To Be, or Not To Be. Is that the
question today? Nah. How about "To Café or not Café" or "To Buffet or not
to Buffet" those are the pertinent questions, and they both have one answer not two.
The Bombay Café at the Trump Taj Mahal here in Atlantic City, not India. I hadn’t
planned on doing a restaurant review on this particular Saturday night but a couple of
things that were out of the ordinary made me change my mind.
First of all, you have a choice of
either ordering from the Bombay Café’s menu, or going thru the buffet. This is
pretty unusual. The buffet is $14.95 and features Turkey, Prime Rib, Catch of the day,
Mashed or Baked Potatoes, Vegetables, Pasta, Soup, Salads, Desserts, and Non Alcoholic
Beverages. That’s the list for the All You Can Eat Buffet. A pretty decent price
structure. Should you decide that the buffet isn’t your cup of tea, sit down and pick
up the menu. There’s plenty of menu items such as Appetizers and snacks, soups, deli
sandwiches, platters, burgers, hot sandwiches, eggs and breakfast anytime, specialty
entrée’s along with a full selection of wines and beers with a separate listing of
frozen specialties like Mudslides. Here are my recommendations….
It was a tossup of starting with a
salad versus the appetizer so I went with the Buffalo Mozzarella, Portobella and Tomato
Napoleon Salad at $7.75. It was served in a unique circular mini tower with all three
layered in a cone. Next, do the Satay Chicken for the appetizer that’s 5 pieces of
chicken on sticks served with a small bowl of peanut sauce for dipping. The Chicken
skewers were laid on a bed of Cucumber Salad that was delicious all by itself. $8.00. Opt
for the Cranberry Stuffed Chicken that’s boneless thigh meat, creamy mashed potatoes,
Green Beans, and mini onion rings on top of the chicken. $11.25. Serving portions on
everything were large. As is customary, I usually don’t mention desserts but in this
case, I had refused dessert because I’m trying to keep the weight down but I had no
choice. Executive Chef Robert Irvine sent out desserts from the pastry selection and I was
forced to have a slice of Carrot Cake, a big weakness of mine. This cake was extremely
moist almost to the extent of being hosed down in the kitchen. Delightful and sinful at
the same time. Dinner for two with all of the trimmings was about $47. I also got to meet
Sal Bancheri, the Assistant Director of Food and Beverage. In talking with them as well as
the rooms manager Joanne Kirst who couldn’t have been more helpful with a problem I
was having, I learned the reason that there's both a menu and a buffet was due to the
kitchen serving over 5 thousand meals a day. The buffet is to take some of the strain off
the kitchen which makes for 70% ordering the menu, and the rest buffet which is a 1500
meal prep savings. Upstairs, the Sultans feast concentrates on seafood selections but
closes at 7pm which leaves only the Bombay to take up the slack.
The Bombay Café at Trump’s Taj Mahal.
It’s variety means many things for many people. While the food there isn’t
inexpensive, its not your typical café either. It earns a *** 3 Star *** Rating meaning
Above Average.
