Bombay Bistro

THESE OWNERS ARE CRIMINALS! They deserve to be thrown in jail. I worked here for a while only to find out all the fucked up shit that goes on in their kitchen. If you knew what I knew you would be SHOCKED.
God forbid if they ever open another restaurant. If they ever do, SAVE YOURSELF and stay away from them. It’s disgusting and offensive, and I wasted a lot of time working for these idiots.
DO NOT TRUST THE FOOD.
P. S. This is to the owners Paul and Pari:
You mothef**kers still owe me a paycheck and it’s beens almost two years. You’re lucky you guys ran away to Canada.

Really good food & ambiance

If I could, I would rate this place 4 ½ stars. I’ve had my fair share of Indian food and this place is one of the best I’ve been to. They do a good job of utilizing spices and flavors without straying to far from the traditional. Try the curry Korma with lamb, it’s like an explosion of flavor in your mouth. The interior is chic and seductive. Ideal for a date night. I can see that this place could get packed easily, but fortunately I went around 5:30 and there were only 4 other tables occupied. I had no complaints with the service, however keep in mind the amount of people at the restaurant at the time.
Overall, this is definitely your best bet for Indian food in Boulder.

Had lunch there yesterday. Chicken Mahkni, Short Ribs, Samosas. The beef was ok. The cinnamon in the dish was a bit overpowering. The chicken was totally GROSS! Just plain nasty. This is NOT an INDIAN restaurant! Which is ok if the food tases good. I’m really disappointed in the Unilocal reviews for this place. Don’t you guys have taste buds? Oh. The samosas are not what you would expect. Think curry paste and salt, wrapped into triangle shaped wonton skins. And fried. Not good eats.

First thing I noticed about Bombay Bistro was that it was the décor. It has a Indian feel to it but it is also very trendy. They have drapes that separates the small tables for a little privacy, which was a very nice touch.
They have happy hour Monday thru Friday where you can order half orders of the curry. They start you off with some papad and curry while you order. Chicken Makni is delicious! (Later, I learned it’s just another name for Butter Chicken) They give you a pretty good portion so you won’t feel that the $ 17 price tag is completely unreasonable.
My friend got their Mango Lassi there and I tried a little bit. It was honestly disappointing. It wasn’t sweet enough and it was on the rocks. They did mention their blender was out of order though, so I didn’t let it affect my rating of this place. I would still recommend this place for a nice dinner.

We like this place for an occasional «date night». The food and drinks are tasty, and the people are friendly. We enjoyed the belly dancer and live music a couple of times.
The only downside is that it is usually really crowded and noisy when we go (usually weekend nights), and a bit pricy.

I have been to Bombay Bistro 4 – 5 times in the past 3 years and have always liked this place. The décor is great — wish they didn’t have those screens though. It is not very loud even on a crowded night. I love the fact that they offer something tasty (papad with chutney, or naan with some chickpea dish) complimentary in the beginning to tease your palate with some great flavors. The drinks are fantastic — I have had the mojito here, and mangotini (I think)!
Most recently I had dinner on a Wednesday night and the place was decently packed, but surprising only one person (the owner?) doing the service and making the drinks, all by himself! He definitely had his hands full, both literally and figuratively, and frantically took our orders, ran around to get them out. It was hard to see him take care of the whole restaurant single-​handedly. Yet, I give this place 4 stars because the food was delicious, and once the owner/​person working that night calmed down he was delightful to talk to. Had a great sense of humor despite having to work so hard and solo.
If you are looking for great fancy North Indian food and good drinks and are ready to pay a little more than most Indian restaurants go to Bombay Bistro. I also like the food at Tandoori Grill but the drinks and décor are better here at Bombay Bistro.

