O'Bombay — Restaurant in Sydney

Had Saturday lunch on their so-called Banana Leaf.

I am utmost disappointed to say that you do not take the criticism by fooling the valuable customers and choose to defame them.

We never said that the food was good and so the restaurant falsely quoted my wife that “we loved the food”, on this platform.

Regarding the “intention”, when someone is paying for services and getting nothing out of it you deserve to listen to the feedback and that’s only intention. What intention you hold in defaming a guest of yours by falsy quoting them?

Having idea of serving “roti/naan/poori/paratha with a sweet dish is not a misconception. Any Indian “Meal” would include this. Having my wife taking repeated servings of “raita” and “papad” only as who would eat patta gobhi ki sabzi, mixed veg and dry kala chana with white rice??????? So, she filled her appetite with them only. The informed sambar is Toor Daal which you serve with onion and tomato tadk. People from India can sense Sambar from kilometres away and you are acing in it while serving the Arhar Daal and calling it Sambar.

Show some respect while taking feedback. Not even a single word was fake. It was all genuine and based on the service provided by you. Please also remove the photo of the picture of “Thali” from the wall as that clearly meantion that you serve this on Saturday and Sunday. So, we didn’t have any misconception….rather you are spreading a wrong message.

Once again, me and my wife not even once said that food was good as no one from your confused staff, who didn’t even know what they are serving, “Sambar” or “Rasam” to their guests and whether entree is served before and after mains…as your lovely staff clearly asked us “would you like to take entree after banana leaf meal?” To add more excitement in this journey, my banana leaf meal was actually served to me when I was using the toilet as I was supposed to wait for my entree. When I came back I was flabbergasted to see the attention span and being in rush of the staff.

The Chicken (I ordered Drums of Heaven and received Chicken Drum Stick) was served in a katori and was placed on my table…without serving of plate and cutlery. This is also something I asked from them and it got placed on my table then.

Please visit your CCTV recording if you have and check. Also, if you find saying my wife whether the “food was good.”

I would recommend everyone to read my wife’s review regarding the payment system they have opted where while scanning the menu and making payment you are paying $2.10 as service tip and which is something you can not unselect.

Your explanation to all these shared concern are still pending to my wife’s review. We have been going to “O’ Bombay” since last 10 months and Drums of Heaven is something makes me to visit again and again but with this temprement and gesture, I don’t think we really want to visit here ever again.

Our intention is clear. Kindly share your intention by falsy quoting...

I wanted this to be a 5 star review because O’Bombay is my favourite restaurant in the area and I go there often! Definitely one of the better Indian restaurants in Sydney… more flavoursome and consistent than anything I’ve tried in Harris Park. The chole kulcha (incredible complexity of flavour) might be the best thing I’ve tried so far but it’s almost impossible to go wrong with the menu. Pav bhaji is a close second. Best gulab jamun and chai too. And staff are always super friendly. However, I have a couple of suggestions for improvement. Halloumi entree needs to be removed from the menu (or added to a kids menu for those kids who are less adventurous than others). They’re basically just overpriced mozzarella sticks (no flavour, subtle spices are undetectable). Definitely not up to the same standard as everything else on the menu and unworthy of this restaurant. The other thing is that lately I’ve noticed there is not very much protein in the meat and seafood curries. The meat/gravy ratio is wrong and I don’t feel as full as I do when I order a veg curry. This was especially noticeable when I shared two curries with two other people recently. Dividing the food was very awkward. In my experience most curries have enough protein for 1.5 people if an entree is involved. There was barely enough protein for one person in each curry, let alone enough for three in two curries. Two entrees, two curries, naan and rice is usually enough to sustain us but we all left hungry on this occasion. It was really disappointing. Please improve this. Kulfis are beautiful and way better than your average local Indian but still very overpriced. It’s a tiny serve, a kids menu serve. They need to be 3 times their current size to justify their current price. Otherwise I think $5 for a kulfi double the current size would be acceptable too. All Sydney restaurants make their kulfis too small but this is the smallest I’ve had. I also really miss the rose flavour and wish it was still on the menu. It was unparalleled next to other kulfis from other restaurants. I find it strange that the rose kulfi was dropped because I think it is more broadly appealing and much more delicious than the fig. To me the current flavours don’t even come close. I wish I didn’t have to make these suggestions because I honestly love this place so much. This is my place for a flavour fix and I can’t help coming back all the time! But generosity is lacking in many of the dishes. I always enjoy eating here but feel like I can’t enjoy it fully for the above reasons. In any case I look forward to coming back soon and highly recommend O’Bombay to others overall! But I hope to see improvement so I can make this a 5...

O'Bombay recently marked its first anniversary, so, since I dined there on 'Day 1', I thought it would be a good time to re-review this restaurant in Hornsby.

Over the last 12 months, I've ordered from O'Bombay many, many times, whether it be dining in or take-away - each time has been wonderful. The service is always terrific (though Covid has presented the restaurant with staffing challenges from time to time, hardly their fault). Staff on the floor always greet you with a smile, and they are always willing to guide you through the menu, and recommend dishes if you can't decide on one from the vast array that feature on the menu - so no need to stress. With Bina and Barsha leading the team on the floor, you'll be in good hands.

The food, too, is fantastic. Whatever you choose from the menu, you can't go wrong (and you'll be back again anyway!). The kitchen is always happy to adjust the spice level to any taste. Special mention must go to Parag and his team in the kitchen, who are often not seen by customers, and thus whose efforts are usually overlooked. I take my hat off to each of you.

In short, O'Bombay is setting the standard for other restaurants to follow, not only in Hornsby, but further afield as well.

There's not much more that I can say, except that if you haven't been here before, you really should go. Make a booking. You won't be disappointed.

95-plus/100 (to inspire the staff to even greater heights)

[Original review from 11 months ago (March 2021 I think), posted below]

I've eaten at this new restaurant in Hornsby now 6 times since it's opened. The staff are always welcoming and friendly, whether you're dining in or ordering take away. Food is consistently of a very high standard.

A welcome addition to the area. Pay no attention to the clearly fake reviews - this place is the real deal!

So, why not 5 stars? Only because I want to return to try more dishes, so I've left room to award a fifth star. It's a very strong 4...