The Bombay Cycle Club

The Bombay Cycle Club.  A pub decorated as a maharajah's palace.  A step into the past.

The blurb on the website states that the decor was based on a British Raj Indian theme.    The British Raj!   Yes, and all the ingredients were there, palm trees, elephants, tigers, ornate fittings and furniture plus bicycles hanging from the ceiling. All fake of course but very well done, creatively and expensively.

The outside of the pub is pretty ordinary, except for the new double storied car park at the back.   It is an an area that was once a little downmarket.   No doubt the pub was the local drinking hole for many who lived in the area, probably called 'The Ovingham Pub' or 'The Torrens Road Pub' or such like.

But the pub, after an elaborate makeover, opened as The Bombay Bicycle Club, in 2002.   And now it has been re-opened again with a new menu.

 So off we went, with our friend Sue, to try out the new menu.

When we first stepped through the door, we were a little ovewhelmed by the decor, but the chairs and couches looked very comfortable.  A pleasant environment to spend a few hours with friends, drinking and talking about life in general.  A colourful panel on the wall also caught our attention. Precisely painted.

Sue and I settled down for a little prelunch drink, after ordering at the bar.   Cool and sophisticated.  However, once out in the garden room, surrounded by concrete palm trees, we found the oversized TV screen very intrusive and very noisy.

 I found the extremely ornate toilets fascinating, in an atrium which also featured a waterful tinkling overhead, plus recorded bird calls.  The bush effect.

 The concrete elephant handbasins, completed the decor.

No need to water these ferns, or in fact any plants in this pub.   They are all fake.

Well the food was good, but authentic curries, I am not sure.   Good flavours according to Sue and Walter.    I played safe, and ordered grilled prawns with a huge fresh salad, with a light oil dressing, and I was very happy with my choice.

A fun place to visit.  Definitely.