Salam Bombay
217-755 Burrard St.
Vancouver
604-681-6300
salambombay.ca
Open Daily for Lunch & Dinner
Signature Drink: Bombay Fizz
Signature Dish: Halibut Masala

Rating: **** 1/2
Dinner & drinks for two: $90

Southern Indian cuisine receives inventive tweaks

It’s not every day that you are offered musk ox tandoori and it’s really too bad. I have to thank reader Eva for pointing me towards this three-month-old downtown gem. Salam Bombay puts the hospitality of many restaurants to shame and gives those same kitchens a run for their Mattar.

The restaurant has a wide-open second-floor view of Burrard Street and the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, but the real eye-catcher is the interior, with back-to-back sofas topped by lots of pillows, well-spaced tables covered in linens, and a big, shiny bar that boasts almost as many bottles as your local BCL. There is no drinks menu, per se, but Chikoo (pronounced “chico”), our server extraordinaire, assured us he could make anything our booze-soaked hearts desired.

The wine list has a wide and motley assortment of varietals, hailing from all corners. But the intriguing part was the per glass section, simply listing price per varietal, with no indication of producer or origin. You’re free to ask, of course, but I was left to wonder if this was simply the owner’s way of getting rid of weekly overstock.

The dinner menu is much more interesting and very reasonably priced. Appetizers are $6 to $9, while larger tandoori appies are less than $12. Entrees start at $18, with the most expensive being $28. This isn’t the typical northern Indian cuisine that dominates Vancouver’s restaurant scene, however. Think more southern-style, with some contemporary influences, such as the heavy emphasis on game meats (musk ox, elk, wild boar, kangaroo) and seafood.    

We started with the lentil spinach soup ($6) at Chikoo’s recommendation. Creamy, thick strained lentils were well-laced with spinach and sundry herbs. This was delicious, but the lamb herb soup ($6) was equally tempting. Wild sockeye salmon samosas ($9)—try saying that five times fast—were perfect, fillo-wrapped wonders, fresh, moist and very lightly seasoned.  They came with latticed “potato chips,” which I didn’t mind at all. 

We then moved on to the aforementioned musk ox tandoori ($12), which Chikoo served to us table-side. After marinating for almost two days, it’s no wonder ...[next page]