30 Mar Please The Palate Pick of the Week: The Bombay Frankie Company

Eating the food inside a gas station sounds rather unappealing. Hot dogs that have been under a heat lamp for who knows how long. Nachos made with something called cheese but who knows what it really is. The idea of eating the food from a gas station is nowhere on my list of desirable. That was until I ate at The Bombay Frankie Company, located inside a Chevron Station. Serving authentic and very tasty Indian food, The Bombay Frankie Company is the Please The Palate pick of the week.

Exiting the 405 Freeway at Santa Monica Blvd, a Chevron station sits on the corner. For a few months, every time I drive by, I would note a sign that says The Bombay Frankie Company. I did not see any restaurant entrance or food stands. I only saw the gas station and could not figure out what the sign was referring to.

Then a friend posted on Facebook that she has eaten at The Bombay Frankie Company and it was really good. I double checked the address and sure enough, it was on the northwest corner of Santa Monica Blvd, just west of the 405 Fwy, where the Chevron station is located. So recently I pulled into the gas station to check it out and sure enough, The Bombay Frankie Company is INSIDE the Chevron gas station.

Three friends, Hiram Mac, his sister Priyanka and her husband Dean, got together with Chef Kamaljit Singh who has opened many Los Angeles Indian restaurants, including Nawab Cuisine of India and Bombay Cafe. And now he is cooking up his food inside a gas station. From fine dining to a gas station……sounds strange but…….

But why not? The Mac family owns the gas station and the space was empty. So, they put in a tandoor oven and opened up The Bombay Frankie Company. In Italy, you can always find relatively decent food at the autostrada and now you can find good, fresh-made food inside a gas station in Los Angeles!

At The Bombay Frankie Company is about the signature Frankie. Freshly baked thin naan, which comes out of a tandoori oven, is filled with chickpea spread, jeera turmeric potatoes, crisp cucumbers, diced tomatoes, pickled red onions, housemade raita, cilantro, mint chutney, tamarind chutney and mint chutney crema, along with your choice of chicken, vegetable, fish, paneer or chana masala. It is then wrapped up like a burrito. The Frankie is basically an Indian burrito.

You can also order a Frankie Bowl, which is basically the same thing but deconstructed into a bowl.

There are also sides available of any of the chicken, fish or vegetables, as well as rice, naan, samosas, pakora and sauces.

The ingredients are fresh and the signature curries are made from scratch. The food is very flavorful! Every time I have stopped in The Bombay Frankie Company there is a crowd. I don’t know if I have ever seen so many people inside a gas station but in this case, I understand why. And that is why The Bombay Frankie Company is the Please The Palate pick of the week.