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If there’s any cuisine that does vegan and vegetarian well, it’s Indian with its explosion of colour and spice. We’ve never met a dosa or chaat we didn’t like! And when it comes to Indian cuisine in Hong Kong, Bombay Dreams in Central is one of the OGs, celebrating 18 years of business this year – no small feat, even surviving just this past year in such a particularly turbulent time for the F&B industry owing to both the protests and the pandemic.
Moving with the plant-based times, Bombay Dreams has just introduced a vegan à-la-carte menu designed by consultant Indian master chef Irshad Ahmed Qureshi along with Head Chef Devi Singh.
The vegan menu is exciting and varied and showcases dishes from South India and Goa in addition to the restaurant’s own signature North Indian cuisine. It includes five starters (the bhalla chana chaat ($88), heavy on the sweet, tangy tamarind, knocked our socks off), half a dozen mains (go for the palak papad bhaji ($98) and we guarantee it will be amongst the best spinach dishes you’ll every try), a selection of basmati rice dishes (the vegetable biryani ($138) is the clear winner here) and, notably, three gluten-free types of roti ($32 each) – made with gram chickpea flour, sorghum and pearl millet and finger millet – that are thinner, denser and crispier than the typical roti. Most of the dishes are quite robustly spiced, so be prepared.
RELATED: After 19 years, Bombay Dreams relocates
Bhalla chana chaat (lentil dumplings with chickpeas tempered with whole spices, served with tamarind and spicy mint chutney)
Palak papad bhaji (spinach cooked with garlic, cumin and whole spices, topped with roasted papad)
Verdict
Congrats, Bombay Dreams, for catering to meat-free eaters with such a sumptuous menu, making veg, pulses and legumes sing.
4/F, Carfield Building, 77 Wyndham Street, Central, 2971 0001, book online
EDIT August 2021: They moved! Read more here
1/F, Winning Centre, 46–48 Wyndham Street, Central, 2811 9888, book online
Related: Top Vegetarian Friendly Brunches
This write-up is based on a complimentary media tasting provided in exchange for an honest review and no monetary compensation. The opinions expressed here represent the author’s.
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