For South Asian and Middle Eastern food, Hillcroft reigns supreme. And of this area’s Indian restaurants, only Himalaya and London Sizzler are more renowned than Bombay Sweets in the non-Indian-community oral legend. The lunchtime buffet, although appropriately cheap and well-stocked, has been known to harbor staling naan and sogging fried foods. Yet Bombay Sweets excels at samosas and puffed-ricey Bombay-style chaat, like bhelpuri. Vegetarians will be plenty happy here, but the à-la-carte menu can be bewildering and the staff behind the counter far from helpful (and dosai are much better at Udipi). Saag paneer is dark, less creamy and less rich (the purists prefer it this way) than the version at your average Indian buffet in a non-Indian neighborhood. We’ve had better-seasoned versions of chana masala, and better rice. The tamarind and coconut chutneys are as intense and fulfilling as they need to be.

Really, the best eating at Bombay Sweets is—hello—the sweets; rows and rows of glistening, powdered, plumped, and rainbow-colored baubles in the bakery cases. They do err on the sweet-sweet side, but we love the carrot halwa (like a carrot cake brownie), and several flavors of burfi, especially chocolate. Even though chocolate isn’t really traditional in India, it makes for one happy assimilation.