The Bombay Brasserie

Doesn't Recommend

Maconga

Joined 5 years ago

Disappointing Indian food at Bombay Brasserie.... I am new to the Houston area, and I am sad to say that Bombay Brasserie was my first Indian dining experience in this town. I have eaten Indian food any many major cities that I've visited and this was by far one of the worst. I ordered the lunch buffet and it was the blandest buffet I've ever eaten from. No SPICE whatsoever! Granted, you can never expect the buffet to be as good as what is ordered off the menu, however the buffet is often an indicator of the overall quality. To start off, the Mango Lassi was the worst I've ever had; watered down and bland. The vegetables on the buffet all tasted frozen and were also bland. The food was completely Americanized, having none of the signature Indian spice that Indian lovers crave. The Daal tasted like it came from a can and the Chicken Tiki Masala was not very rich. Also, the Raita tasted very strange (sour with no other flavor). Finally, they had no Goulab, which is probably for the best as it most likely would have been bad and I could not stomach any more of this food. This was an absolute disappointment and it became further so when the bill arrived. The bill was $17 dollars and change for a lunch buffet and Mango Lassi! I've eaten the same in Chicago and paid closer to $12. I promtly paid the bill and fled this eatery, surely to never return. This was Indian food the way it should never be and I expect any first time Indian diner would be shunned from this food forever after frequenting this restaurant.

Recommends

Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Slow roasted meats, velvety sauces and exotic curry aromas in a bright setting.. In Short
The lunch buffet features more than 19 Northern Indian dishes including salads, freshly baked breads, tandoori meats, curries and fresh vegetables. Lamb vindaloo cooked in a fiery hot sauce, prawn curry Madras with hot onion and mustard sauce, and vegetable biryani (basmati rice cooked with fresh vegetables, dried fruits and nuts) also rate a try. Try the kheer for dessert, a traditional rice pudding made with milk, honey, raisins and nuts.

Doesn't Recommend

ajbarrow

Joined 5 years ago

Go here if you like high prices, cold food, and bad service.. My wife and I decided to check this place out when we were going to go to Kubo's for lunch, but they weren't yet open. Instead of waiting we thought we would just check out the Bombay Brasserie next door. We weren't very hungry, so we opted for the menu over the buffet. I ordered Lamb curry, while my wife ordered a green salad. The waiter was rather rude, and for her "green salad" (which was supposed to have lettuce) he just scooped some cucumber from the buffet onto a plate... $3.00. I had to pay $4.00 extra for rice to go with my lamb curry, which was itself $16.00. When it finally came, I got a small cup of curry, that was some warmed up sauce that had some still cold pieces of lamb in it. The rice had a few partially frozen peas in it for color. All in all, it was $23.00 for a small meal that was poorly prepared. All I can say is that at least they didn't charge for water. European customers will feel at home with prices for these portions and this poor quality of service.

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sushifoodie

Joined 6 years ago

If you're in for a heavy and tasty lunch...stop here. Went for the lunch buffet during a break from classes. Seemed the staff had a tough time seating our group of 7 but we managed to squeeze into the table. The food tasted great. I'm glad to see choices and variety for both vegetarian and meat. Service was prompt but a little cold rather than friendly about splitting the check or accepting credit cards.

Doesn't Recommend

branflakes

Joined 6 years ago

WORST SERVICE, there was NO SERVICE PROVIDED!. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS PLACE! We tried the Saturday afternoon lunch buffet. We were promptly seated and that was where the service ended! We were NEVER offered any drinks other than the water that was put on the table, and once it was empty there were no refills. I had to go up to the bar to ask for a soda, when it was empty I had to flag someone (because we didn't have a waitor) down to ask for another one. We NEVER had one single person stop at our table and ask how we were of if we needed anything. The buffet food was okay, not the best Indian I have ever eaten, and they did not have gulab jaman for dessert, only the creamy rice. I will never eat at this place again! Agreed with the other review, there are way too many Indian restaurants in Houston, I would go to any of the others before ever trying this place!

