Date Places Philippines

New Bombay at Podium Review

I’ve always been a fan of Middle Eastern food (see my post about Persia in Makati) and once when I was eating there, I overheard an Indian couple mention that Persian food was very similar to Indian food. That’s why we decided to give New Bombay a try.

That’s besides the fact the exotic interiors look very much enticing whenever we watch a movie at The Podium.

The restaurant is quite open to the mall hallway so the seats spill over the corridors of The Podium. The inner walls are lined with paintings of Indian women, setting the mood for an authentic Indian dining. The chairs are very charming and will make you feel royal upon sitting. The table top design is a conversation piece too, with an intricate peacock design.

New Bombay spills out to the Podium hallway

Menu

The menu is not too much to look at in terms of aesthetics – the food is listed in plain bond paper that is laminated and then bound. There are no food shots, but no need to worry because there’s a lot of descriptions that would give you an idea what the exotic-looking menu items are made out of.

I have to warn you now – the server, upon ordering, will ask you how you want your food – mild, medium or spicy. The first time we ate there, we said we wanted it ‘medium’ – and man, was it SPICY! We had to drink a mouthful of water after every bite, so it would be good to start things mild at first.

We had the Baked Naan (P35), Tandoori Chicken (P210), Mushroom and Cheese Masala (P185) and Shrimp Curry (P210).

Baked Naan with coliander and tamarind sauce

Combine the Coriander and tamarind sauce and dip the Naan in it

The Naan came with coriander sauce and tamarind sauce, and the combination of the two together with the soft Naan was fantastic! If you have the extra room for calories, get the Butter Naan (P75) – it comes in two big pieces and goes very well with the tamarind sauce for a sweet, tangy and buttery feel.

New Bombay's Tandoori Chicken

The Tandoori chicken was fantastic – it had 5 softly-grilled, barbecued chicken that came with the same sauce as the Naan. The New Bombay chicken and the sauce will give you a burst of flavors that can only mean “delicious!”.

New Bombay Mushoom and Cheese Masala

The Mushroom and Cheese Masala are also to die for. They’re baked together in a fusion that is curry-ish and mildly spicy, and the cheese come in huge chunks! It almost tastes like pizza in a sauce because of the richness of the cheese and the softness of the button mushrooms.

Shrimp Curry at New Bombay

The New Bombay Shrimp Curry is very much worth the price – chunks of medium-sized shrimp you can savor in each spoonful, and goes really really well with the chicken.

We were so pleased with our orders that the next time we came back, we ordered the same things, save for the shrimp curry (we ordered Fish Curry instead, and it too was a very great-tasting dish!).

The servings will be a LOT, but because of the spicyness of the food, you won’t find yourself getting tired of eating, even if you’re full!

I recommend you and your date indulge yourselves when dining here – go ahead and order the Naan, the huge rice serving, and 3 dishes for about P350 each. I recommend you go with plain water because you’ll be swallowing a lot of it when things get a little too spicy!

Across is Pagliacci - go ahead and order a Mint Gelato after eating at New Bombay because you’ll need it to refresh your breath.

New Bombay, The Podium
5/F The Podium, ADB Ave. Ortigas Center
Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila
(02) 637-4367

Manjula’s Kitchen teaches us how to make our own Naan:

And then how to make the excellent coriander sauce: