Korma Chameleon?
Bill
€€
Per Person
Poppadum plus 4 sauces; main, rice, shared veg, cobra. €17.
Gratis: For us? Nada.
Location
Net Bombay Palace's website
Access Step free.
In Short
Hopes? Will we find a new curry option?
Reality? Not going to take the top of the table.
First Impressions? Busy. Pink.
A USP? Not from our POV.
The food in three words? We ate it.
Can they get the staff? Half a dozen efficient chaps.
Service with a smile? No.
Friend friendly? Yeah, but there are so many.
Rating for dating? The space looks smarter than some.
Tip? No.
Change one thing? Spice Girls scenario. Spice up our lives!
Going back? The competition is stronger.
Compare & Contrast
Next door!
In Pictures
On Google Images
In Depth
A light Saturday lunch beckoned. Let's try somewhere new, and see how it goes, shall we? And so, hello Bombay Palace.
Things kicked off nicely. Life, as Ronan wisely remind us, maybe a rollercoaster, so ups and downs are to be expected. But like Kylie, we found ourselves spinning around, well, we had a condiment carousel, at least. Points for at least one vegan topping on offer there. Points too for a server asking after how we liked our spicing. Hot, hot hot!
Out came a jar of pickle, probably from the cash and carry round the corner, but they did ask and deliver. Good!
Tikka Masala. How sweet is it? To be loved by who? You? Well, something was amiss. Lots of decent chicken breast gets a tick, but swamping it in a pinky red dollop of incredibly sugary sauce didn't work. Wrong ingredient? Korma concentrate by mistake? Preferred recipe? In any case this was just no go. The sauce was way too sweet, even for a dessert. Chicken in sugar and yoghurt? No, no, no.
Lamb Karai Masala. Much better. A decent mix of lean meat, vegetables and fairly spicy tomato. Nothing like as oomphy as I might expect after being asked how I liked it, but easily the best dish of the day.
Chaat Masala. I am a shockingly recent convert to curried chickpeas and thank V-minded accomplices for expanding my Eastern horizons beyond the spicy spud. Plenty of tomato, al dente chickpeas (perhaps from a tin?). I was glad they asked us to choose our spice level, but they didn't push their luck by going for it. Bit of a shame.
And, for today, we're done. Beers were cold enough. Service was efficient and we liked the touch of ceremony that had the chief server bring the mains in on a big tray of their own. Good work with that hot pickle and dish delivery, but interaction lacked any personal connection or smiles, let alone banter or fun. And while it's always good to see chupitos, today they passed us by completely on their way to other tables. It seems being in for main courses only DQed us.
Bottom line? Madrid's curry scene needs something fresh. A kick up the pakoras, if you will. Of course, there probably is something new about and the onus is on us to find it.
As things stand, we're offered too many identikit places, serving menus so similar we aren't fussed about trying them if it means simply repeating ourselves. Maybe it wasn't their (or our) day, but this time BP wasn't up to scratch. We'll be elsewhere - or back at our usual haunt - next time.
Dish of the Day: Lamb Karai Masala
Bill
€€
Per Person
Poppadum plus 4 sauces; main, rice, shared veg, cobra. €17.
Gratis: For us? Nada.
Location
Net Bombay Palace's website
Access Step free.
In Short
Hopes? Will we find a new curry option?
Reality? Not going to take the top of the table.
First Impressions? Busy. Pink.
A USP? Not from our POV.
The food in three words? We ate it.
Can they get the staff? Half a dozen efficient chaps.
Service with a smile? No.
Friend friendly? Yeah, but there are so many.
Rating for dating? The space looks smarter than some.
Tip? No.
Change one thing? Spice Girls scenario. Spice up our lives!
Going back? The competition is stronger.
Compare & Contrast
Next door!
In Pictures
On Google Images
In Depth
A light Saturday lunch beckoned. Let's try somewhere new, and see how it goes, shall we? And so, hello Bombay Palace.
Things kicked off nicely. Life, as Ronan wisely remind us, maybe a rollercoaster, so ups and downs are to be expected. But like Kylie, we found ourselves spinning around, well, we had a condiment carousel, at least. Points for at least one vegan topping on offer there. Points too for a server asking after how we liked our spicing. Hot, hot hot!
Out came a jar of pickle, probably from the cash and carry round the corner, but they did ask and deliver. Good!
Tikka Masala. How sweet is it? To be loved by who? You? Well, something was amiss. Lots of decent chicken breast gets a tick, but swamping it in a pinky red dollop of incredibly sugary sauce didn't work. Wrong ingredient? Korma concentrate by mistake? Preferred recipe? In any case this was just no go. The sauce was way too sweet, even for a dessert. Chicken in sugar and yoghurt? No, no, no.
Lamb Karai Masala. Much better. A decent mix of lean meat, vegetables and fairly spicy tomato. Nothing like as oomphy as I might expect after being asked how I liked it, but easily the best dish of the day.
Chaat Masala. I am a shockingly recent convert to curried chickpeas and thank V-minded accomplices for expanding my Eastern horizons beyond the spicy spud. Plenty of tomato, al dente chickpeas (perhaps from a tin?). I was glad they asked us to choose our spice level, but they didn't push their luck by going for it. Bit of a shame.
And, for today, we're done. Beers were cold enough. Service was efficient and we liked the touch of ceremony that had the chief server bring the mains in on a big tray of their own. Good work with that hot pickle and dish delivery, but interaction lacked any personal connection or smiles, let alone banter or fun. And while it's always good to see chupitos, today they passed us by completely on their way to other tables. It seems being in for main courses only DQed us.
Bottom line? Madrid's curry scene needs something fresh. A kick up the pakoras, if you will. Of course, there probably is something new about and the onus is on us to find it.
Tweet suggestions @honestlymadrid.A bit of modern creative Indian wouldn't go amiss. It's still 1990s Britain in Lavapies, but there are alternative ideas out there.
As things stand, we're offered too many identikit places, serving menus so similar we aren't fussed about trying them if it means simply repeating ourselves. Maybe it wasn't their (or our) day, but this time BP wasn't up to scratch. We'll be elsewhere - or back at our usual haunt - next time.
Dish of the Day: Lamb Karai Masala