Remember how back in March we thought that Totto Ramen might take over Bombay Eats (the former home of Indian pizza on 52nd btw. 8+9th). Well, Totto Ramen did end up opening on that block, but in a different spot… and it looks like Bombay Eats is still becoming a noodle spot. Thanks to Lunch’er Andy who sent over this photo yesterday of the new sign that is now up on Bombay Eats. We have no clue what exactly Cha Pa’s Noodles and Grill is, but we’re excited to find out.

Related:
Yakitori Totto is My New Favorite Midtown Lunch

Sad sad news from Lunch’er “Cecil” yesterday…

“My coworkers and I were grouping together to order some Indian Pizza from Bombay Eats on 52nd Street. Sadly, when we called, the owner picked up and said they lost their lease and are no longer in business. You could hear the construction workers breaking down the restaurant in the background. A sad day for Midtown Lunch.”

That’s upsetting. Their saag and tandoori chicken topped pizzas were one of a kind. (And nothing at all like what passes for “Indian Pizza” in Queens.) There is a rumor floating around that the spot is going to be turned into a ramen joint, but nothing has been confirmed…

Related:
Saag Paneer Pizza? Bombay Eats Has Got You Covered
Indian Pizza Meetup Unlocks the Mysteries of Bombay Eats

I stopped by yesterday to check it out.

It looked like they only had one Indian pie, but it was actually divided into three sections: chicken tikka, tandoori chicken, and paneer (Indian cheese).   I ordered a slice of all three.

As you can see from the photos all of the slices are topped with mozzarella cheese, onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms plus the Indian topping.  As a result, it becomes less Indian pizza than a veggie pizza also topped with Indian flavored chicken (or cheese.)  The chicken tikka was ok, but the chicken was a bit too dry and it didn’t have enough flavor to stand out amongst all those veggies.

The paneer was good too, but had the same issue as the chicken tikka.  Not enough flavor to stand out among the rest of the ingredients.

By far, the best was the tandoori chicken, which used dark meat chicken picked off the bone. As a result the chicken had far more flavor than the white meat tikka chunks.  Also, the moistness of the chicken combined with the spices and leaked into the pizza creating an almost reddish sauce at the bottom of the slice that made it more “Indian” flavored.  Not super strong, but strong enough to stand out more than the other two slices.

All in all it was a pretty enjoyable lunch, and a nice change in pace from your average New York slice.  At $3.50 a slice it’s not super cheap, but completely fair when you consider the amount of toppings. As for its Indian-Ness…  it’s probably better to expect New York pizza with a mild Indian flavor, than “Indian Pizza”.  It’s either that, or ask them to scoop something from the buffet onto a slice of cheese!

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• Indian pizza is fun!
• I’m bored of regular pizza, and this is a good change of pace
• I love onions peppers and mushrooms!

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• I’m a pizza purist, and the pizza itself isn’t that great
• It’s not Indian enough
• All the slices seem to be more about the onions, peppers and mushrooms than the Indian toppings! What’s up with that?
• The flavor of the Indian ingredients can’t compete with the other toppings
• A slice of cheese with a scoop of saag paneer is more like Indian Pizza than what they offer by the slice!

Bombay Eats, 314 West 52nd Street (btw. 8+9th), 212-265-7777

Passed by Bombay Eats (on 52nd btw. 8+9th) yesterday and discovered some great news! They are now serving their Indian pizza by the slice. That means you don’t have to gather up a group of 8 people and order a full pie, or jury-rig a slice of cheese with a scoop of saag paneer from the buffet. Slices are $3.50 and come with a bunch of different toppings (saag, chicken tikka, and more.)

Related:
Saag Paneer Pizza? Bombay Eats Has Got You Covered
Indian Pizza Meetup Unlocks the Mysteries of Bombay Eats

Lamb Keema Pie. Photo courtesy of Jessica@Food Mayhem

We actually had a great turnout. At the start, 5 of us midtownlunchers (jessica@foodmayhem, wellerfan, stevenp, scottyelich, and I) showed up for the Indian Pizza outing. After some deliberation, we decided to order 2 18″ pies; stevenp had heard that the 14″ was too doughy, which was exactly my concern since the difference between most “medium” and “large” pies is how thin they stretch the same amount of dough. We went with the Lamb Keema and the Saag paneer. Shortly after ordering, 3 of my coworkers (all of Indian descent) had unexpectedly stumbled in after a meeting since I told them all about the “indian pizza” phenomenon. Though they were there for the buffet, we coerced them into the indian pizza. With the magic number of 8 people, we were able to order a 3rd pie! So we went with the Chicken Tikka.

