At Bombay, 45 Years of Tradition Still Leave Room for Surprise
The Leamington Spa Restaurateur Appears On Taste Asia’s Sixth Issue Cover As Bombay’s Signature Sea Bass Is Named Among The 2026 Best Of Taste Asia
After more than four decades in hospitality, Iftahar Ahmed is still thinking about the future.
The Leamington Spa restaurateur has been featured on the cover of the sixth issue of Taste Asia magazine, where an exclusive interview traces the evolution of Bombay Restaurant from a family-run business founded in 1980 to one of the town’s enduring Indian dining names.
The feature also coincides with two further recognitions. Ahmed has received the Taste Asia Flavours of Asia Award, while Bombay Restaurant’s Signature Sea Bass has been selected for The 2026 Best of Taste Asia.
Together, the honours reflect a story built not only on longevity, but on adaptation.
Bombay Restaurant was established by Ahmed’s father and uncle more than 45 years ago. Ahmed began helping at the restaurant while still at school, joining the business full-time after leaving education and gradually taking on greater responsibility.
That early immersion gave him a practical understanding of hospitality that has shaped his approach ever since.
- A Family Story Since 1980 — Bombay was founded by Ahmed’s father and uncle and has remained in the family for more than 45 years.
- Experience Over Textbooks — Ahmed credits decades on the restaurant floor with teaching him the realities of hospitality.
- Tradition Meets Innovation — Bombay protects classic Indian flavours while introducing new dishes and contemporary ideas.
- Signature Sea Bass — The restaurant’s distinctive fish dish was selected for The 2026 Best of Taste Asia.
- Flavours of Asia Recognition — Iftehar Ahmed received the Taste Asia Flavours of Asia Award.
- Freshness Matters — Ahmed remains personally involved in sourcing vegetables and fresh fish.
- Balance Over Heat — His philosophy is that diners should taste individual spices and ingredients, not simply chilli.
- A Bold Pandemic Investment — Ahmed expanded the restaurant’s upstairs dining area during one of hospitality’s most uncertain periods.
- Hospitality Has Evolved — Bombay adapted from late-night curry-house culture to a more complete evening dining experience.
- Digital Transformation — Social media, websites and online marketing now play an important role in the restaurant’s strategy.
- The Next Generation — Ahmed’s daughter and son-in-law are taking greater responsibility for Bombay’s future.
- Quality Before Expansion — Ahmed now believes preserving standards matters more than simply making the business bigger.
In his Taste Asia interview, Ahmed recalls an industry very different from the one restaurants operate in today. Indian restaurants once regularly traded into the early hours, serving customers after pubs and nightclubs had closed. Over time, dining habits shifted, opening hours changed and customers began looking for a more complete restaurant experience centred on atmosphere, service and quality.
Bombay changed with them.
The restaurant adapted its opening hours, refreshed its interiors, embraced websites and social media and continued updating its menu while retaining the dishes and flavours familiar to long-standing customers.
For Ahmed, survival in hospitality has never been about standing still.
“You have to keep the tradition, but you also need innovation,” he says in the interview. “The important thing is finding the right balance.”
That philosophy is visible in Bombay’s Signature Sea Bass.
The dish, now included in The 2026 Best of Taste Asia, combines crisp sea bass with a subtle mustard marinade and a fruit salsa built around apple, pear and peach, finished with a touch of balsamic acidity.
Taste Asia selected the dish for its originality, precise cooking and confident use of contrasting flavours.
Its success is also an example of Ahmed’s willingness to experiment beyond the boundaries of the traditional curry-house menu.
“Sometimes you have to experiment and trust your instincts,” he explains.
For Ahmed, however, innovation does not mean abandoning the fundamentals.
He continues to place considerable emphasis on fresh ingredients, consistency, service and close attention to the customer experience. He remains directly involved in sourcing produce and works closely with his son-in-law on fresh fish for the restaurant.
His view of Indian cooking is similarly measured.
Ahmed believes diners should be able to identify the spices, vegetables and other ingredients in a dish rather than encountering only chilli heat.
“For me, good Indian food is about balance,” he says.
That sense of balance extends well beyond the kitchen.
One of the defining moments in Bombay’s recent history came during the pandemic, when Ahmed decided to invest in the restaurant’s upstairs dining area despite widespread uncertainty across the hospitality industry.
Takeaway demand had remained strong during lockdown, and once restaurants reopened, Bombay repeatedly found itself turning customers away because of limited capacity.
Ahmed took the decision to expand.
It was a calculated risk at a difficult moment, but the new space was completed in time for Christmas and hosted its first party almost immediately.
For Ahmed, the experience confirmed something he had already learned during decades in business: instinct matters, but so does the willingness to act on it.
His latest recognition through Taste Asia places that entrepreneurial resilience alongside the restaurant’s culinary achievements.
Yet one of the strongest themes in the interview is succession.
Ahmed’s daughter is increasingly involved in the business, while his son-in-law has developed his own profile as a chef. Ahmed speaks with particular pride about their progress and about the possibility of seeing another generation continue what his father and uncle began in 1980.
That outlook has also changed the way he thinks about growth.
Where he once considered making Bombay significantly larger, Ahmed now appears more interested in preserving standards than pursuing expansion for its own sake.
“Sometimes bigger is not necessarily better,” he says.
For a restaurant that has already survived changing dining habits, economic uncertainty, technological disruption and the pandemic, the next challenge is less about proving that Bombay can last and more about ensuring that its identity survives the transition to a new generation.
The Taste Asia cover feature captures Ahmed at precisely that point.
He is looking back at 45 years of family history while preparing others to carry it forward.
And for Bombay Restaurant, that may prove to be the most important chapter yet.
