Can you believe that as a blogger in Leeds that loves writing about food and drinking beer, that I hadn't yet made it to Bundobust? Shocking, I know. I was aware of its existence, of course; many fellow bloggers reviewed Bundobust very favourably as part of their opening in July 2014, and I put it on my list of places to visit within the next few months. So, imagine my delight when I received an email, inviting me to try out their new menu! I was over the moon. Bundobust is actually quite unusual, in that they do not market themselves as a restaurant - they are in fact a craft beer bar that serves Indian street food. It is a collabration between Prashad, an Indian restaurant, and The Sparrow 'Bier Cafe', both based in Bradford. Bundobust started life on the street food scene in April 2013, taking part in various events across Leeds, before finding a permanent home on Mill Hill, This was formerly a run-down area in the city centre, so it's wonderful to see it being rejuvenated by various businesses over the last year or so.



Even though they do not really market themselves as such (At least not that I've seen), all of the food at Bundobust is vegetarian, within which the vast majority is vegan, gluten free or both. This makes it an excellent choice for anyone with these requirements, and I know of several people who have these that were really impressed by the diversity of food available. Despite being brought up a vegetarian, I've never been to an exclusively vegetarian or vegan restaurant before, and neither has Martin, who was my companion of choice for the evening. To be honest, I thought that Martin would struggle to find something that he liked from the menu, but even though some of the dishes we tried wouldn't have been what he picked, they weren't met with his usual face of disgust! He was very much won over by the beers that were available, and we were completely in our element as we both love trying new beers. We washed our meal down with a pint of Northern Monk x Bundobust x Gateway Indian Spiced Ale, a Belgian blonde spiced with saffron and cardamon that had been on my list for quite some time. It did not disappoint, being very smooth, and unsurprisingly, it worked extremely well with the food. We also had a half of Quadraceratops, an extremely limited release from Brooklyn Brewery that clocked in at 9.9%, and a Ryperbole by Magic Rock Brewery, a grapefruit rye pale ale that was a much milder 6%.


There were six dishes that were new to the menu, and we were lucky enough to try them all. Bundobust recommends one dish for a snack, two for lunch and three for dinner - so, considering that we were there at 5pm on Saturday, this worked out pretty well for us. The dish that caught our eye straight away when it was brought over to the table (and once we figured out what it was...) was the Egg Bhurji; Indian spiced scrambled egg with pepper, served with soft Indian flatbread. It was very unusual, even for us. However, as soon as we had our first mouthful, we were both fighting to keep it for ourselves! It was easily our favourite dish out of the new menu. The spices and herbs -  chilli, cumin and ground coriander - served to enhance the flavour, rather than provide any heat, and what an incredible flavour it had! The egg was light and fluffy, and cooked just right for me (I really can't stand a sloppy scrambled egg), and the pepper complemented the egg - completing the dish, rather than being an afterthought. The flatbread was a bit strange to have with the egg, but when eaten together, the combined textures worked quite well,



Next in line was the Veg Rice Dry Fry, which is a dish that I knew Martin wouldn't particularly like. It is pretty much as the name suggests; Basmati rice stir fried with green chilli, mushrooms, peas and peppers. Two of Martin's most hated food in the world are rice and mushrooms, so it was never going to be a winner for him! However, try it he did and if I remember rightly, he declared it as "Not bad, but not for me" - which is practically a glowing review as far as I'm concerned. He enjoyed the flavour of the dish overall, but the texture was really not up his street - seeing as it's the texture of rice and mushrooms that he dislikes, it makes sense. As for me? Well, there's nothing in this dish that I don't like, so I knew I would get along with it just fine. Whilst it was perfectly enjoyable, and I can't fault the quality nor the taste of the food, this was the least inspiring dish for me. Considering that every other dish was really quite memorable and unique, this was a bit of a letdown in comparison and dare I say it, a little bland.



I was a little bit surprised to find a bowl of salad being presented to us... it's certainly doesn't spring to mind when I think of Indian street food. This was the Kachumber Sambharo, a combination of bitter leaves, cucumber, red cabbage, topped with a mustard seed and lemon dressing. I wasn't expecting too much from this, as salads from restaurants are usually a bit limp, but I was happily surprised. The salad was crunchy and tangy, and really fresh - not a sad, brown lettuce leave in sight! I commented to Martin at the time that it almost tasted like the ingredients were pickled - it had that unusual kick that you normally wouldn't have in a dish like this. I should also point out that our dish came with carrots as well, which was absolutely fine with me, but it is worth noting because they are not listed on the menu. I love how Bunobust have put an Indian twist on a traditional salad, just by the dressing that they used.



Onto the next highlight of the new menu - or at least for us - the Dhal & Rice. Growing up I really hated lentils - to the point of I would have rather had nothing instead of them. Like Martin with rice and mushrooms, it was the texture that I couldn't stand. However, over the last few years I'm coming back around to them, and find myself enjoying dishes that contain them. The texture is still off-putting to me, but if the flavours are right, I can usually manage. This was definitely the case with this dish; a black lentil curry cooked with ginger, garam massala and chillies, served with basmati rice. Even though it contained ingredients that neither of us particularly like, this was wolfed down faster than you can say "Bundobust", and that was all down to the flavour. A bigger portion of this would have made a wonderful dish on its own, as it was hearty and filling - a real winter warmer. Again, it wasn't spicy at all, but richly flavoured and clearly made with love. It was very different to any other curry I've had! It reminded me of the black bean and chocolate soup that we had the British Street Food Awards, due to the texture and the flavour.



The next dish, Far Far, was what I would usually consider an appetiser, or a snack to keep you going whilst knocking back the beers. They do so many, you would certainly need something! These are quite simply savoury rice puffs, dusted with a spice blend - and probably the only item on the new menu that I considered as being quite spicy. The colours of the rice puffs took me by surprise, as I was expecting a pretty standard selection; they almost looked like roasted vegetables, although they weren't. It was made up of larger pieces like you can see in the image above, but after they were devoured we discovered a variety of smaller ones that looked like letters... we wondered whether they spelled "Bundobust" but it turns out they didn't! There's not really much more that I can say about them to be honest - they were tasty and I would have them again, but I think that they are a bit expensive for what they are.



Last but by no means least was the strangest dish of them all, the Vada Pav. Described as "Mumbai's favourite burger", it is a fried spicy mashed potato ball coated in gram flour, served in a brioche bun with red and green chutney, and chillies on the side. How's that for strange? It sounded delicious, but unlike anything that I've ever had before. If it is true that this is Mumbai's favourite burger, though, I can see why as this was absolutely delectable. The brioche bun was incredibly soft, with a glazed top, and just a little bit sweet - it shouldn't have worked with the filling, but somehow it did. The mashed potato ball had just the right amount of spice, and the texture was spot on. Smooth and creamy, with a very thin and light batter as a result from the frying. I honestly didn't really notice the chutney as I was too busy getting my head around the mashed potato ball! Martin made the rather foolish mistake of eating the small chilli, which after downing the rest of his beer, did point out that it was surprisingly sweet. This final dish sealed the deal for us, and we decided that we would have to come back again in the future, even if it's just for lunch. They offer some really good options for a very reasonable price, that we want to try out someday. The good thing about Bundobust is that you can just have a bite to eat and take advantage of the impressive selection of beer that they offer, which was one of the best that we'd seen in Leeds. They have some fierce competition even just across the road, so to say that is something these days!

Disclaimer: Our meal was free, but this does not affect my opinion in any way.