Nottingham's Bombay Deli reveals major expansion plans and owners say it will take it to 'next level'

Nottingham's popular Bombay Delicatessen is about to get bigger and better. Plans for a major expansion have been revealed which will triple the existing number of seats at the Carrington Street site.

The business will be taking over the floor above which recently became vacant. The former magnolia-walled office will be transformed with richly-coloured and luxurious Indian themed decor.

Rahul Passan and his sister Preeti Sharma have grand plans for the makeover, with a seven-metre bar as the centrepiece, and an array of dining tables, poseur tables and couches. "The idea of this room is for something really different for Nottingham. It will have an Indian theme, traditional, royal, a bit of heritage.

"There will be drapes and soft lighting. We want it to be an area where customers can feel relaxed and chilled in a comfortable eclectic environment with quilted textured furniture and ornaments imported from India," said Rahul.

"We will elevate and take it to the next level. Downstairs is great, very unique and different to anything else in Nottingham city centre but upstairs will have its own identity - a step up from downstairs. Upstairs has been empty for a couple of weeks. It was just offices before. My landlord said 'this is coming onto the market, do you want it?' After some careful consideration we thought it's probably the right thing for us to do."

With 34 seats next to the deli counter on the ground floor and around 75 planned upstairs, it will give ample space for whiling away the time over Indian high chai - a twist on the classic afternoon tea with spicy sandwich fillings, snacks of samosas and pakoras, cinnamon scones and cakes flavoured with Asian spices - or a curry feast.

It will also allow the deli to cater for bigger groups, while still having room for walk-in customers. Currently, at busy times, some give up on waiting for a table to become free.

"On our peak days, sometimes weekdays and definitely weekends, if we've big bookings it eats into all of our space. This is a very busy area anyway with walk-in trade so it means we're losing quite a lot of customers. Around Diwali, we had bookings for a couple of Nottingham companies for 15 to 20 people, taking nearly all the seating downstairs and it's unfortunate for any passers-by who want to come in and dine. But it's a good headache to have," said Rahul.

Bombay Delicatessen opened on the corner of Carrington Street in April. One of main gateways into the city close to Broadmarsh bus station and Nottingham Railway Station, footfall is high. Following on from shops in Hyson Green and West Bridgford, it is the first site where customers can eat in.

Rahul said: "It was so new for us going from Hyson Green to West Bridgford - that was a big jump but it was relatively similar in terms of shop size but going from West Bridgford to here was a massive jump for us. We didn't know how it would be. People have been coming to us for many years but being in the city centre, the clientele you are serving is more wide spread so you don't know.

"I think we have established ourselves within the last six months, really understanding who our core demographic is and catering towards that. As the months have gone by, we've introduced Indian afternoon tea and bottomless brunch and now we can really showcase what we can do in that space."

The aim is for the makeover to be complete by the beginning of February 2025, just in time for Valentine's Day. The ground floor took five months to turn around but was a much bigger project. Now the infrastructure is in place it's just a matter of decoration.

Each floor is 3,000 sq ft - a huge leap from the 500 sq ft at West Bridgford and Hyson Green's 480 sq ft. One of the first moves will be to construct an impressive ornate staircase from the ground floor deli as the existing steps leading to the former offices have a separate entrance.

A new bakery kitchen will be created where the deli's popular truffles and chocolate samosas will be created. The amount will be increasing because by the end of this month the sweet treats will available to order through the deli's new website for nationwide delivery for the first time.

Rahul said: "We're quite unique and I want to keep inventing the wheel. If you say to us is there anyone we look to to emulate, there are some great businesses that do so well, but I think for us we are so different and we don't really have any ceilings. We want to see where we can go."

Preeti added: "There's only so many people we can accommodate downstairs. We want to bring the high chai upstairs so they can enjoy the atmosphere, the peacefulness. We've had passing trade customers coming in waiting for a seat. We don't want to let anyone down. We'll be able to accommodate everyone coming in through the front door."