Recommends

itriedit

Joined 6 years ago

BB is the absolute best!. We were so sad when the location on Richmond closed, since it was less than 1/2 a mile from our home, but the service and food did not diminish at all when they moved to West U. We've tried different places and have sinced moved to Austin but this is still the best Indian food we have ever had. It always has the freshness and the boldness of taste we are looking for in every dish we have. You won't find better tikka masala, saag, pakora, samosas and even tandoori(which is dry at so many places). The first time we went in I inquired about the dessert ice creams and they gave us samples to try, both pistachio and mango were deliciously refreshing. I would send anyone to Bombay, knowing they will walk away more than satisfied.

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rpatel487

Joined 6 years ago

AMAZING PLACE, BEST INDIAN FOOD FOR THE BUCK. I have to say this is the greatest place for indian food. I like kiran's but the only thing about kiran's is that it's a little to pricey and I am only a student right now. Bombay Brasserie is very nice and they have wonderful appetizers! We didn't know what to order the first time so we just got that variety platter and it was absolutely amazing...you know when you usually order those things half the things on it are gross well not this place, everything on that platter was great! and the papad with chutney they give also is amazing as well as their main food dishes. Wonderful place! would definately go there again because its not that expensive and has the best food!

Doesn't Recommend

eidnib

Joined 6 years ago

Worst Customer Service!. Last weekend, me and some family and friends (17 people) went to Bombay Brasserie to celebrate my cousin's college graduation. We had called ahead of time and made reservations. They had also called us back the day before to confirm our reservation for 17. When we arrived, the table they had for us only had enough chairs for 12 people. So, I went to the manager and let him know that there weren't enough chairs for all of us. He told me that that was all the room they had, and that we would just have to "squeeze in" five more chairs. There was no way that all 17 of us could squeeze in and sit comfortably. So, we went back and asked him why he didn't tell us when we made the reservation that there was not enough room for a party of 17? We also explained that if we knew this would be a problem, we would have made reservations somewhere else. To our astonishment, he then proceeded to say in a rude tone, "Well, then why don't you guys go somewhere else!" I couldn't believe it! There was no way that we would be able to go anywhere on a Saturday night with a party as large as ours. Finally, after about 30 minutes of just sitting there, he added a small table to the end of ours, which only sat 3 more. All of this really put a damper on our night of celebration. No matter what the food tastes like, service like that will ensure that nobody in our family will ever return there!!

Doesn't Recommend

alwayshungry101

Joined 6 years ago

Bad services and no credit card accepted!!!!. My friend and I were in the restaurant for lunuch today (4/6/2007). The buffet was not that good as it listed on the homepage, I thought there were around 12 dishes offered, not 19 dishes. The service was not good, either.

When we finished and ready to pay the check. At first I would like to pay by cash, and then I decided to pay by credit card and keep the cash on hand. The waiter was standing by me all the time. When I gavemy credit card to him, he told that the credit machine was broken and it would be better we pay by cash! Why didn't he tell us when we got the check?? And if the credit machine was broken, would everyone in the restaurant have enough cash to pay for the lunch?

I believe that he is lying to us. At last, I paid by cash. But I was very unhappy with the service I got. I knew that some restaurant prefer cash so that they can avoid tax. But I am the customer, and I can decide whatever way I want to pay for the lunch, not being forced to pay cash by a waiter!!!!!

My experience was so bad that I will never go back there.

Doesn't Recommend

stevew25

Joined 6 years ago

Horrible service to students. We were finishing up our lunch buffet, and a waiter came by to give us our bill. My girlfriend wanted to get some chai to finish up her meal, but they said they didn't serve chai (even though its on their menu)! She then asked for some hot tea, to which they said they didn't have any tea cups, even though the table next to us got some hot tea a few minutes later! Next time I want indian food, I'm going to Shiva's down the street or to the Madras Pavillion.