New Bombay Express

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Restaurants
Cuisine:	Indian
Location:	Glorietta 4 Food Choices, Makati City, Philippines

Got an uncontrollable yearning for some spicy cuisine while you are on-the-go?
Want to get a whopping whiff or treat your taste buds for those cumin, coriander, chilies and other exotic spices that zing by in your dreams?

While I go to New Bombay's swankier version in the same shopping mall not only for its food but for its eye-catching interior - if only to dream that I've gone to India or somewhere exotic in the Middle East - I think I'd bankrupt myself if I keep on doing so - especially as I love spicy food and indulge quite often.

So when I am in a great big hurry, I feel comforted knowing that I could always drop by the "express" version of their well-known restaurant.

Not only do you get the same taste, but the prices are noticeably lower than in their other restaurant - not surprising really as you pay for ambiance, service, and other pluses of dining out on a higher level than fast-food...whereas here you just grab your order and look for a free table and chair in the cavernous food court in Glorietta.

The con side of course when you pause in the haze of your burning desire for Indian food - is that since said food is marketed for those on-the-go, you can bet that they prepare the food in advance - so if you are the type to want food to be freshly prepared while you wait, well then... you may balk. But since the flavor is not diminished, I'm not one to nitpick in this area.

I am a vegetarian-wannabe, and I make sure to catch their vegetarian meal package.

Currently set as of this writing at Php 155 I have my choice of viand (I've become quite fond of their spinach with cottage cheese aka Palak Paneer), and the rest of my plate includes a samosa, rice and chapatti. Sometimes I get lucky and end up with their smokey Roasted Eggplant with Okra.

Although the meal already includes the ubiquitous cold soft-drinks or iced-tea generally preferred by the populace to combat the hot zing of this kind of cuisine, I can also always order an extra lassi - be it sweet or flavored.

A thanks to Marie for telling me about this other outlet ages ago when we first ate out at their other restaurant for an eyeball with some Kayumanggitos....