It’s hard to match the charm of Clay Pit’s historic housing, but Bombay Bistro’s warmly modern décor, with tasteful Indian touches and Klimt-esque gold and bronze abstracts adorning the walls, is quite beautiful. For a strip-mall suite.

The menu is recognizable “contemporary Indian,” but it’s particularly extensive in the vegetable area, where even carnivores have trouble choosing only a few. Servers are exceedingly gracious: order the lamb tandoori, and your waiter might politely suggest instead the sikandari raan—lamb slow-cooked in spices—confiding that it’s better. And he’ll be right: rarely have we tasted lamb this tender and delicious. It’s also served on fire. Who doesn’t love food on fire?

Appetizers aren’t as strong as mains: spicy cucumber salad is too sour, and mussels can be stringy. But generally, we find flavors here just a notch or two more distinct than elsewhere. Among mains, saag paneer, while always good, is outdone by paneer chili’s red-hot Manchurian sauce. The curries are straight-up milky crack, and lamb rogan josh is vivid and complex. The lunchtime buffet is standard, but does include house-made chutneys.

In addition to a full bar (which we recommend skipping unless you like fruity, fussy vodka drinks) there’s a negligible list of mass-industrial wines, although you can find a decent Gewürztraminer and Riesling—Indian food’s soul mates. Perfect with lamb on fire.