Bombay Cafe: the taste of Indian vegetarian dining

It was my last day with my old employer.  With the mixed emotions of leaving and getting out of that career comfort zone, it was nice of my team to treat me out for a farewell and good luck lunch.

Since i was the only non-Indian in the team and not very particular with the cuisine as long as its good, i'm up for it.  We went to this cafe tucked in Tanjong Katong Road, where a vegetarian dining experience awaits.

The ambiance was very girly.  First glance, pink stood out despite of the black combination with it.

like the wall of fame of bollywood stars

For starters:

Dahi Sev Puri (4/5) - light, puffed, crispy savories with assorted coarse wheat fillings and chutney topped with yogurt.  It had a nice sweet & sour taste, but if you eat it like a princess (with small bites), then you end up with a mess.  They taught me to put the whole thing inside your mouth to wake up your taste buds.  I'm not a fan of yogurt in dishes, but this one worked well for me.

I didn't mind the mess, there goes the oozing chutney & yogurt

Gobhi Manchurian (3.5/5) - cauliflower cooked in garlic, onions, ginger and coriander.  I find this version a bit oily but the aroma was exquisite (smell sooo good).  A different side of an indian dish as the taste was not so distinctive so it's good for those who wanted a bit mild.  (trivia: do you know this was originally a chinese dish but now more famous  for Indian-Chinese fusion?) It's cooked in a different way and I prefer my gobhi swimming in its sauce than the dry type.  But, it's just a preference.

Vegetable Shammi Kebab (3/5) - filled with mixed veggies, potatoes, lentils, breaded and deep fried.  It was just ok plus i'm starting to get full (this was on the heavy side), and we were just ending our starters!

For main course, we ordered their:

Assorted Bread Basket (3.75/5) - we were allowed to choose 4 types of bread, and we had kulcha, 2 types of naan and roti.  Kulcha was my least like, as i think it's too sweet so i just stick with my all-time favorite naan, which was soft and fresh.  I love naans and wouldn't mind having a lot of it, if it doesn't add any inch to my waistline. :D

 Paneer Butter Masala (3.5/5) - love the thickness of the tasty tomato and butter gravy.  Butter Masala is a must have for me whenever I go for indian food.  The uniqueness of this from my usual indian gravy was the paneer (cottage cheese).  It complemented well with the butter gravy, but after some time, i got tired of eating it, which was the usual effect when i had too much dairy in one go.  I'll stick to my butter chicken or palak panneer next time... here.

Yellow Daal (3.8/5) - i've been eating indian food but daal had never been part of those meal.  I just find it a bit boring, and eating bread with saucy beans just doesn't work for me except for red bean pau hihi.  But since being in an indian vegetarian, i guess, i don't have any choice but to dig in.  And surprisingly, it was nice.  The sauce was sweet and with exotic spicy taste.  I didn't expect that this bowl of beans would make wonders with my naan.  Slurp slurp...lick lick my fingers...it was yummy!

To wash off those food down...i had masala tea(3/5) - with ginger, cardamom and mint leaves and a lot of milk (the indian way).   I prefer just fresh tea, but i don't mind having it the indian way once in a while.

I didn't know bidding farewell will be this good!  And the best thing about it is, your ex-colleagues become your friends.

Bombay Cafe

334 Tanjong Katong Road

Opens Daily: 11 am - 2:45 pm

                       6 pm - 10:15 pm