For some reason this restaurant uses the tactic of stationing a waiter outside the front door to lure passers by inside. Ther Rajdoot next door (q.v.) also does this. So every time you walk down Paddington Street you have to run the gauntlet of temptation!

This really does smack of desperation and, in the case of the Bombay Spice, it is probably counter-productive. The food is actually quite good and there seems to be a loyal clientelle of local people who would come here without having to be beckoned.

The menu is not particularly long or inventive, but we chose reliable old favourites like Keera Kebab, Prawn Puree and Sheek Kebab to start. For the main course I went for Chicken Jalfrezi (or “Jalfrez” as they abbreviate it), a good benchmark for judging the quality of the food. It was indeed tasty, although not particularly hot, and the portion was generous. We also liked their Lamb Madras.

There was no eveidence of any dessert menu, but our appetites didn’t stretch that far anyway. Service was friendly and efficient, and the prices are very reasonable.