Bombay Darbar in Coconut Grove, Miami

Bombay Dardar boasts that it is the best Indian food in Southern Florida, and it might be right. We tried Bombay Darbar in Coconut Grove this past week and it most certainly lived up to the hype. It’s a lively yet casual Indian restaurant serving some of the best Indian food I’ve had in Florida for a reasonable price. So if you’re in the area and love Indian food (or looking for a good restaurant to experience it for the first time) this is definitely one that I highly recommend.

Drinks

We started off with some cocktails and beer. I ordered the Mango Martini (I think this is the correct name, I couldn’t find their cocktail menu online) and our friends both ordered the Taj Mahal Indian Beer. The cocktail was really well made, the perfect amount of sweet and tart. It was strong, but you almost couldn’t tell, so beware. They also clearly use fresh mango nectar because it tasted like real mangos and didn’t have any artificial flavoring. I didn’t personally try the Taj Mahal beer but our friends said it was very refreshing and perfect for the hot evening we were experiencing that night.

Appetizers

The restaurant serves these crackers with different chutneys (I’m not sure what the name is) complimentary while you wait for your food. They were really good and a great snack to hold us over while they prepared our food. We started off with the Vegetable Samosas which were incredible and perfectly cooked. The filling had the right amount of spice and a good potato and green pea ratio. The outer layer was light and crispy and well seasoned. All in all, the perfect samosa.

Entreé

We ordered the Tandoori Chicken, Lamb Vindaloo, Fish Malai Curry, Garlic Naan, and Tandoori Paratha. All dishes came with a side of rice and they served two sauces with the Tandoori Chicken. The Tandoori Chicken was some of the best I’ve had. It was seasoned perfect, had a nice char, and was very moist, which is something I usually don’t like about Tandoori chicken, it can be dry. At least in the places I’ve had it. The Lamb Vindaloo was delicious but not the best I’ve had, it was lacking meat (too much potato) and could’ve been spicier for me. The Naan was perfect, covered in garlic, herbs, and ghee. The texture was crisp on the bottom but fluffy/chewy on the top, I have no complaints. The Tandoori Paratha was also cooked very well and great to have as an additional bread option. But the star of the night for me has to be the Fish Malai Curry. It had a stunning palet: creamy, spicy, slightly sweet, and the fish was so tender. I could’ve bottled the stew and taken it home. I will definitely order this dish again!

Items We Wanted To Try

When we go back, I’d love to try the Butter Chicken, Vegetable Pakora (something we ordered but didn’t receive), Chilli Gobi, Chana Masala, Chicken Korma, Lamb Roganjosh, Fish Goan Curry, Lamb Tandoori, and any of the Biryani’s.

Service

Service was fast, friendly and efficient. Although they mixed up one of our dishes, everything else was correct and the food was amazing. They were also very busy that night, so I’m giving them a pass this time. However, if this is a pattern, I might have to dock a point as it can be annoying to receive items you didn’t order no matter how good the food is.

Overall, I’ll have to give this place a 9/10. Everything about our experience was enjoyable. Bombay Darbar is easily on the Go-To list for Miami.