Voorhees Township, NJ 08043
(856) 375-2246
I recently got an invite to check out an Indian pizza place in Voorhees, and since I LOVE Indian pizza, and free food, I could not possibly turn it down.
Located in a typical NJ shopping center, Bombay Local has been open for about a year. The interior is sparse, but what this place lacks in ambiance, it crushes with fresh ingredients and the best damn marinara I can remember tasting.
Below are owners-brothers: Parig & Sam from Chatanooga, TN. The duo worked in finance for a few years in New York and then decided to open a restaurant closer to Philadelphia, in New Jersey. They base their creative menu on some family recipes mixed with new ideas, focusing on the freshest ingredients.
They recommend I start with the Desi bread served with a side of original tomato sauce. My god this was incredible garlic bread. It was simple, buttery, and packed with fresh flavors. The side of aforementioned marinara was just unreal. They take a traditional tomato sauce and add in a few extra Indian flavors. It's subtle, smoky sweet and positively addicting.
The bread itself had chopped peppers, garlic, and onions on it. It would make a fantastic sandwich wrapper.
They were kind enough to bring out two pizzas, each quarter boasting a different pizza style. So basically it was like getting to taste eight pizzas in one. Perfect.
Baingan bharta below. Probably one of my favorite Indian specialties off of a pizza, it was definitely also a winner on the pizza. "Bharta" refers to dishes in which the ingredients are roughly mashed either before or after the dish is prepared, so here we have a smoky, roasted eggplant mash that's full of garlicy garam masala flavor.
Bombay masala below, my second favorite of the day. The Indian BBQ sauce was sweet and spicy – so robust!
Chili potato below. Nothing too exciting there, but still pretty good.
Four alarm below, with habanero, jalapeno and small Indian chile peppers littering the melted cheese. This one was hot. With a really slow, creeper kind of kick that is also slow to dissipate.
After my mouth recovered from the four alarm, the next pie came out.
Spicy paneer below - it was bit like the bombay masala, but with less sauce and double the cheese.
Chutney paneer was probably the best of the 'paneer' selections. I mean, cheese chunks on top of melted cheese is certainly a no brainer for me, but this one had the fresh tang of mint-coriander chutney to cut the dairy. It's always nice to finish with some acidity...
Paneer tikka below, another take on the Indian-style BBQ sauce, a bit milder than the masala version.
Samosa below. It was like unwrapping a samosa and eating it flat. The flavors were spot on and the potatoes and curry seasoning took me right to the best Indian buffets of my memories.
If you are familiar with Indian food, you will know what each of these variations consist of. Each had their own unique flavors, and I have to say, the quality and freshness of the ingredients was evident in every slice. If I was in Jersey, this would undoubtedly be on my regular rotation. I didn't get a chance to try the Indian hoagies, but I certainly will next time.
