100 Very Best Restaurant 2016: The Bombay Club

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Bombay Club. Photograph by Scott Suchman

About The Bombay Club

Cost:

cuisines
Indian
Location(s)
815 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, District of Columbia 20006-3974

Ashok Bajaj’s stately first restaurant wears its 28 years well, thanks to stellar service and a genteel ambience, plus touches that are just throwback enough to fit the vibe (tunes from a white piano). Still, for all the supper-clubby qualities, chef Nilesh Singhvi’s cooking tastes present tense. A variety of curries and artful thali tastings proffered on silver trays join seasonal specialties such as squash-stuffed samosas or vigorously seasoned ground-duck kebabs. Even carnivores shouldn’t ignore the vegetarian section, where mushrooms braised in cashew curry and 16-hour dal makhani reinforce the notion that great things develop with time. Desserts run overly sweet, even by Indian standards—try a sorbet or hard-to-find Amrut whisky instead.

Don’t miss: kale chaat; pan-fried crab with curry leaves; green-chili chicken; assorted breadbasket.

See what other restaurants made our 100 Very Best Restaurants list. This article appears in our February 2016 issue of Washingtonian.


Ann Limpert
Executive Food Editor/Critic

Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.

Food Editor

Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.