Bombay Spice

Bombay Spice, 111 W. Illinois, Chicago, IL
Tyson Rating *


We were invited to dine at Bombay Spice this past Thursday before the official opening as part of a friends and family welcoming.  The location of the restaurant is terrific, and it is clear that it will do good business once opened.  It strays away from the traditional Indian Restaurant, and has a more fusion feel to it with current music, contemporary seating and decor, as well as high top tables and booths.  The restaurant is very nice but very small, and this could be of some concern, as there is not really any room for parties over 4-5 people (they would need to move tables together).  The noise level is a bit much, and some of the music could be turned down to allow for more easily sustainable conversation. A slight complaint is that there was not a single Indian employee at the restaurant, and this took away from any sort of India feel that the restaurant sought to achieve.

We all started off the meal with a recommended "Mango Lasse," a fruity drink made with yogurt that really may have been my favorite item that we ordered. The consistency was somewhere between a standard drink and a smoothie, and it was light but delicious.  They offer an unflavored one (just sugar) which we later tried, but it was nowhere near as good.

We tried some of their award winning (from their Phoenix location) Chickpea Civiche.  It was good and refreshing, but also not unbelievably unique.  We also each ordered a samosa as a starter which was nothing special either.

For the main course Bombay has a "Create Your Own Entree."  The idea is clever- you choose an ingredient (chicken, lamb, seafood, or vegetables), a base (white rice, brown rice, or noodles), and 1 of their sauces. I ordered lamb with a mild masala sauce and noodles.  The party I was with also tried chicken with the korma sauce, scallops with korma, and shrimp with the spinach sauce.  We all decided to try the noodles upon the recommendation of our server.  The lamb was quite tasty, though the sauce tasted too much like a pasta sauce and had no real interesting flavor to it.  The korma, a fruity sweeter sauce was also good, and the two who ordered it enjoyed it very much.  The shrimp was delicious, but the spinach sauce was very bland and in need of much salt.

The meal concluded with two orders of the Carrot Halwa, the only dessert the restaurant had in stock for the family/friends day.  It looked like a short piece of cake with a carrot base and ricotta cheese on the top.  The dessert was very disappointing, but this was to be expected.  It tasted overwhelmingly of carrot and spices, and it had no real sweet flavor to it.  Between the four of us, less than half was finished.

Overall, the restaurant was good.  The meals are not overwhelmingly filling, and the feel of the restaurant is much different from the traditional Indian cuisine.  A good restaurant to try out if you are unsure as to whether or not you like Indian cuisine, as most of the dishes were rather plain.  The setting was comfortable and it will be a big hit with the younger Chicago crowd.