the busguy cleared

the plates, he asked if we'd like to see a dessert menu. I said no

because I knew what I wanted: gulub jaman, and figured I'd just ask

the waitress for that if and when she reappeared. Which she did, only

to drop off the cheque after saying, "Heard you didn't want to see the

dessert menu, so assumed you'd want the cheque." Well, um, no.

Major quibble: the garlic naan tasted in parts like dishwater and the

table water had an alarming chemical taste to it.

We were outta there in under 45 minutes. Not exactly relaxing.

Oh, well. I'll give it another try, though. I'll take other posters' word

on their high appreciation of the tandoori. But A Taste of India reigns

supreme for me once again (even prefer it over the over-rated Vij's,

and yes, I know he's a great guy and does wonders for the world;

I'm just not into fussy food).

And one last thing: music in bars and restaurants always confound me.

Is it so hard to match tunes to clientele? I've been in restaurants where

the majority of the people are either 60-plus or middle-aged marrieds

and 50 cent is blaring from the sound system. What's up with that?

Final note: four tables were occupied by Indians, a veeerrrry good sign,

since I agree with someone else's observation that Indians don't generally

dine out - they have better food in their own kitchens. (I have Indian

friends who verify this.)

[bimbojones]

...Went last night and it was, well, OK. I'm always aware

of little picky things that could easily be overcome to make

an experience perfect. Like why the host seated us in the

middle of the room when there were much more comfortable

tables against the wall. I hate being on display, hate my back

exposed. (I'm weird, I know.)...

...Oh, well. I'll give it another try, though. I'll take other posters' word

on their high appreciation of the tandoori. But A Taste of India reigns

supreme for me once again (even prefer it over the over-rated Vij's,

and yes, I know he's a great guy and does wonders for the world;

I'm just not into fussy food).

←

Wow! So sorry you didn't have a good experience. We were there last night as well, our second visit, and had a great meal as expected. We were situated next to the palm tree in the middle area. Not the best seat in the house but I didn't care if we sat on the floor, I was so hungry for tandoori chicken! Service was great and attentive. We ordered the Tandoori chicken (incredible), the Dahi poori (really unique taste, to me), Palak paneer (so, so) and Fish Tikka (really good).

They do take your request for heat seriously, which most Indian restaurants will go a bit on the conservative side. We said "we're not afraid of heat" but just make it how the chef prefers. Our server just said, we'll make it hot for you" So, okay, we'll see what happens. Yep, our paneer was, very spicy! I've heard that in India they don't really adjust the spice to the customer's taste. They just make it the way it's supposed to be. I kind of think Palak paneer isn't supposed to be THAT spicy and subsequently took away from the dish. Overpowered it really. So next time I'll order it mild.

But everything was great, for us. We even ordered a second Tandoori chicken to take home. I too noticed the two Indian families there and on our checkout at the door I overheard them saying it was great to the maître d'. Must have been one of those wierd glitches in your case I guess. Go back for lunch and order the Tandoori chicken and maybe a cold appetizer. That way you're only spending a little dosh to sample, in my opinion, really great Indian food.

[Daddy-A]

Anyhoo, started with the samosas (really surprised the choices

were vegetable and BEEF - no sacred cows here, apparently).

Simple answer ... maybe they weren't Hindu?

Unlike most other Indian restaurants I've been to, you have to order

rice separately, and they charge you for it here.

Other than buffets, I've never had rice included. Not at Indian, Japanese, Thai, Malaysian ...

Oh, well. I'll give it another try, though. I'll take other posters' word

on their high appreciation of the tandoori.

Maybe you should have waited until your second visit to post ... just ask Oyster Guy Regret is kinda bitter.

Honestly though, I'm kinda surprised at the really positive reviews Bombay Behl has been getting here. I think the food is really good and all ... it's just one of those places that falls between places like The Himalaya and Vij's. Inevitably people are looking for one or the other. Glad to hear it's striking a chord with some people.

A.

[Feedbag]

I don't regret conveying an honest experience.

And when I go back, which I will, and have a positive

experience, which I'm sure I will, I'll be honest about that too.

Things are rarely perfect at even the finest of restaurants,

and I understand that. Just telling it like it is/was...

(and rice is included at Taste of India).

True about the heat level. When I was in India I was told

cooks rarely turn up the temp, that it's really a western

preference. Wonder if anyone else can confirm this?