Indian Food, Part Three

One of the older stand-by Indian restaurants in the area has always been Bombay Oven. It's on Stevens Creek Blvd. close to De Anza College and has been there much longer than the glitzier Panera and Peet's which are now adjacent. In the olden days (ie about a year or so ago), when you went for the buffet lunch, you seated yourself, eventually someone would nod at you and acknowledge your presence, and bring you water and MAYBE ask for a drink order; and after you had stuffed yourself, a small old Indian lady in a sari would decide what you owed and collect money from you. No signs. No menus. Just a tasty buffet.

That has all changed. A few months ago when Beth and I went for lunch the ambiance was totally different. Newly painted, fresh tablecloths, nice waiters, a bigger buffet moved to the back nook,and when we arrived at 11:30 it was not yet ready. We were brought drinks during our wait, and before the food line opened, the place started filling up! As we had been the first people in, we were sent to the buffet first, a nice gesture. And the quality of the food was much higher than it had been in the past.

Fast forward to Wednesday night. I had purchased a Groupon for dinner at Bombay Oven a few weeks ago, so we decided to give it a try. The place is very comfortable, with a pleasant dining room, painted a soft yellow and with low music playing. Several families were there but it was not crowded. Our young waiter was very friendly and helpful. We ordered an appetizer and three dishes to share, plus naan. The appetizer was something I'd never had before but highly recommend---honey cauliflower. Think slightly sweet, savory popcorn cauliflower. Yum. The main dishes were the house curry chicken, butter chicken, and bhindi masala (okra). Michael was a big fan of the curry, which I also liked, but butter chicken just makes my mouth happy. I think the only place where I've had any butter chicken that was better is at Amber India, where it is a signature dish. The quantities were large enough that we were able to bring home more than enough for lunch the next day.

Now for my Okla/Ark/Texas families: Okra. You think fried okra is the best thing on earth. Well you know I do, at least. Let me tell you, okra masala as cooked at Bombay Oven rivals any okra dish I've ever had. The okra is fresh, cut like we do to fry it, sauteed with onions, tomato, and spices. It was crisp, smooth, fresh, spicy, all at once. I promise, if any of you come to visit, this will be a stop on the food tour.

I asked our waiter if he eats okra, feeling that possibly even Indian gourmets might have mixed feelings about this vegetable. But he assured me that he did, and that in his country there is a belief that eating okra will make you smart in mathematics. I told Michael that it must not have worked on me and he replied, think how much worse you might have been in math if you HADN'T eaten it all your childhood! Touche.