Bombay Street Food 2 on Barracks Row in the Former Garrison Space

[Pat]

This is the second location of Bombay Street Food, which opened last year in Columbia Heights, from the former owner of the Curry Mantras. The menus look very similar but not exactly the same, so I didn't include the original location in the title. (Don, can you make a decision on this? Maybe they should be together.)

I went with a group yesterday for brunch and we sampled a good deal of the menu guided by our friend who is Indian and very picky about Indian food. She gives this restaurant her seal of approval. Not an expert on Indian food myself, I thought it was quite good. I especially loved the naan, but I'm kind of a bread fiend. We had both garlic and cheese naans, the latter because it reminded my friend of what her grandmother used to make her as a child. Both types were nicely charred but soft and puffy and wonderful, and in the case of the latter, full of delightfully stringy cheese.

We started with Bombay Palak Chat and Bhel Puri, both of which were delicious and more than ample portions for 6 to share as an appetizer. I loved the puffed rice in the Bhel Puri. I had never had this before and would want to order on a return trip. Another one of my favorites from the meal was the Sheek Kabob.

I didn't fare as well with the Goat Biryani, which I liked the taste of but encountered trouble with the bone-in aspect. This comes in the traditional way, with naan baked over the top. (I don't see it on the online menu so I may have messed up my notes, but I'm almost certain this was goat.)

The Chicken Vindaloo was nice and spicy, so the orders of Raita we had came in handy. The Saagpanir, which was something I wanted to order, impressed me less than I expected, but at some point I was getting near food coma, which may have been a factor.

I didn't try the Butter Chicken, which was ordered in honor of some British connections in the group, nor the Chicken Tikka Roll.

There was also rice, which I'm mentioning for the sake of completeness. I didn't eat a whole lot of it because I was filling up on everything else.

We had wine and beer, which got nursed along at the end of the meal as we talked. They never seemed to be trying to rush us out, even though we stayed quite a while after the bill was paid.

I'd happily go back.