Extremely mediocre.
Came in on a Monday night at dinner time, 7pm and the restaurant was empty. Very nicely decorated in a nice space, but I have a feeling they won’t be around for much longer. I don’t really see why they would be…
Lets start out with the service–
We sat with our menus closed for a good 10 minutes before the girl would even come over to take a drink order. When she did come over she still didn’t take our order even though we were visibly ready.
The food–
We had the chicken tikka masala, chickpea curry, side of naan. The chicken tikka was on par with a fast food restaurant. Actually bombay bowl in Denver has better chicken tikka than this place and it is fast food. The chicken was very dry. It had way too mich cilantro and it was overwhelming the dish. Chickpea curry was good, no real complaints there. The naan was not soft, it was overcooked and had more of a crispy cracker like texture. The portions were small. They come in half and full size. I’d hate to see what the half size was like.
I hate to say it but skip this place… Sherpa has much better chicken tikka masala, their portion sizes are larger and its cheaper.

Nice atmosphere, the food was okay but nothing amazing. I went for happy hour with a friend and wasn’t too impressed with their selecting. I think the drinks were discounted, but the fact is, they were really quite expensive to begin with and like the food, mediocre. I was expecting better from such a nice place to be honest.
I ordered the shrimp vindaloo, it was good, not exemplary. Small portion for the price as well. My friend has the chicken tikka masala, it was good… fairly standard.
Overall, the experience was nice, Bollywood films were projected on the wall and the décor was modern.
The bill was high and I’ve had better.

Took the family here for Mother’s Day brunch and it worked out quite well. As others have noted, the family that owns the place is very sweet and gracious. Their two year old stopped by (with her mom) to wish us a happy Mother’s Day, and the mood was quite festive.
The food was served buffet-​style and the spread was small but reasonably tasty. They also had a serve-​yourself wine bar, which was a little odd, but made it so that my wife and I could add ‘all you can drink’ to the ‘all you can eat.‘
Back to the food, though, which was mildly spiced and mostly unremarkable. A mild fish curry probably used tilapia, which is far from my favorite, but the sweet yellow curry had ample taste to it and was mild enough to share with the kids. There was a more spicy shrimp curry, a savory braised beef dish and the requisite vegi korma, naan, samosa and rice pudding.
Suffice to say that I might have been less generous with my comments about the experience if my wife wasn’t so pleased with her Mother’s Day outing. Goes to show you how much a friendly, comfortable setting can go toward ensuring a satisfying meal out.

Eh, not impressed. The food at Bombay Bistro is too Americanized and pseudo-fancy.The way their menu is set up allows you to choose one item from each column — a meat, a sauce or curry, and a veggie — and i’d much rather have the people who cook my food suggest the proper combinations. I had a delicious drink, though, called a Cocojito (coconut mojito) that i’d have again.
Overall, 2 stars because I’m not into fusion cooking when I want Indian food.

I historically haven’t been a huge fan of Indian food, at least, not the way it’s been presented to me the last few times I’ve had it. But I keep trying some at different places, hoping I can key in to the interesting parts of the cuisine and discover some preparations that I enjoy. This place was easily my favorite Indian food I’ve had in the last couple years. Everything was fresh, flavorful, and well prepared. All the flavors tasted really well-​balanced and the textures were also really good. Loved the samosas, little mini ones with two contrasting sauces (which I liked individually or layered together.)
The interior’s pretty fab, and the outside seating was nice. I’d definitely go back there every now and then for a treat if I lived in Boulder or Denver.

For us, the dining experience was exceptional. Great staff, great food, great atmosphere for family, friends, couples, etc. I found the prices and portions just right. The staff was very knowledgable about the food and gave great advice.
One note for the heat seekers — hot = hot here so order accordingly.
This will stay on my list of favorite places to eat in Boulder.

Visited on a Tuesday evening with the in-laws…we were waiting outside for two more of our party and the proprietor handed us a coupon for 15% off the bill. He wanted to incentivize us, I guess, since maybe he thought we were being indecisive?
Anyhow, we sat next to the window… it was a tastefully decorated little place. The same guy came and took our order and also gave suggestions. Honestly, I wouldn’t say that their food stood out from all the Indian places I’ve tried, because I really can’t even remember what we ordered — it wasn’t horrible, but then again, not particularly memorable, either. Probably could’ve used a bit more spice/​flavoring.

