Bombay Aloo

The only curry house I frequent. I had heard of this place from rasta guys back home before I moved here. I am a meat eater but here there is no need, flavour flavour flavour ! Brilliant for veggies or meat eaters and absolutely well priced for fantastic food !!!

Reasonable buffett for small backpackers budget. For 4 Pounds you get a hot lunch menu. No meat at all that’s very helpful. Tastes ok, we had worse indian food at higher prices.
Service is ok but not very friendly. Restrooms are a mess. Rather don’t go downstairs…

Buffets can always be a bit hit or miss. This isn’t necessarily a HIT, but it’s certainly not a MISS! If that makes sense?
Always go here on a empty stomach, it’s great for vegetarians, as it’s no meat whatsoever, if you are a meat eater though, try something new! It’s nice to actually be adventurous with curry– if your anything like me, I stick to what I like, aka the dishes which have meat in! So it’s nice to come here for a change. IT’S CHEAP AND CHEERFUL!
Only negative…
The inside really confuses me. The décor reminds me of a Italian or Spanish restaurant. I know the food isn’t exactly authentic tastes of India, but they could at least do with a makeover which fits the food!

Not the best Indian food, or the tastiest, but it’s cheap, which is what you may be looking for when walking in this neighborhood. It could be more varied (3 pots with the same dish)

The greatest advantage of this place is that you can eat as much as you want for £5 (after 9 o’clock its £4, so I you’re very hungry, don’t want to cook, neither spend lots of money, it’s a good option). The rest is poor; not much option for food, currys were edible, but pakoras were extremely oily. The annoying thing was communication manners of staff, which was literally shouting at each other (me and my mate had to stay quiet all the time, scared to interrupt their conversation). Besides, in the evening you sit in complete darkness, you can hardly see what you are eating. Basically, Its a place to stop you stomach from gargling, rather than having a nice evening.

Being a born cheapskate, I’ve often panhandled my way to a 7am fry-​up with the ease of a banking crisis. Understandably, this lifestyle choice left me fat and weasel-​eyed, cursing uneven paving stones and counting my positive attributes on a single lonesome finger. I remember a real low point when I scarpered out of TK Maxx to discover the scarf I’d stolen was really an eight year-old’s party dress. Coincidentally (or not, as you’ll soon see), this was when I first cast my glimmer-​globules on the delectable impoverished mood-​spikes of Bombay Aloo. Its green veneer reminded me of Caroline Lucas’ menstrual emanations and something inside of me just vibrated repeatedly.
Upon penetrating the vestibule, I was greeted by a most delightsome whiff (and that was just the waiter). Slouched in the corner with nothing to lose, I was presented with a piece of crockery and a charming young smile that reminded me of my prison days. Somewhere, a fly intoned. I waited behind a gaggle of humanoids until it was my turn with the tongs. After I had painted my plate with a representation of my ineffable angst, I was crowned Salvador Daal and I returned to my seat to the sound of a faint applause. Two Kingfishers later and I was convinced I was the next James Joyce or that guy that wrote Shantaram.
The whole experience left me befuddled with earthful pleasure tremors and I must confess, I’m the sole reason the place is still the thriving business it is today. It might be a vegetarian’s paradise, but don’t let that stop you from sneaking some veal into your aloo chat when no one’s looking.
I realise this review is all about me, but that’s actually how I felt at the time.

It’s cheap, it’s reasonably tasty, and it’s different from a lot of the vegetarian standards. As a perpetually broke student, I’m usually grateful for anything I can find that’s cheap, edible, and meatless, so Bombay Aloo is pretty excellent for my purposes. Obviously, it’s not the best Indian food you’ll ever taste, but seeing as they’ll permit me to eat until I’m ready to burst for a fiver, I’m willing to overlook that. I’ll certainly keep coming back.

This may be the best value meal deal you will get in the city. Eat as much as you can for £4.95 is an insane deal. Now of course, you aren’t gong to be presented with a four page menu to choose from, but hey it’s under a fiver!!!
There are a number of tables to sit at and you will usually find somewhere unless you try your luck on a busy weekend day and you usually find it gets the busiest at lunchtimes.
After you have been given your plate it’s pretty much an every man for himself kind of affair by taking as many trips as you like up to the bain maries and vats of curry that sit in the window. They have starters of poppadoms, potato cakes and some basic salads to get you going. Then, it’s on to a number of veggie curries, rice and basic side dishes until you are full. The curry is fairly basic and they are a bit thin. But, really they are well within the standard you would expect for the price.
They have a selection o beer, wines and soft drinks to go along with your food also. If you walk through the door expecting high class Indian cuisine you may be disappointed, but if you want tasty, basic yet honest food at laughable prices you will think this place is the bees knees. I certainly fall into that latter description.

We’ve become so used to the kind of sweet, creamy, oily, meaty gravy that is served in most Sub Continental restaurants and takeaways, that when somewhere like Bombay Aloo appears in our lives, we are completely flummoxed. This is because Bombay Aloo deals in simple, vegetarian food, of the type that is actually eaten by normal people in India. During happy hour they must be barely breaking even, offering all-​you-​can-​eat for £3.50. Otherwise it’s a mere fiver per head, with a variety of mild vegetable and potato-​based dishes, plus plenty of garnishes — battered potatoes, naans, rice, onion salad, fruit and lots of tangy pickle. This really is good stuff and probably works out cheaper than buying the ingredients at home for yourself. This humble food isn’t flashy, but it’s far from bog-​standard. A welcome break from the conventional wisdom of the curryhosue.

