What can I say about Bundobust? It was the site of an interesting Timeleft dinner, the place that my dad and I went after helping my brother film a documentary.
On Thursday, it was the place where I was sitting with my friend, sharing seven plates of delicious Indo-Chinese fusion between us while gulping down glasses of water to handle the flavour. Not much could make me dislike this place, especially since every single dish is vegetarian.
I will give my notes on the various dishes point-by-point, almost exactly as I wrote them while eating. I will include my friend and informal co-food-reviewer’s notes, too.
Mandarin Rickey (mocktail made up of CleanCo 0% Spiced Rum, mandarin, mint and lime)
-Tangy and sweet, but not overpoweringly so. The tang was enough for you to be aware of it, but not have a Toxic Waste-like effect (if you know you know)
-Well balanced, with a strong mandarin component. This drink is excellent if you love mandarin. You know how flavoured water tastes like a trace of the fruit flavoured the water? This is 110% citrus
-I could taste the spice coming through, which if you know Bundobust is absolutely no surprise. Everything here has flavour because it’s simply a requirement.
-A great palate cleanser- and as it should be!
Later in this review, I’ll tell you that a lot of the dishes compete with each other for flavour, so it can be a bit like a party full of big personalities. This evened it out nicely.
Salt & Pepper Okra Fries
-Okra fries are usually great at Bundobust anyway, so you’re not seeing a difference in quality apart from the Chinese-inspired seasoning, which amplified everything. The crunch was nice, the texture was light and the extras absolutely made this dish (especially the bell peppers).
-My friend and informal co-reviewer gave it a resounding APPROVED, and said that they liked the way that okra was presented here. We ate the rest of the fries with the sauce from the Gobi Toast.
Gobi Toast
-Tasty and savoury, with a well-balanced filling. One of the things I like about this restaurant, and there are many, is that everything is so well offset. There isn’t any one dish that feels too overpowering, even though they all compete flavour-wise, and that means extra sharing value.
-The dip was a favourite of ours and we ate it with a lot of other dishes too.
-My friend said that they liked the softness of the Gobi Toast. I do have to agree that the pastry was quality.
Egg Fried Rice
-I don’t think that we were supposed to eat this on its own, but I didn’t want to lose the flavour by pairing it with a curry immediately. Still, I recommend it as a base layer, as the spice of it would add great flavour as an accompaniment.
-Multiple elements, like the veggies that added crunch and the eggs that added texture, made it into a well-rounded dish on its own anyway.
Manchow Momo Soup
-Water was NEEDED here. I don’t think I was expecting how spicy the soup was going to be and it took me by surprise. Still, a great tomatoey base added a depth of flavour that made the soup almost resemble a gravy.
-The momos were great, too.
Miso Kheera
-Another example of a party guest with its own personality. This is where I will say that the biggest battlers at Bundobust are the seasonings, sauces and condiments. I’m, of course, talking about the miso.
-I am a certified lover of vegetables as well, though.
Bhutta 65
-Another where the spice creeps up on you… until you’re asking the staff if you can have another jug of water! Still, the spice didn’t cut through the fragrance of this curry and the excellent addition that the peppers brought. (You’ll start to notice a pattern. coughcough Amelia adores peppers coughcough Amelia loves condiments… she’s a stereotypical vegetarian)
Gobi Manchurian
-I like cauliflower more than mushrooms. My friend likes mushrooms more than cauliflower. Therefore, we shared this by vegetable.
-It tasted comforting and homemade.
Bundobust thoroughly deserves an A+ for flavour, but that’s as you’d expect from a Leeds institution, and I’m beyond impressed by how well everything is still balanced by those geniuses in the kitchen. I may not be a hipster bro who drinks IPAs, but there’s not much to stop me bringing everyone here. The Indo-Chinese menu is highly recommended if you want the best of this restaurant until March. I’m just saying!
A resounding thank you to the staff who took the time to help seat us, accommodate our requests, and bring us water when we were tasting a particularly spicy dish. As someone who has worked in the hospitality industry, I’m qualified to tell you that you are the life and the soul of restaurants like Bundobust.
Also, one more thing… my informal co-food-reviewer said APPROVED to nearly everything- and this is someone who rarely goes out to eat Indian food because they eat so much of it at home, so…..
…..good game, Bundobust! See you next time.
Photography by Amelia Brookes.
Main image by Thomas Chalk, 2024.
