RESTAURANT REVIEW : Light and Lively Offerings at Bombay Cafe

With all those meats and breads that come smoking-fresh from tandoor ovens, to say nothing of all those spices and condiments, Indian food always sounds lively . Well, maybe not the dal part--the world is still more or less waiting for the first lively lentil puree--but basically it sounds lively. In principle .

Nevertheless, Indian restaurants incline to solemnity, and when they want to put their best foot forward, it’s the imperially rich cuisine of the Moghul courts. Let me tell you something about those Moghuls. Once, I looked into a recipe from the Emperor Akbar’s administrative records that was supposed to serve 6, and it called for 14 pounds of meat. Try to get lively after that.

Bombay Cafe is an exception. It’s not a solemn room full of hangings and brass but a brightly lit little place on the second floor of a mini-mall. It’s dominated by a red-and-white naive art mural of modern Bombay where medieval Indian heroes with flowing mustaches ride immense bicycles or tiny shoe-shaped cars, and an elephant is led down a road past apartment houses with TV antennas growing out of them like strange flowers.

The food is light and snacky, from the moment you’re brought an appetizer that’s sort of like fried won ton chips with a chutney or two on the side: spiced tomato puree, or maybe an addictive one based on ground walnuts. Some of the dishes are actually Indian street food, like sev puri : half-a-dozen tiny round breads (like the smallest sort of flour tortilla, only crisp) bearing a layer of potato, raw onions and cilantro together with little dabs of three chutneys, the whole thing topped by a thatch of crisp fried noodles made from chickpea flour.

There are more usual things, of course. Potato and pea samosas made with remarkably thin dough, thinner than a won ton, are served with sweet-sour tamarind chutney. The meat in the chicken pakoras --the Indian equivalent of tempura--are marinated to unusual softness.

There’s very good tandoori, especially the very tender yogurt-marinated shaan-eh-murg chicken. I have never been enthusiastic about paneer , which tastes sort of like dry cottage cheese, but it’s mildly interesting to have cheese barbecued in a tandoor oven. You can get a combo plate (recommended for two people) that includes paneer shashlik with some of the meats.

Beside the tandoori list there’s a miscellany that includes “frankies” (the real Indian name not revealed), said to be fast food popular at Candy Beach in Bombay. They’re more or less burritos made with a pleasantly chewy egg-washed “tortilla” and with fillings such as cauliflower or a mixture of braised lamb and onions.

There are a number of vegetarian dishes: a smoky eggplant dip, a light lentil soup called osaaman and several eggplant dishes. Naturally there’s the fairly familiar South Indian masala dosa , a huge crisp pancake wrapped up around some turmeric-flavored potatoes and served with a pretty ordinary tomato and lentil soup/sauce and an interesting non-sweet coconut chutney.

Bombay Cafe makes its own mango and ginger ice creams and they’re quite above average: The mango for once tastes like a fresh fruit. They’re also delightfully Americanized, frozen with a Popsicle stick in them. The most Indian dessert is kheer , an unusual (rich but scarcely sweet) version of the Indian rice pudding.

Something should be said, though, about uttapam , a semolina pancake with onions, cilantro and sliced tomatoes on one side. The menu says it’s somebody or other’s favorite, but it’s strictly vegetarian stick-to-the-ribs food, rather like a spicy and slightly crunchy potato pancake. Maybe it’s for those of us who don’t like lively.

Bombay Cafe, 12113 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 820-2070. Open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday. Beer and wine. Parking lot. MasterCard and Visa accepted. Dinner for two, food only, $17 to $54.