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 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by JESSE YEATMAN
Waiter Sunil Sharma, left, the owners Baldev and Meena Sondh and waitress and bartender Rebecca Lockwood at Bombay Garden.
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Out: Navy memorabilia, massive burgers, Poor Man's Surf and Turf.
In: Bombay Garden, excellent Indian food.
The Roost was in business for 60 years, and the white house at the corner of Great Mills Road and Shangri-la Drive in Lexington Park continues to resemble the establishment patrons affectionately described as an important Navy watering hole. (Articles I read after The Roost closed last year had me imagining a scene from "The Right Stuff.")
A checker-floored barroom remains. So does a casual dining room with tablecloth covered tables and a television above a fireplace.
Take note of the buffet line with silver trays. If you are unfamiliar with Indian food, the all-you-can-eat lunch buffet is generally a good place to start. Bombay Garden's, at $8.99, is less expensive than it is at a lot of Indian restaurants.
Baldev Sondh used to own a liquor store. While he had never owned an Indian restaurant, Sondh said a friend encouraged him to open one and fill a local void (although Bollywood Masala is in California). Sondh decided to go for it when the former Roost location became available. In the hunt for a chef, Sondh found Nirvail Singh, who worked at an Indian restaurant in Baltimore for more than 20 years.
Specializing in Northern Indian cuisine, which is known for its use of dairy products, Bombay Garden's appetizers range from the common snack, samosa ($3.95), to kabobs and onion bhaji ($3.95), which is spiced onion slices fried in lentil batter. Tandoor (clay oven) entrees include tandoori chicken ($12.95) and fish tikka (15.95), which is marinated salmon cubes served with rice and curry sauce. The menu further includes a variety of chicken, lamb and seafood dishes served with basmati rice; biryani and bread specialties; and about 13 vegetarian items.
While my wife and I looked over the menu, we worked up our appetites with the usual spread of Indian sauces and crispy naan. An appetizer, mixed vegetable pakora ($3.95), cooked in chickpea batter, was a soft vegetable ball delightfully filled with potato and onions and served with three sauces.
Sides of bread, like garlic naan, go for about $3. Aloo Paratha ($2.95), meanwhile, thin wheat bread stuffed with potato and peas, was truly a highlight. Keep in mind, though, that regular naan will come with the meal, and you might end up with a lot of bread.
The tandoori mixed grill ($15.95), in turn, came out sizzling, and while dryness is the frequent downfall of tandoori chicken, this was exceptionally succulent. The mound of food had a spice-soaked yet delicious vegetable mix and an array of tandoori specialties, like barra kabab (lamb), tandoori prawn, seekh kabab (similar to sausage) and chicken tikka.
The mixed grill came with a side dish of creamy vegetable curry. Like the lamb saag, which contained big cubes of meat in a spinach sauce, the dish was savory and rich without going over the top. Lamb saag came with a side of rice and was also delicious when scooped up with naan.
There are no entrées at Bombay Garden which cost less than $10, but the restaurant gives you bang for your bucks. Before tip, our dinner cost about $35, and the leftovers yielded two big lunches the next day.
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