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It’s not the most common occurrence, but ever so often, there are markets in Delhi which come up solely based around one thriving shop. The Gallery on MG Road, for the longest time, was a rather sad outpost but for a couple of coffee chains on their last legs, a furnishing store or two, and some nondescript restaurants. All of that changed when Bomba made its way there three years ago.
Almost overnight, the blue-blooded Chattarpur crowd started making its way to The Gallery, in search of the pizzas and tacos that many swore to be among the best in town. You don’t even have to look that hard to find it – the wafting smells of fresh sourdough pizza and lamb birria were enough to ensure you’d find Bomba through the olfactory route, even before you laid eyes on it.
Walk in, and the walls are covered with dainty colourful murals, the tables are well spaced out and the staff are attentive and friendly. The menu has a plethora of options for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian pizzas and tacos, and you get to choose whether you’d like your pizza with a neapolitan style base or a square thin-crust base.
The Hottie 2.0 is probably among my favourite pizzas in town – nduja, pepperoni, jalapenos, parmesan and rocket, with a generous drizzle of their in-house hot honey. Get it in the Neapolitan crust, it just works better with the sourdough base. Among the vegetarian options, the G.O.A.T. remains my go-to, with goat’s cheese, caramelized onions, pine nuts, truffle honey and a sprinkle of black pepper on top to tie it all together. The Spicy Aubergine is another very interesting take on what almost feels like a Middle Eastern pizza, with baked aubergines, tajin onions and mint over a smoked yoghurt base.
The tacos here are arguably better than the ones you’d find at dedicated Mexican and Latin American outfits. They’re soft-shelled, with incredibly high quality ingredients – the pork carnitas are proof, and so are the lamb birria variants, though I do feel they’re a tad too expensive for the portion sizes.
Where Bomba absolutely sweeps the floor with the competition is in the dessert selections. Choose between the skillet cookie, where a scalding choco-chip cookie is topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of salted caramel, or get the Bomba birthday cake, a tiny version of a full-size cake (before you come at me, yelling that HEY THAT’S CALLED A CUPCAKE, I maintain that this is no cupcake) with layers of sponge cake and a Dairy Milk chocolate ganache, topped with sprinkles and served with a birthday candle anointing the whole thing.
They’ve also got a decent selection of beers, wines, and some in-house concocted cocktails.
Time Out tip: Ask for a side of the Calabrian chilli butter to dip your crusts in, because once you smear your pizza crusts with some chilli butter, the second part of your life begins and everything from before fades into irrelevance.