This place was fabulous! Pink walls & copper décor, elegant gold curtains hanging from the ceiling creating an intimate table experience, pillows and candles everywhere! Loved it! PLUS The service was on point!
Delectable Must Tries:
–paneer pakoras
–vegetarian samosas
–basil & aioli sauces
–chicken tikka masala
–chai tea
We are definitely going back!

Amazing food with amazing service. We took the cooking classes hosted by Chef Paul and had a blast! What a great place and a great group of people!

First visit and first Indian. My husband picked this place from Unilocal,we weren’t planning to be out that night, but dinner time passed and where shall we go? We decided to try something new, and new it was!
We let our servers know we hadn’t tried anything like this before, and asked what they suggested and followed each of their recommendations without fail. Each suggestion was great, flavorful and sometime that we’d go back to try again! The short ribs were the star of the show, and no wonder with such a secret and special recipe. Even the owner came over to check on us during the meal, friendly and professional chatting.
Table was served well. Atmosphere was beautiful, dark lighting however. We got a cozy corner spot by the windows. Only downside was the bathrooms were messy and not filled with supplies well, but it was toward the end of the night (10pm).
Loved it — will be back again!

Really disappointing. The naan bread tasted more like giro bread heavily buttered, and the food was way less spicy than it should have been. We ordered Vindaloo, and asked for it spicy, the server told us that it would come at a spice level of 8, and I wouldn’t have classified it as anything spicier than mild. Vindaloo should be one of the hottest things on the menu.
The lamb meat in the Vindaloo was also really tough.
We also got a shrimp dish, and I can’t remember the name of it, but it was way over cooked, and tasted awful.
The kicker on the meal was that I was starving when we went there, so I ate a ton, but the food just never seemed to digest, and eventually had to cut the night short because the food was sitting so poorly in my stomach. It reminded me of getting food poisoning, where nothing digests and you eventually throw it all up. I was lucky enough not to throw up, but the next morning I still felt like hell, and ultra dehydrated.
If you are in Boulder, there are better indian food places to go to.

This is the only restaurant in Colorado that I would recommend for Indian food. I’m not afraid to say that my opinion in Indian cuisine has a lot more merit because I’m brown. I know what good Desi food is and what’s been mass-​produced. The restaurant is a chic, modern and lovely spot for lunch and dinner in the heart of downtown Boulder. It also has a very lively and energetic nightlife scene.
And if you want, you can even take cooking classes here.
The owner Paul is not only a talented chef, but a philanthropist at heart. That alone sets him apart from every other Indian restaurant in Colorado. For example, he hosted a Haiti fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders in January of this year that raised over $ 1,200 in one night.
India’s Pearl, Bombay Clay Oven, Namaste… all the rest of these wanna-​be Indian restaurants have and never will compare to the Bistro. This place doesn’t compromise on quality, flavor and portion. These three things also happen to be essential values of Indian culture.
If you don’t go, good luck befriending an Indian family and hope they invite you over for dinner sometime. Even then, you’d be missing out on everything else that makes the Bistro my favorite Indian restaurant this side of the Rockies.

I’m a huge fan of well prepared Indian food. I dream about it and I’ll go out of my way to find it. This may sound strange, but with Indian and Chinese restaurants I use the bathroom method to determine if I want to eat there: go to the restroom. If it’s dirty the kitchen will be 10 times worse and I’ll skip eating there. (OK, I’m sure I’ll take heat for this method but believe me, it has merits.) The bathroom is plenty clean at Bombay.
Truth is, Bombay has it pretty much right. The food is well above all it’s other Boulder competitors. It is unique in many regards and the preparation is well executed: spices that should be present are and they aren’t overwhelmed by sheer heat. You can taste the cinnamon and the cloves in their famous beef ribs, and still get the tomato, chiles and honey. Not a bad trick. It is worth recommending Bombay just for the ribs. What keeps me from being really enthusiastic is the bipolar service: my first trip rendered great attention by the wait staff and very quick service. My second trip was exactly the opposite. Just to quell my paranoia that it was only me, other tables sat around looking bored and had obviously waited too long to get served. Our waitress simply grabbed my empty wine glass off our table without asking if I wanted another– while we were in mid meal.
What gives???