Unfortunately for Wellerfan, this was his first time eating indian food, so he didn’t get an authentic indian food experience. Fortunately for Wellerfan, it was still shockingly good! Considering I’m of Italian descent and having grown up in Bensonhurst, I did not have my hopes up for “good pizza”. What we got was very good Indian food on a pretty good crust [ in hindsight, I should never have doubted the people whose contribution to the world of bread is naan, paratha, chapati, roti, puri, etc ]. This wasn’t random buffet food slopped onto a pizza crust and thrown in the oven. This was quality indian cuisine served in a very unique way. All of the pizzas had the requisite indian toppings (lamb keema, chicken tikka, saag paneer), but also included fresh veggies [ onion, pepper, broccoli, etc ].

We were given a choice of White or Whole Wheat dough [ we opted for the whole wheat with the Saag Paneer, which worked out very well]. Though the crust was slightly crumby, it held up to the Indian food and still retained its status of New York Style pizza. Only one person in the group ate with a fork, my friend from New Mexico, the rest picked it up, folded it, and it stood straight out on its own like NY Pizza should. The food was perfectly spiced as you would expect Indian food to be, though he brought us heat seekers some crushed red pepper. The owner assured us he could make the pizza as hot to taste as you would expect from Indian food.

Zach, your original post was intriguing, but absolutely paled in comparison to how good the indian pizza actually was. This is worth going to especially if you like indian food [so much so that I believe their buffet warrants it's own review]. The pizza actually works out to $3 a slice, which is more than reasonable for a Midtown Lunch *if* you go in a large group [as the owner won't do by-the-slice].

One last surprise: The owner (Prakash) also owns Mi Nidito- the mexican restaurant on 51st and 8th! He said that he used to offer Mexican style pizza as well [Chicken Mole? YES PLEASE!]. He said he could make this to order if you give him some heads up [I sense a follow-up lunch gathering in our future]. He also said to keep on the lookout for new Mexican-Indian fusion dishes from his restaurant.

Thanks to Jessica from Food Mayhem for the photos.  Read her take on the outing (with more photos) here>>

Post by Lunch’er “Adam Prato”

Bombay Eats, 314 West 52nd Street (btw. 8+9th), 212-265-7777

I’ve walked by Bombay Eats, the just out of bounds Indian restaurant on 52nd btw. 8+9th, a million times… but had only noticed this sign for the first time last week.  Indian pizza!?!  And not some strange Indian creation with some similarities to real pizza. This is real New York City pizza, with Indian toppings.  Tandoori chicken, minced lamb, chicken tikka, saag paneer (!?!)

I mean, how could I not right?

Bombay Eats looks like most middle of the road Indian joints in New York City, with one difference.  In the middle of the restaurant, at the front of the counter, is a glass case with a couple of pizzas.  Pretty standard stuff actually… with cheese, sausage and pepperoni offered by the slice.  The guy working the counter told me that they had been selling pizza for years and years, but the sign out front was brand new.

I was pretty disappointed to discover that they don’t serve Indian pizza by the slice- and I didn’t really want to order a whole pie (too expensive and I was by myself.)  I asked the guy if he would ever consider selling Indian pizza by the slice.  You know…  just keep a single pie with tandoori chicken or saag paneer in the front.  He told me that there wasn’t enough interest for single slices, so you’d have to order a whole pie if you wanted Indian pizza.

After a bit of hemming and hawing, trying to decide what I should do (I really wanted some Indian pizza), the guy finally offered to serve a slice of cheese pizza, topped with saag from their lunch buffet for $3. Why yes.  I think I’d like that very much thank you.

It’s actually not as weird as you would think.  You can get pizza topped with spinach at a regular pizza place, why not pizza topped with Indian spiced spinach.  And since saag usually comes with paneer (Indian cheese), it worked pretty well with the cheese on the pizza.  A tasty treat!  I tried convincing the guy to top another slice with some of the other items on the buffet (lamb curry, chicken tikka masala) but he said that you couldn’t do it because the gravy was too wet.  Oh well.

I still think he’d make a killing offering Indian pizza by the slice.  Maybe if enough people go in and ask him to top their pizza with saag from the buffet, they’ll decide that it would be worth it to at least have one Indian pizza in the window to sell by the slice.  You think we could make this happen?!?

Bombay Eats, 314 West 52nd Street (btw. 8+9th), 212-265-7777