Bombay Duck Co

Amazing food, quality service and decent pricing for the west village area. It is a tiny joint which is prob the only downside if you want to go with a group but Rishi (the Owner) always finds a way to figure it out. Deff suggest the wada pau its darn good.

I really like Bombay Duck Co, a cozy little restaurant on Bleecker. It is not a pretentious setting in any way and they serve the food in paper baskets, but if you’re going some Indian street food inspired food, what better way to have it served.
Their masala fries (which comes with maggi sauce to dip it in), samosas and egg kati roll are all great. I have heard from my friends who grew up in India that their vada paav is also real solid. In terms of the entrees, the lamb and chicken dishes are all very good. Sometimes, restaurants don’t take the full time and care it takes to prepare lamb and it comes out too chewy, but these guys made a lamb which was the right texture. Palak Paneer was also really good. I don’t think you can go wrong ordering any of the staples. Although I haven’t tried the toasties, I’ve heard great things about them. I mean, what can go wrong when you take grilled cheese and Indian sensibilities and put them together? Overall, definitely recommend this place to anybody.

I very much enjoyed my meal here. The space is tiny and definitely not conducive to groups, and everything is served in paper baskets, but my lamb curry was deeply flavorful and tender, the garlic naan was redolent with garlic, and the complimentary cup of chai was just the thing I needed to re-​enter the cold, wet weather. The only mild disappointment was the raita, which was just very thin yogurt: I would have preferred it to have had some cucumber or herbs in it.

Had the batata vada, is basically fried mashed potato ball — ok. Came with this minty sauce and some spicy onion. Also had the fish fry which is their version of fish & chips but without the chips. Same sauce and spicy onion like batata vada.
The mango lassi and tea masala were ok.

MUST go place on the west 4 st. last visited on the busy halloween parade night.
1) had Egg kati roll — lil bit oily but perfect desi unda burji taste.
2) Vada paav was awesome (Guy is from mumbai)
3) listened to very nice playlist of bollywood songs.

I’d actually give this place 3 ½ stars. I ordered the vegetable samosas ($ 6.49 including tax) to go. It came with 3 and I found them tasty. The mashed potato filling was spicy enough to make me cough. Instead of being wrapped in a thick dough, like a dumpling, it was wrapped in a thin sheet of dough, folded into triangular packets, and pan fried. This was accompanied by a sour-​tangy dipping sauce that didn’t quite tame the heat– not that I necessarily found this bad. I enjoyed this nuanced heat .
I’d definitely return, perhaps I’ll try one of the curry bowls. The server tells me goan Shirmp curry ($ 13.95), Mom’s bombay fish curry (12.95), homestyle lamb curry (13.95) and homestyle chicken curry (11.95) are the most popular.

Have to grab some Indian food after watching Meet the Patels right? (Great movie btw) We were choosing between Bombay Duck and neighboring Masala Times with the deciding factor being that Bombay Duck has dosa. After taking our seats, we found out that dosa is only served on weekends… womp. Got past that and ordered our food. Appetizers and entrees were brought out together which I had a feeling would happen since it was taking a while for the food to come out. Ideally, id like that to come out separately because I like my Indian food hot and working through the appetizers would take some time. The apps we got were masala fries and chicken kebab. Masala fries are definitely my hot item of choice on this menu. Great flavor with spicy ketchup. Yum. The chicken kebab lacked flavor on the meat so I wasn’t too happy with that. Heading to the entrees we had chilli paneer, chilli chicken, and mixed vegetable curry. Chilli chicken and vegetable curry were good and I bet they would’ve been even better right when it came out. I’m stuck between 3 – 4 stars for this spot and our hostess helped me over the hump to 4 stars because she was very accommodating. She made sure we had a fresh batch of masala chai instead of the one that had been sitting for some time and that was a great ending to our meal. To get the best out of this place Id suggest to ask for the apps first and then the real food after. And don’t forget, masala fries is a must!

Good food best of the lot on mc dougal street.
The service is always friendly. Sometimes the chicken dishes are over cooked but the dosa +appetisers are usually good.

I walked in this place only because it’s named after Bombay Duck — one of the best fishes found at home. While the place doesn’t serve this fish, it does serve good and spicy Indian food. The Masala Fries are very nice and I’d recommend them specially if you like hot, spicy food.
Walk in here if you want to have good Indian food.

