Bombay Mahal — Restaurant in Brunswick

As a resident of the Middle East who eats Indian food 1-2 times a week, my standards are absurdly high, so there's almost no way any restaurant in the US is going to get a 5/5, but this was surprisingly good and I have to give 4's at least for each category.

One reason for that is that they took me seriously on the phone when I asked for one of the meals to be very hot, even when it's a dish not usually served with that much spice (Korma). It had sufficient "kick" (and you'd be surprised at often I have difficulty persuading other places to serve "Indian Hot" meals).

The butter chicken was very richly flavored, and my family loved it. The recipe erred, perhaps, towards including a tad more tomato paste and less yogurt than I might use, but the overall flavor was excellent.

Indeed, I'd say that all the dishes we ordered had a wonderful depth of flavor. I am used to Indian restaurants far from my home region to fall back on rather simplistic recipes that lack the complex interplay of herbs and spices that I'm used to, but this place did a far, far better job than I'd expected. Kudos.

So, on the negative side?

The papadum were good, but perhaps fried, rather than oven-cooked. I tend to prefer the latter as they are more crispy, but that's just my personal preference; these were fine.

If I'd criticise anything overtly, it would be the size of the raita portion that we ordered as a side. It was one of those 1-inch tiny plastic containers, so that was a tad disappointing.

The food was ready quickly. Although I only did take-out, they were extremely polite and efficient. It was ready in less than 20 minutes, and they quickly and happily accommodated my request for some additional fresh, green chili peppers when I arrived to pick up the order.

I can't comment on the atmosphere too much. The decor was a tad on the cheesy side, but I find those slightly exaggerated Indian decorations quite amusingly enjoyable, and I did like the rich aromas of cardamom and garam masala that greeted me as I entered the restaurant. Just a hint of home.

Oh, and the price worked out to about $21.50 per person, including the sides, so in submitting this review, I had to choose the "$20-30" bracket, rather than "$10-20". Perhaps Google Reviews should allow more flexibility or choice in price brackets, as "$20-30" makes it sound more expensive that it actually is.

So, in summary: cool. I strongly recommend...

Describe my experience at Bombay Mahal? Well, let's see. We went for the lunch buffet at $11/person. I have so many negative feelings about this first and definitely last time eating here, it could fill a small notebook. But I'll just try to briefly list them all 1) no water offered until almost done meal 2) only five buffet entrees offered, really? FIVE? At a buffet? Should have just walked away then 3) THREE of those entrees go completely empty during our visit, and 30 minutes later, only one was replaced - at 1:15 of an 11:00-3:00 buffet 4) owner comes out and sees empty buffet dishes and walks off to tend cash register, instead of letting the two wait staff do that and getting her self back into the kitchen to produce some food 5) one dish is chicken jalfrezi, but I guess the title was supposed to be a joke because there wasn't any chicken in it - no exaggeration - no chicken in it, but it was sure a great big dish of sloppy sauce 6) chicken tandoori is wet with some kind of gross sauce on it - tasted gawful and had obviously never seen the inside of a tandoori oven - owners preying on the ignorance of their customer, I suspect 7) aloo matar has six pieces of potato in it, that's all, but is basically all peas 8) staff manages tor run around looking busy while doing anything but taking care of customers, and 9) food they did have was just a soupy, tasteless pile of garbage. We were not the only people sitting and waiting for them to refresh the buffet - seriously, people were going up and returning to there seats with nothing because the buffet was literaly empty. After 30 minutes, we just decided to leave. I have never been so disgusted by a restaurant and their owners in my life. This place is an embarrassment and the owners should be ashamed of themselves. I'm sorry for people in Brunswick if they think this place is good or even fair...

Wow-So hard with all the wonderful presentations that we are receiving via Yelp-but in terms of presenters this father and son duo is my current favorite! Van-i'm sure he's not perfect but the way he assisted his dad it seems they are definitely a dynamic duo in life as well as in cooking! Roche is just absolutely awesome, what a great chef and a great dad. Their demeanor just made us fall in love with them!!!!! This dynamic duo modified their version of Chana masala so it would be easier for us to locate the ingredients required. They explained every family generally has their own family recipes of the dishes that they eat most frequently frequently. Oh my gosh the spices are incredible and make the whole house smell warm and inviting.

INGREDIENTS 16 oz can of chickpeas (pre-drained) 1 large white onion (finely chopped) 1 medium sized potato (boiled then diced into one inch cubes) 1 large tomato (finely chopped) 2 cups of water 1 tablespoon ginger (finely chopped) 1 tablespoon of garlic (finely chopped) 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric 1/2 teaspoon of coriander powder 1/2 teaspoon of cumin powder 1 teaspoon of garam masala 1/2 teaspoon of salt to taste 1 fresh green chili (optional) 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne powder (optional) 1 tablespoon of cilantro, finely chopped TO SERVE: naan/roti to serve with/rice to serve over (optional, but we won't be making...