It’s always a pleasant surprise when a friend invites you to dinner. When he knows that you’re a fan of Indian food and the venue he has in mind is within walking distance, things look even better. However, as soon as I heard the name of the restaurant – Bombay Palace – my heart dropped. In my dim and distant memory, I recalled paying it a visit. It was a classic case then of bad service trumping good food. In the spirit of reopening and wanting to support the British restaurant trade (as well as being conscious of not wanting to offend my friend), I accepted his offer.
My notes informed me that my last visit had been in November 2013. Surely with the elapsing of over seven years, things might have changed for the better? Like with some second marriages, this visit, on a recent midweek night, proved to be a triumph of misplaced optimism over prior experience. History might not have repeated itself, but it did certainly rhyme. Things started inauspiciously. The pictures of the venue’s outside terrace posted on most social media sites show a lovely, sympathetic space with flowers and fairy lights. My dining comrade and I were therefore not expecting to be placed on a different terrace, to the side of the venue and overlooking a concrete-heavy housing estate. A bit of old-fashioned complaining did eventually get us moved.
Onto the food, and it was at least a pleasure to be reminded just how extensive the menu of Bombay Palace is compared to many similar venues. Diners have over 20 different options for both starters and mains. Further, it’s far from standard fare: no bhajis or tikka masala here; rather the likes of sautéed chicken livers or pot-roast lamb. I kicked off with some peri peri shrimps; my comrade with chilli chicken. It ought not be that difficult to confuse the two dishes but… you can guess what happened; our server managed to. The third service fail of the night occurred around this time too. Even if the venue was mostly busy – so Bombay Palace must be doing something right – we needed to request a bottle of water for the table twice, since our initial order (which was placed at the same time as all the others) had been overlooked. At least the food thoroughly redeemed the night. While my starter was satisfying, my main of slow-cooked lamb shank was superlative. The meat fell off the bone and the flavours were deeply intense; smoky and earthy. The creamy spinach and paneer cheese side worked as a perfect foil. Portion sizing was also undoubtedly generous, so much so that we needed takeaway boxes for the remains at the evening’s end.
Be aware though that the experience does not come cheap. Sure, what you get is far more than that on offer in your standard Indian curry house, but you’re paying Mayfair-style prices. Mains hover around the £20 mark and the side dish was priced at an egregious £12. Would I return? Well, maybe in another seven years or so.