Bombay Aloo is your bog-​standard Indian buffet restaurant, although I think restaurant might be stretching it slightly. The food is, well, a little dull, big vats of realtively tasty goo with meat in it, or not if you go for the cheaper option. It isn’t bad, it’s just not particularly classy. Still, there must be a market for tandoori slime, because there’s two in Brighton alone.
I think I’m sounding more critical than I want to here: I do frequent Bombay Aloo relatively frequently: it is cheap, and if you get past the sliminess, the selection isn’t half-​bad. There’s plenty of starters, more rice and naan than you can eat, and all the chillis and pickles you’ll ever need to give this food enough flavour to consume.
Again, I don’t want to make this place sound bad: it’s actually quite alright. And when you aren’t in the modd for noble cuisine, and fancy a good old-​fashioned Indian, this is a cheap substitute.

Over the summer I was working in and around the Brighton town centre, meaning I regularly need to purchase lunch. While working, I frequently came here because of the £3.50 (£4.95 at peak) price.
As is understandable, the food here is far from amazing. As I said though, that is understandable on two accounts; 1. no meat to flavour the food (I sound like a carnivore), 2. it costs under £5.
You can get a variety of curries, side dishes and sauces for your money. So while Bombay Aloo is pretty average in terms of quality, the trade off price means that everybody should be aware of this restuaurant.

Where in Brighton are you guaranteed to get healthy, vegetarian food at a great price? If you don’t know the answer then you should try Bombay Aloo. It’s a great all-​you-​can-​eat vegetarian buffet in the centre of town that should make all other fast food joints ashamed. If you see it as a restaurant then you may be a little disappointed because it’s a bit rough around the edges, however, if you see it as a place to get some grub mid-​shop then you’ll nev er be let down. For £3.50 you really aren’t going to get a better deal anywhere!

Bombay Aloo is a rare thing in my book. It’s a vegetarian restaurant that I choose to visit over other non-​vegetarian places. Hardly ever does somewhere have price, quality, healthiness and service all as standard but this place certainly does. For £4.95 you can eat as much as you want from a buffet that provides so much bang for your buck that it’s almost a little silly. Add to that the price of the happy hour: £3.50! That’s right £3.50 for an all you can eat buffet that, whilst not being the best quality Indian, is worth so much more. You might a couple of the curries a little devoid of texture and flavour but the rest of the dishes would be quite at home on a plate that cost over £5. I’d recommend this to anyone, vegetarian or not, as it’s a great place to fill up on healthy food for an absolute bargain. It’s one of my favourite places!

This is a very unusual, highly successful little place serving up great value, authentic food right in the heart of Brighton.
They offer only vegerarian food, buffet style all-​you-​can eat for less that a fiver. Many people, me included, have a certain level of prejudice about cheap buffets, which are often greasy and tasteless. However, the food here is fresh and tasty, if a little rough and ready.
There is a selection of vegetable curries, some filling and full of potato chunks, others lighter, along with rice, nan and popadums. It’s far from the rich meaty dishes found in most British Indian restaurants, but certainly not dissimilar to some of the veggie curries I’ve had off the beaten track in India.

I like Bombay Aloo. It is a buffet, and a buffet is never gonna be my idea of a special treat. But their lunch deal for all you can eat for a fiver seems to recognise this, and it’s an excellent place to go if you’re looking to eat quickly/​in the day/​save money. The staff are good, food is fresh (usually — the rice can dry out if it’s not busy) and it isn’t greasy, fatty or bland. The only downer is that the dishes do lack distinct flavours, and do tend to merge into each other — it’s a bit of a shame they couldn’t have been more inventive considering this place is quite unique in serving a veggie only menu. All in all though, the cosiness and satisfyingness of the place/​food means it’s pretty darn good for the price.
Oooh, just checked the website — apparently the buffet is just £3.50 between 3.15 and 5.15 mon-​fri — amazing!

I was attracted to this place because I was looking for a cheap lunch time eatery and I was with a vegetarian friend. I’m a realist, so at a mere £4.95 a head for all you can eat in the middle of town I wasn’t expecting fireworks…
I have a love/​hate relationship with buffets at the best of times… on the one hand they appeal to my greedy food obsessed side, the part of me that always wants to try a little bit of everything and does NOT require further nurturing. On the other hand, they fill me with dread, because I know I will cave to my greedy side and overeat. I also can’t help but be suspicious of the quality of any food en masse, not to mention how long it might have been sitting out.
Bearing all this in mind, you might think I would head elsewhere, but the day was wet and I couldn’t be bothered to explain my buffet issues, so we headed in. In what turned out to be a blessing for me, the food was not exceptional, allowing me to exercise some restraint. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t terrible, and some of the curry options were quite tasty, but as can be the way with buffets, everything sort of merged on my plate, and without strong, distinctive flavours, the dishes became somewhat indistinguishable. I enjoyed the vegetable samosas and the onion bhajis, mainly because they were tasty but also because they added a new dimension to the curry mass on my plate! I think my lunch would have been tastier if I had been more discerning with my choices– I would suggest picking a few things, rather than trying to sample everything!
So, if you’re better at buffets than me, this could be a great place to fill up on alright veggie Indian food for a very reasonable price.

Well, it is cheap, but that is about the only good thing about it. I’ve only been to their all you can eat (vegetarian) buffet — and lets just say I didn’t fancy eating all that much ! The bland bulk produced food is served from large metal urns — but seeing them being topped up with food carried from the kitchen in washing up bowls (I don’t doubt that they were clean by the way !!) really did put me off my dinner. ! This was some time ago so hopefully they will have now invested in some more appropriate kitchenware. I won’t be going back to find out though.