Hi Bombay

The food here is fantastic! The Novratan Korma is delicious and authentic! Pompadoms remind me of our trip to Dehli in 2001. Absolutely wonderful service, very friendly, and helpful. We didn’t feel rushed at all. The place is clean and quiet nestled right at the beginning of the Old Port on Pleasant street. We had dinner here, but I imagine it would be fun to walk around the shops and stop here for lunch. Fantastic!

I like Hi Bombay alot, very good food never really crowded when I go and I like that the service is good and friendly, portions are comparable to most but flavor is above the rest.

The food I’ve had at Hi Bombay is fantastic. It’s not spicy (I always select mild and add a little heat after), and it’s somehow both fresh and comforting at the same time. I have been a few times, but recently got takeout. We had naan, Keema Mutter, Chicken Jalfrezi, and some great lentil soup. Both entrees were meaty and fulfilling. The soup was flavorful and inviting. The Naan, however, was unimpressive.
I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir here, but wow, I’m a big fan. To put it into context, I’m a slow adopter of Indian food. Being someone who previously had a passive palette, I too was wary of Indian food. (I had since had my eyes opened by some dear friends who make the most incredible Indian food ever.)

Spicy flavor, fresh, cozy, kind service. Easy to pass by, but its worth popping into this small but lush little spot. Very comfy booths. Air conditioning, which is not a given in the Old Port. I needed a quick yummy dish and will certainly investigate the menu further as I will definitely be back… Papadum were yummy and crisp, veggies were on point, but note: the spice is no joke. I ordered medium, which was as mild as they could go, and am getting seriously slapped about, I love spicy food, but if you can’t handle heat RUN. That said, plenty of flavor in the vegetarian dish I ordered (malai kofta) and in the chutneys. The tea was alright, unsweetened which I prefer. Next time, dessert!

I live in an apartment in the same building as this joint and have to use all of my willpower, which ain’t much, to limit myself to two takeouts a month. Only dined in once, years ago, and would describe the service as somewhat cold. Not enough to make you see red like that old Bluto from the beloved children’s comic strip Popeye but enough to make you go «really?» Like people who take their shoes off on airplanes. It’s like «yeah man, we get it, I’m sure that’s a much more comfortable way to air travel but do the rest if us have to peep on and smell on them gnarled up toes for four hours player?» Generally when I breeze in to collect my phoned in order I notice people confusedly staring at the space where a server should be, or hopefully will be appearing. So I can’t say I recommend it for a romantic evening or a child’s birthday or something. Maybe a spot good to dump somebody? Always better to do that in public gang. That way if they start acting the fool and sobbing everywhere you can just bounce. What I can recommend it for is take out. Curry, kofta, briyani, tikka, samosas, naan. It’s all really quite good. A serious piece of advice? Order an extra set of the chutneys. Around a year or so ago they started putting them in smaller containers. They’re literally slightly bigger than thimble size. The best is «splitting» those with my girlfriend. Apparently the schools in central Maine where her people hail from teach that half of something is roughly eighty percent. I’ve thought about saying something, setting her straight, but in the long run I see it being more trouble than it’s worth. Better to lose some battles than to lose the war. You know? Oh well, she’s pretty and she smells good and besides this whole chutney business she really does treat me exceptionally well. Still though, my fair share on them chutneys would be nice.

I love this place. The malai kofta is amazing. Can’t find it any better in Boston where I am from (no want for trying). Every time I come to Portland I make a «kofta» stop. Mild works for me spicy-​wise as I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to hots.
Just tonight I called 5 minutes before it closed and ordered Malai Kofta and vindaloo. They were out of the malai kofta but were willing to whip up a batch for me! Thanks Hi Bombay.

I rarely… RARELY write subpar reviews, but I was quite disappointed with this food. I got the garlic naan, veggie korma, and chana saag.
I have slowly been getting into Indian food, as I have no tolerance to spicy foods. I have never had a problem ordering dishes «non spicy.» The dishes are usually so flavorful that even the people I share my food with don’t miss the spiciness. Here, not only was the dish incredibly salty (this is coming from someone who puts salt on everything,) but the korma was so spicy that I could only get 5 bites into it. I really tried to enjoy it, but it’s difficult to enjoy a dish when you can’t taste anything and tears blur your vision.
It gets 2 stars because the delivery was prompt and the service was friendly.

Dirty and Dated ambiance with greasy cutlery. Food is over/​double fried, one sauce for almost all dishes with no creativity or quality ingredients. Family run, but don’t expect friendliness.

The food was absolutely terrific. Such good flavor in the Samosas and the Chicken Tikka Masala. The owner is wonderful at serving and very friendly!

The behavior of the restaurant owner is worst. He gave us the menu and told us what to order and never paid any sort of respect to what we actually wanted. They brought dishes in parts and didnt serve it completely. Food was OK

Consistently my fave for Indian in Portland. The pakora alone makes it worth finding parking. Thinking about it is making me seriously hungry. Spice level scale seems spot on to me. Love the relishes and the masala

Perfect food, great service, and excellent location. We were craving Indian while away from home, and this completely hit the spot. The server was helpful and the menu very descriptive so picky eaters and allergics can find what they need to know.

