Bombay's Chutney

Reviewed Location:
Unit H1, 1070 Major Mackenzie Drive East
Richmond Hill, Ontario

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The other night I went out for Indian food with some of my friends. I haven't had a great deal of Indian cuisine experiences under my belt, so I just wanted to disclaim that I don't have much to benchmark with, aside from my own personal preferences.

The restaurant is located in a plaza that has quite a bit of oriental restaurants, so I was curious to know whether this place would be run by oriental people. However, it wasn't, and I was greeted with Indian servers and soft Indian music in the background upon entering. The restaurant was small with not too many tables, but I noticed throughout dinner that there were more take out orders than sit-in customers anyways.

"Aloo Tikki" -Potato patties served with curried chickpeas & tamarind chutney

This appetizer was basically a glorified potato patty. It was crispy on the outside, and mushy on the inside with some ground up vegetable bits. It went well with the tamarind chutney which had a bland watery texture, with a bit of a spicy sour kick. I think my faouvrite part of this dish was actually the chickpeas. It had a nice curry taste and some crunch  from the raw onions. Was an okay dish, but nothing too special.

"Non-Veg Thali" -An assorted platter of Tandoori Chicken, Rice, Naan, Dal, Raita, Papadum (cracker), Pickle, Dessert, and your choice of beef/chicken/lamb curry

Left to Right: Dal, Curry Beef, Raita, Dessert

Naan

I ordered this platter and shared it with one of my friends. It's kind of like a sampler with small portions of everything.  It came in these metal plates and bowls. After talking to my Pakistani co-worker the next day, she told me that that's actually how traditional Indian meals are served. I have to admit I was a little impressed after that. The food in general exceeded my expectations. Nothing was unbearably potent in spices, but was definitely not underflavoured. I really enjoyed the raita which was a yogurt sauce mixed with spices and vegetables. It was refreshing, and something you don't find at a lot of places. My favourite part of the platter was actually the naan. This naan was HUGE! Most places I've been to serve naan that is roughly a teacup plate size, and are a perfect circle shape. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but the naan here was larger than my dinner plate (measuring almost the size of legal paper) and triangular in shape. The naan was really well toasted to a crisp on the outside, but had fluffy soft, almost airy dough on the inside. Easily the best I've ever had, and probably my favourite part of the entire meal. The friend I shared this platter with commented that she really liked the rice. It was stiffer than Oriental rice and had more texture to it. Unfortunately we forgot to eat the dessert at the end, so I can't really comment on it. But I dipped my naan in there by accident thinking it was a sauce and it tasted similar to condensed milk. I imagine it would be alright. Despite being a sampler, my friend and I were both pretty satisfied after. I would recommend this to anyone who doesn't have a go-to Indian dish and wants to try a variety of items.

"Butter Chicken" -Charcoal roasted chicken simmered in rich tomato butter gravy with dry fenugreek

Another friend of mine ordered the butter chicken dinner. This was really really good. Being someone who doesn't eat Indian food often, I found this dish wasn't too big of an intrusion on my taste buds. It was a creamy consistency, and not too strong on the spices. Being so tasty and paired with that awesome naan, I definitely would come back and order this again.