Bombay Exotic Cuisine-Indian Restaurant in San Diego
This Indian restaurant is located on 5th Ave. in Hillcrest. The decor is beautiful. There is even a lovely waterfall falling from the ceiling to the floor close to the entrance that can be viewed from the entire restaurant and which I love to watch from one of the sumptious booths. Bombay has dim lighing and relaxing music. All in all, the atmosphere is wonderful. I highly recommend making a reservation for one of the booths. We went there this evening, and being a Saturday night, the restaurant was full and we had to wait 15 minutes to get seated. On a weekday, the restaurant isn’t full and you will be able to get seated right away.
We have been to the restaurant about 5 times. Today, the service was amazing. Roberto was timely in his delivery of the food and didn’t make any mistakes on the order. He was acutely aware when we needed refill on our drinks and did so promptly. In the past, we have not been impressed with which the speed of the food was delivered to our table. Quite the contrary, at times, it has been downright slow.
The food is very good. Not necessarily the best Indian food we have had, but we like the food a lot. You can tell that they use only very fresh ingredients. I love the chutneys. The tamarind, the mint, the raita and the mango chutneys are unbelievable. The nan is very good as well. The curries are amazing. The entrees run anywhere from $14-$18. What is an amazing deal is to order one of their curry gravies on the side for $6. This allows you to get a lot of sauce at very little extra cost. Tonight we ordered Chai-Teas, which are refillable, a Chutney Tray, a side of the Tikka Masala Sauce, saffron rice (unnecessary if you are happy with Basmati Rice which comes at no charge), an Eggplant Curry, 2 Papadums, and a Garlic Nan. As I write this, we are completely stuffed and the total cost was $50 (not including tip.) In comparison, when we order to-go-food from another little Indian hole in the wall place we often go, it costs us $20 minimum. So, to get spectacular atmosphere, a truly beautiful restaurant experience, it only costs us an additional $30-$40. It is so worth your money.
The crowd tend to be very young and very hip. After all this is Hillcrest. In two corners of the room are TV’s playing Indian music videos. This is a perfect place to take a date. It is romantic. You can carry on a conversation. The food is great. The ambiance amazing. I highly recommend it.
Bombay Exotic has a sister restaurant in the San Diego Gaslamp district called Monsoon.