My girlfriend and I dined at Hi Bombay last night. We arrived to a half full house around 7. We sat ourselves in a booth. Either the table was high our the bench was low. It had that childish feeling of being too small for your surroundings.
The waiter came out and took our order. My gf wanted a few apps as her entrée. She explained this 2 – 3 times and they still came out too early. I ordered chicken tikka. In the past I always order chicken tikka masala. When my food arrived, after my gf had already finished hers, I asked where the sauce was. I didn’t know that chicken tikka is dry and and chicken tikka masala had sauce. When I asked for a side of sauce, the male waiter blew a gasket! He then tried to force me into buying a complete second dish of chicken tikka masala.
About this time a really nice woman came out and saved the day. Her and I joked and I told her I had no idea about the difference in dishes.
So the meal was awkward. But not as awkward as paying!
I paid in cash and got change for the tip. I left 20% in the traditional folder. The make waiter came and picked up the folder and counted his tip right in front of me. Glancing down in disproval.
The food was decent. But I won’t be back.

I’m going to start by reviewing something seemingly unimportant, but one of the most memorable parts of the meal was the excellent chai. So flavorful and rich. With that out of the way…
My friend and I went on the spur of the moment without really checking the reviews much because it was close and late and we were hungry. The waiter (who may have been the owner?) was a funny little guy wearing a jacket and hat, as if he were on his way out to a delivery or something (he wasn’t, and it was warm inside). There was one other occupied table. He was talking with them, and waved us to a table toward the back.
Our feet stuck loudly to the floor with each step toward the table. The floors looked and felt as though they hadn’t been cleaned for a while. The Ladies’ room floor was especially gross.
The waiter was amusingly eccentric, but pleasant. We ordered the taj biryani. It came with a small yellow lentil soup, mild but tasty. The biryani was «for two,» but we each ate our fill and had a sizeable portion for lunch the next day. It wasn’t the best Indian food I’ve ever eaten (some of the meat was fatty and gristly), but not the worst either. The flavor could have been stronger and more complex. But adequate for a relatively inexpensive quick meal in a small local place.
And the Bollywood playing continuously on the TV added a touch of … Well, it was fun to watch while we waited for our food!

I think it’s an horrible expensive place. food is not that great and they try to cheat by putting extra money. Wont recommend ever to anyone

My go to for curry fix. Always a great vegetarian choice along with wheat free options. They have earned my loyalty many times over.

This place actually has a pretty nice space with good windows, but I want to describe it as a hole in the wall because while the food is totally good, the place is freezing in the winter to the point where the owner walks around in a scarf. Not like a fashionable scarf, like an I’m cold scarf. No big deal, but in the winter you want to bring your sweater and try to sit far from the door.
As I mention in pretty much every review I write, I have allergy issues. I like Indian food a lot both because it’s delicious and because it’s very easy for my allergy cluster: vegetarian and vegan options, easy to get gluten-​free, and it’s usually very easy to avoid soy. It’s hard to get stuff that’s both vegan and tomato-​free, but that’s true all around. Hi Bombay has been very good with my questions and requests for modifications, and they have a lot of vegetarian options.
I particularly like their pakora, which are dusted with a spice I haven’t yet identified but which makes me want to eat pakora and pakora and pakora until I burst. I especially like the nav rattan korma and the saag paneer, both of which are spiced well and while the nav rattan korma obviously uses frozen veggies as some of the ingredients it comes off in the «hey, look what you can do with prepack frozen veggies!» way that makes you feel more optimistic about trying to reproduce this stuff at home. Dal and papadams are nice. The mango lassi is delightful although I have yet to find anything that can’t be made better with a mango. There’s a weather event about to crush the city? That’s terrible. There’s a weather event about to crush the city… and I have a mango? That’s… well, it’s slightly less terrible. I mean at least I have a mango.
Parking is meters on the street but it’s far enough from Congress that it shouldn’t be too tough.

So Hi Bombay has been generally a hit or miss. Now there’s a really nice Indian lady that is running the place and the food quality is consistently very good. I’m happy to see, especially with Dancing Elephant closed in the old Port.
—Updated
Now that I’ve gotten my free meal stamped up for my 6 visits– I feel that I can do this place justice for others by leaving a review. I’ve had a variety of dishes and the Chicken Tikka Masala every time.
I’ve lived in Charlotte, Seattle, and New York and I’ve had Indian across the country. Hi Bombay happens to be walking distance to my

Can I get the chicken tika marsala with some plain naan puh-​leaze?! Mmmmmmm, let’s make it mild. I like spice. Well, hot damn! The spice can make you cry tears of joy. Careful there bud! It’s hardly busy here but I enjoyyyyy the food. The owner is always my waiter when I come in and he’s just adorbs. The restaurant has been in this same spot since I was a wittle gal and they’re holding on! Check it out if you want your sinus cured. Wooosahhhh!

Pretty decent. Lots of veggie options. Lots of spice. Requisite Bollywood hits on crooked television.
I vote yes.