by MATHILDE RABBAT

How many Indian joints in the city can you name that house a large red brick pizza oven? Treat yourself to an Indian meal if you answered Bollywood, a new eatery—and former pizza place—on Lincoln, right around the corner from Guy metro.

Bollywood is a great name for a resto, but it doesn’t jive with the joint. Besides the fact that none of the staff broke out into high-pitched Hindi song set to modern tabla beats, the general atmosphere seemed to have more in common with the library on a Friday night. It was quiet and subdued—the type of place you feel you have to whisper more than than a bustling downtown restaurant. That leaves plenty of room to get down to the real business at hand: appetizers, mains and desserts.

The menu at Bollywood is huge, sporting delicacies that extend North to Kashmir and as far East as Bangladesh, which accounts for the beef selections, I presume. There are suggested dinners for one ($15–$17), for two ($28–$32), and others specifically geared for “students,” such as Bollywood student biryanis ($5–$9) and a chef’s special ($14) that includes soup or salad, a main course, rice and dessert, along with a soft drink, a glass of wine or a beer.

My veggie dinner for one ($15) got off to a good start with a set of scrumptious golden onion bhajis. Served in a large oval dish, huddled around a tiny yogurt dipping sauce, these small, frayed veggie packages may have looked a little lost on the plate, but they certainly held their own when it came to crispy goodness. A good portion of tarka dahl made up another part of the combo and, along with the aloo ghobi, provided great saucy mixtures to slop over accompanying rice pulao garnished with pretty bright orange- and fuscia-tinted grains.

Dahl can be pretty filling, and this one was no exception, with its mashed chunks of well-cooked tomato and onion accompanying puréed lentils spiked with a healthy dose of cumin and a nice cilantro garnish. Quite tasty, I must say, though it was surpassed by the cauliflower next to the aloo ghobi, incorporating potato chunks and perfumed by a curry reduction involving coriander, anis, chili and ginger. This was a real hit with both my companion and I; the potatoes were nice and tender, but the cauliflower trees were cooked only long enough to retain their al dente crunch.

Since I’m a big sucker for the naan, even though this combo came with a tasty and rather elastic grilled chapatti, I had to get my fix, and I’m glad I did. This one had whole anis seeds baked right into it for a delicious $2.

In addition to the suggested meals like the ones mentioned above, there’s a selection of other side dishes that’ll make your head spin. Tandoori specialities, beef, chicken, lamb, shrimp—they’ve got it all. A mere $10 will buy you a very interesting Northern side dish called saag gosht, where large morsels of tender beef are stewed with spinach (saag) in a curry sauce fusing familiar elements like cumin and coriander seeds, and cardamom pods with cinnamon, which makes for a very good combination. As dessert, I suggest the delicious deep fried milk balls cloaked in a sweet syrup known as gulab jaman ($2 for two).

Do they do take out? You bet your veggie samosa they do, but the menu apparently differs from the extensive one in-house. Another bonus: hungry punters looking to chow down at the end of a long day of fasting during this time of Ramadan will appreciate that the meat is 100 per cent halal.

Bollywood
ADDRESS: 1624 Lincoln (near Guy)
PHONE: 313-6789
HOURS: Mon–Sat 11 a.m.–11 p.m.; Sun. 5–11 p.m.
BEST FEATURES: Great naan with anis seeds, the aloo ghobi, textured curry sauces with whole pods and grains, halal meat and huge selection.
ALCOHOL: Yes
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: No
VEGETARIAN FRIENDLY: Yes
CREDIT CARDS: Yes
PRICE: $10–$20 per head, after tax, tip and drinks
RATING: *** out of ****