You know the drill. You’re in the West Village, it’s 45 min or less till show time at the Comedy Cellar, and you find yourself bustling from corner to corner, dodging the herds of comedy touts, desperately trying to find a quick bite to eat. If you don’t find something, you know you’ll be forced to order the inadequate fare they server up at the Cellar. It’s life or death by indigestion. The good places all have a 20 – 30 min wait, and everything else is well… mundane at best.
If this is your situation, then just head straight to Bombay Duck Co. Delicious, simple Indian street fare, served fast, and guaranteed to satisfy you. The mom’s toasties are a fantastic idea… indian grilled cheese! And the kati rolls and appetizers are fantastic. No frills, good food, and great value.
I love it when there are simple solutions to problems. This place is gonna get all my «west village pre-​show dinner» business from now on.

Came here for an early dinner before grabbing a show at Broadway. The place is pretty small and can’t fit more than 15 people I imagine. Seating is in pairs and you could have a group of 4 maybe sitting together if you combine two tables. We were a group of 3 thankfully and ordered the lamb toasties, chilli cheese dosa and Mysore masala dosa (dosas are only available on weekends). Everything was so spicy! However the toasties were great, the portions aren’t too big but the spiciness balances out the urge to eat more even if you’re hungry I think — a great snack place in the end and worth a visit if you are in the area. Will try out the mango lassi and the vada pao when I visit next!

this was long due… with the kind of «good» reviews that this place gets for its genuinely good food (though now they have a tough competition from the next door neighbor), I was just waiting for someone to open the pandora’s box…
I have been here many many times… and yes I have had my fair share of good experiences here– the food is very good but now there is also the next door neighbor serving very similar dishes but more authentic and at a tad cheaper price… so sorry Bombay Duck you are no more the only one in that area. Add to that the indian kati roll places nearby and you definitely have many options if you are craving for that Indian masala.
Now comes the more sinister part of the story– THE SERVICE– the service is extremely slow to say the least… however, I would still give a place 4 stars even if the service is slow, but here the problem is slow service and a rude manager with an attitude to top that! There used to be a nice girl earlier in place of this guy and I can tell you she was professional enough to say «sorry» for the very occasional long waits after ordering. However, the place has changed a lot since that time and now the service is even slower and the guy rude-​er!
The food quality and size has also declined (as I found in a recent visit), with only the Vada pav remaining as their sole USP. I would have still gone back to this place… but without the rude manager and the excruciatingly slow and unapologetic service!
So in my opinion— think twice and look around before getting inside this place ;) …

Honestly, for the price, this place does not make the cut.
The server we had was super friendly, but I truly did not enjoy my Goan shrimp curry.
The whole thing just feels more like a takeout spot than a true place to eat in.

A problem with a restaurant specializing in snack food is knowing how much to order when you want a meal. Bombay Duck tries to solve this with a series of rice bowls, but doesn’t that miss the point of specializing in street fare?
On my first visit, my waitress disapproved of the first attempt at ordering. «The prawn fry is really small,» she said. «It won’t really fill you up.»
This seemed a bit surprising considering I’d already requested another dish to go with this, but I added a third item to my order. When the food started to arrive it felt somewhat gluttonous, eating three dishes in an otherwise completely empty restaurant.
The waitress was right, the prawn fry, despite being the most expensive appetizer by some margin, was quite small. There were perhaps seven small sized shrimp, served with an onion chutney and green sauce. The flavor was on point, however, with the breaded and fried shrimp showing more crunch than grease.
Somewhat disappointedly the second appetizer I added came with the same chutney and green sauce side, which made the two run together. This was a batata vada, a potato snack that was heavier compared with the shrimp.
All of this was merely preamble to my chili cheese toastie, a desi twist on the grilled cheese. Complete with a red dipping sauce, this made you realize how comparatively bland a Kraft single and Wonder Bread sandwich can be.
Perhaps I should have taken my waitresses advice for fixing my order to begin with — get two toasties.

There’s a new crop of ‘street’ food Indian eateries opening up in the city and I for one am delighted. The simple premise of casual Indian food that is inexpensive. The charmingly small restaurant was crowded the night we went but luckily a patron had just finished. They did need a bit of AC though with a fan supplementing. Just giving you the Indian experience.
The host was friendly and very helpful. This is super casual where menu is written on the chalkboard, utensils are plastic and served in paper plates. They are vegetarian friendly but everything is full of flavors. We had the Chloe, Batata Vada, and Fish Curry bowl to share. Served with a side of cooling cucumber and pickled onions. The fish curry was delicious and with a mild heat. The Batata Vada came out crispy and hot with a spicy potato filling.
You come for the food which is cheap and satisfyingly good.

