Revisit: Indian @ Bombay Club, Tokyo

All-you-can-eat affairs and me make such a bad combination. I would always resolve never to eat buffet ever again, but I would always forget my resolution when the opportunity presents itself next. The weekend after we returned from our trip to Seoul, we had a family lunch at Bombay Club in Shiodome with my sister's visiting "friend" to acquaint ourselves with him. The last time we were at Bombay Club, we chose the lunch buffet option, so prior to heading out for lunch, Rob and I had agreed that we'd ignore the buffet option and try out some of the a-la-carte dishes instead. Well, at least Rob stuck to the plan.

Honey, friend and I chose the buffet option, and we could eat all we wanted from the buffet table which contained Chicken Curry, Vegetable Curry and Seafood Curry, salad, rice and dessert. Naan bread, potato wedges and Chicken Tandoori were served freshly prepared to the table, and we could request more of these if we wished. I went with the buffet option because for 1100yen, it gave me access to a wide variety of dishes, and I am a sucker for variety and affordable (one a-la-carte main dish would already have costed more than 1200yen). I liked the Seafood Curry the best because the squid and shrimps were tender and not overcooked and rubbery like the ones I've had before. The chicken thigh pieces in the Chicken Curry were very juicy, and the vegetables pieces in the Vegetable Curry still held their shape but were cooked tender.

The three curries on the buffet table (clockwise from top in the foreground: Seafood Curry, Vegetable Curry and Chicken Curry, and my plate of salad in the background; and the plates of Tandoori Chicken, potato wedges and Naan that were brought to our table freshly prepared and on request:

Rob ordered Mutton Saag, a spinach-based curry that was full of gamey flavour from the mutton, which had been stewed tender. I personally am not a big fan of the strong taste of the red meat, but the others liked it just fine. Rob also got the Kaburi Naan, which was a sweet bread with coconut and raisins. This was pretty tasty, best eaten on its own and not with curry.

The Mutton Saag was a lovely shade of green but not very photogenic; and the sweet coconut-y Kaburi Naan:

There were two types of dessert available for the buffet option: a cake pudding with fruit and custard, which was surprisingly good, and a healthy fruit yoghurt. The cake pudding was very similar to the trifle. Rob ordered the Kulfi, a frozen milk dessert with the lovely combination of honey and bits of pistachio and almond slivers. It was tasty but we agreed that the one at our favourite Indian rates better.

The cake pudding and the kulfi:

I know there are other Indian restaurants offering many more dishes in their buffet spread, but at Bombay Club, all three hot dishes were good. I ate way too much, and I definitely need to stick to my resolution to stay away from buffets for my stomach's sake. My only gripe about this experience would be the so-so service we got from the manager. The younger waiter gave excellent, prompt and friendly service, so maybe the older manager guy could learn a thing or two about customer interaction from his floor staff.