As you know, I’ve been documenting my quest to work my way through Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list. Of course, I eat at places not on his list as well, and occasionally I post about one of those places if it is exceptionally good or a particularly fun/interesting experience. The Bombay Frankie Company turned out to be both. As you may have figured out from the picture, it is a restaurant located in a gas station.

This may not sound promising, but they are serving up some fantastic Indian food, and they’re also really nice people. Apparently lots of people are intrigued by this surprising eating establishment, and it just so happened that a story about it was being filmed while we were there. So instead of trying to describe the magic of this place to you, I will just let you watch the video (and see us ordering as a bonus treat haha).

When you walk into the gas station and turn to your left, this is what you see (minus the camera crew which is usually not there)… they are making awesome Indian food, fresh to-order.

The Frankie is their signature dish. It’s like a burrito, but made with naan instead of tortilla. You can choose from a variety of different fillings. We got a couple.

Chicken Tikka Masala Frankie

They said the chicken tikka masala frankie was their most popular, so of course we thought we ought to try it. The chicken was buttery spicy goodness, and was great wrapped up with the mint chutney, chickpea spread, and tamarind drizzle.

Aloo Gobhi Frankie

We also went for an aloo gobhi frankie. Aloo gobhi is sweet potato and cauliflower. Really good and hearty, despite not having any meat.

Shahi Paneer and Chana Masala

They also have bowls – your choice of chicken, vegetable, or lentil served over rice. Because we are gluttons, we naturally wanted to try everything and couldn’t make up our minds. So we asked if it would be possible to get a bowl with a combo of several different toppings. Which they were incredibly nice to oblige… and this really was super generous because they are making these dishes fresh to order, not just scooping them up out of some pre-made vat. Shahi paneer is cheese in a creamy tomato sauce, and chana masala is a chickpea curry – both were totally yum!

Fish Curry

For our third topping, we selected fish curry. Now keep in mind that this was all in theory one bowl order. But The Bombay Frankie Company family are such awesome people, that when they brought the food to where we sat at the counter they said, “We put the fish curry separately.” That was it, no big fanfare, hardly making a point of the fact that actually they had hooked us up with more than twice as much food as a bowl was supposed to contain. And by the way, the fish curry was also delicious.

Chai Tea and Mango Lassi

We also got a chai tea, which you dispense yourself at the tea station. And a mango lassi, because I love them and will get one any chance I can. Both also very tasty.

All that amazing Indian food for less than $20 per person. In a Chevron gas station right off the Santa Monica Blvd exit of the 405. If you’re anywhere in the area, GO. If you need a break from sitting in traffic on the 405, GO. For that matter, if you’re not in the area find a reason to GO.