Inspired Culinary treats from the city of dreams : Bombay Dreams

Bombay is a land of a million hopes and dreams. It is also known as India’s top culinary destination where flavors of all over the sub-continent and beyond are known to collide.  Bombay dreams restaurant is but a microcosm of this interesting mélange of cultures, tastes and aromas that is here to take Dubai by storm by offering good quality food and very aggressive prices. 

When we first heard about this restaurant, we did the mistake of assuming that it is “ just another “ Bombay themed restaurant like the many we’ve seen emerging in Dubai over the past couple of years.   But in just few months of its launch it has managed to get a 4.1 on Zomato and nice recommendations from seasoned food connoisseurs in Dubai.

We decided to check it out ourselves and find out what the buzz is all about.  Situated bang opposite to Puranmal and Gangour in Oud Medha, Bombay Dreams is a casual restaurant with a nice vibe to it.  The first thing you will notice is the hand painted walls brandishing some of the icons of Dubai and Mumbai - a wall that connects a city of dreams to another through a journey that starts with a Mumbai taxi that progresses through the magical clouds through an Emirates Jumbo jet and culminates in the tall skyscrapers of Dubai. The artist kind of etches the dreams of every Mumbaikar who wants to one day end up in Dubai.  Many I am sure, can relate to the journey, like I do!

Now for the food, we were served with a shot of welcome drink as is the custom in many Indian restaurants -these days. For a change it was no imli or neembu pani but a shot glass of hot rasam signaling a warm welcome in the cold month of January. Definitely helped warm up.

Our amuse bouche – raj kachori came with its own share of drama (read fuming liquid nitrogen). I liked this modernist take on the good old kachori.

In starters we were served with Tandoori Malai Broccoli, Zafrani Anari Paneer Tikka, Batata Hibiscus, Arancini Balls, and Veg Potli. All the starters had a flavor and character of its own and the style, aroma, taste and presentation was outstanding.

In the main course we decided to try a mix of Indian, Continental and Oriental dishes. In Indian we went for Zafrani Lacha Paratha, Dal Makhani, Gulab Jamun ki Sabzi, Paneer Taka tak and BD Biryani. We also tried Teriyaki Tofu, Mongolian hot pot in Oriental and Risotto and Pink pasta.

I know! That’s a long line up of food for sure, but definitely one that left was palette and tummy rewarding with a guilty pleasure, of course!

The Indian dishes had the unmistakable aroma and taste of well garnished Indian spices with a mild contemporary twist though which is good. Surprisingly, Bombay Dreams is not just good in Indian food but they proved that they are great in continental and oriental too! The risotto, pink pasta and the Mongolian hot pot bore testimony to that. All of them tasted very original and definitely worth our admiration.

Desserts were no less creative. We had Jalebi with lotus rabdi and Ghewar with cucumber gelato in desserts. Ghewar with a liquid nitrogen twist was good and jalebis provoked an eating frenzy that led us ordering another plate of them.

The pricing has been kept very reasonable and the quality of food is really good. Bombay dreams will definitely carve a special space for itself in this overcrowded Indian restaurant scene.