UNIQUE indian street food experience at bombay duck! i’d suggest grabbing a table here since their toasties are best eaten fresh out of the kitchen!
toasties, kind of like grilled cheese sandwiches, were perfectly toasted & buttery on the outside! i think they use clarified butter though if i had to guess
—lamb toastie: YUMMY & not gamey at all
—chicken toastie: also tasty
—chili cheese toastie: more cheese than chili, interesting spicy BBQ sauce to dip
—spicy potato dosa (ONLY AVAILABLE FRI, SAT, SUN): came w/​a spicy veggie soup & dipping sauces, the tomato one was good!.. MUCH better than the first dosas i’ve ever had from a cart
—masala fries: nicely seasoned & crisp
haven’t gotten to try the curries but i’ll be BACK for more
THANKS paypal app for the freebies!

Wednesday afternoon lunch roamings. Nothing is more inviting than a near empty hole-​in-​the-​wall on Bleecker.
Got my food within 5 minutes of ordering. Masala Chai ($ 2.50) is piping hot and they give you sugar to add as you please (this is underrated as most places just add whatever they want). Chili Chicken ($ 11.95) — a nice spicy kick in the mouth but also very very sweet. Normally this would bother me, but it somehow worked with the meal (brown rice/​salad/​bread).
Food/​service brings the review to 4 stars, but what really put this spot over the top for me were the old school Hindi songs. Really brought me back and cheered me up from a melancholy mood. Want to try the tuna cutlets/​dosas next time.

Small venue — But it’s not packed — or at least not on a monday night.
The marsala fries were really good! I also tried the chicken curry, which was good too! Although, I think I still prefer other ethnic curries a little more. Overall, definitely worth a try :)

Thanks to Paypal, I was able to sample a few items from Bombay! Prices are definitely a bit steeper than neighboring Indian restaurants while the portions might actually be smaller.
So far, I’ve sampled their fried shrimp, fish fingers and spicy chicken patties which all are priced around $ 7 – 8 dollars with tax.
The fried shrimp only came in about 5 – 6
pieces and they were tiny. I remember opening the huge take out box and couldn’t believe there was only a single spoonful of shrimp. It was way over seasoned and overcooked — Never ordered again.
The fish finger was much more reasonable size wise for its price — 2 pieces of fried filet — nicely seasoned and breaded.
Chicken spicy patties — house blended spices with a kick. 2 small patties but went well with rice or any sandwiches/​burger!
Service was always warm and fast. In and out mostly within 5 mins! Would definitely return to try their weekend specials — dosas!

I visited Bombay Duck Co. after a long run last night, armed with my $ 10 credit on PayPal (deal has run out if you didn’t save it beforehand). I was greeted by a nice young man, the owner, whose mother is the creator of all the recipes at Bombay Duck. We had a brief conversation after I had asked if they were in any way related to Masala Times, another PayPal Indian place two doors down — it seems that they used to be partners and Bombay Duck bought them out and opened a separate restaurant in the current location.
I was expecting a lot of duck on the menu due to the restaurant name, but don’t remember seeing any duck dishes. I was mostly preoccupied with the selection of homemade curries — beef, fish, shrimp, chicken — these are the most popular dishes. Prices are a little steeper than your usual curry take out places ($ 11.95−13.95). I opted for the fish curry, as recommended, and took it to go. It comes with your choice of white or brown rice, or if you would like, (garlic) naan, roti, or paratha. The owner was nice enough to throw in some complimentary garlic naan along with my brown rice! Super stoked.
I got home and was surprised with a nice presentation in a takeout box (see pictures).
Garlic naan — fragrant, plenty of garlic to go around. The bread texture reminded me of pita — I’ve had better naan elsewhere, but perhaps this would taste better had I not taken it out.
Mom’s fish curry — I loved the curry base — it was slightly spicy and tangy and reminded me a little of Thai curry (just a little). The fish was tender — just wish there was more!
Brown rice, pickled onions, and vegetable salad — the rice was a little soggier than I’ve usually had for brown rice, but it went well with the curry. Pickled onions and the vegetable mix gave me really bad breath, but it was all worth it in the end.
Overall, quite pleased with the service, presentation, and quality of food. Will definitely be back to try other things.