(This venue is closed.) Three scoops of ice cream ($3.50) was as much as I was willing to handle on my first visit — tough choice, since my server quickly (and without prompting) offered me a half-dozen tastes including orange pineapple, thandai, and falsa. I decided on chikoo (likely naseberry, a.k.a. sapodilla), a dusty rose with a sour, hard-to-pin-down flavor; a refreshing gaajar halwa (loosely, "carrot pudding") laced with orange slivers; and an intense coconut, which was nowhere near as exotic as many of the other flavors, but I really like good coconut ice cream.
Kwality brand ice cream served here, which, claims Bombay Café, is 100 percent vegetarian, with no eggs or preservatives, and all natural flavors. Perhaps a dozen seats; pleasant Indian music; friendly service with a neighborhood feel.
After another visit, I can also give a nod to the aromatic King Alphonso mango, the kesar pista (saffron pistachio), and a dense version of fig.
Bombay Café
771-773 Newark Ave. (near John F. Kennedy Blvd.), Jersey City
201-656-5566
(Hours sometimes begin only in late afternoon)
