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“Bombay Talkie”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Indian	Chelsea	Moderate	Good

ffed with diced potatoes and chickpeas and drizzled with a zippy tamarind yogurt sauce. We made quick work of these as well.

Things got a bit less sure in the category “From the Roadside” (all $11, served with naan or rice; quite a deal when you think about it). We all liked the Nil Giri Coconut Kebabs—small moist lamb meatballs rolling around in a creamy piquant coconut and mustard seed sauce, and the Five Spice Shrimp, flash-sautéed in a thick richly flavored paste made from cumin, coriander, turmeric, cloves, and fenegreek. But the Fish Patia—a meaty fillet of red snapper that looked promising in a smashing red glaze of tomatoes and onions—smelled so fishy that the four of us—Kiri, Susie, Jamie, and I—just sort of stopped, forks poised in midair, inhaled the rare odor, reconsidered, and returned our forks to their starting position next to our plates. And while we didn’t mind the Clay Oven Chicken—kebabs roasted in the tandoor with a masala sauce—the pink-hued chunks of meat were utterly forgettable. In terms of sides, the naan were lovely—puffy and gorgeous in texture with one seasoned with cilantro and red chile flakes, and another lifted up with onion and sesame seeds. But the Mustard Rice, while perfectly cooked, was bland. We preferred the Pulao, more of a Persian-style rice—silky grains of softly spiced basmati rice given a sweet and nutty accent with caramelized onions.

 

Curbside plates were also hit or miss. The Aloo Gobi ($5), usually one of my favorite dishes—cumin and chile-spiked cauliflower and potatoes—suffered from complete lack of seasoning. Did the chefs forget about the cumin and the chiles? What happened here? The dish was such a disappointment, tasting like dull, mealy potatoes and little else. But we licked the bowl of Chole Peshawari ($5) clean. This is a condiment/stew made from garbanzo beans cooked in a bold tomato, ginger and garlic paste given some real zoom with green chiles. This dish should be ordered in double portions, and attacked with pieces of naan employed as an edible utensils.

 

Aside from a somewhat uneven kitchen, Bombay Talkie unfortunately also suffers from a logistical problem that plagues diners seated upstairs. To make its way up to the second floor, your food must be carried past the front door, and then up the stairs. This is not only a logistical nightmare for people coming i ... [more, click below]

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Posted: January 30, 2005

Other restaurants in Chelsea :
+ Matsuri   + La Bottega   + Tia Pol   + Bombay Talkie   + Cookshop   + D'Or Ahn: THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED   + Buddakan   + Crema   + InTent: THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED   + Trestle on Tenth   + Klee   + El Quinto Pino   + Socarrat   + Txikito   + Co. (Company)   

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