Electric Karma
8222 1/2 W Third St
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Phone: (323) 653-2121

Speaking of Karma … I am writing a new blog called KarmalizedLife. Feel free to check it out!
With gratitude for great Indian food - FoodFlirt90210

I tried Pastagina at the Beverly Center Food Court.

The idea is to give something above fast-food pasta without the sit-down restaurant time and cost. I placed my order and the chef whom you can watch through the glass window, puts the pre-made sauce in the pan and brings it up to a bubbly hot and tasty. Behind him is some hot water pots for the pastas. I’m guessing the pasta is partly cooked so it doesn’t take too long to heat up.

Will this idea work? Would you invest in such a restaurant?

While I was in the trying out new restaurant mode, I tried Holy Cow Indian Express.

The funny name caught my eye. The menu items fusing Indian with other cuisines I thought was creative. I noticed on the menu that they claim to NOT use Ghee and instead say everything is cooked in vegetable oil. They appear to want to catch some of that fast-food vegan demographic in Southern California who want something in accord with their food ethics but yet with a little ethnic flair.

Will this idea work? Would you encourage or discourage a friend from trying to run a restaurant concept like that?

My reactions:

Pastagina is, I think, paddling upstream. As a storefront fast food place in a food court, people are looking for something they can take away pretty quickly and it is a bit too slow for that. The pasta is perhaps a notch better than something that has been sitting under the heat lamps but it is still something less than a sit-down quality pasta lunch.

Holy Cow Indian Express probably works well for the fast food vegans. But as someone who ordered a dish with meat in it, was it my imagination or did the food seem not as tasty as something you would get at an Indian place that does uses ghee?

Pastagina
Beverly Center
8500 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90048

Holy Cow Indian Express
8474 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 852-8900

I am that kind of person.

So when the LA Area Entertainment guides were being sold, I bought one for myself. And so far, it’s been fairly good to me. The $5 off coupons for Ralphs and Bristol Farms make it well worth the investment.

I’ve even found a couple of restaurant keepers from the book. Granted, you have to sift through the McDonald’s and Pizza Hut coupons to find the gems in there… and even then, you sometimes don’t really know what you’ll get - as MS and I found out the hard way.

I had my coupon for one complimentary dinner entree when another dinner entree was purchased, up to $12 at Shalimar Cuisine of India in Culver City. Sound like too good of a deal to you? It was.

I ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala that came on a large plate separated from the daily vegetable and dal with the basmati rice - horrible presentation, and I upgraded the naan to garlic naan for a little extra $. MS ordered the Chicken Chef’s dinner with vegetables - again with the same haphazardly plated dish. Both dinners were $12.95. The ala carte options were slightly less expensive.

We gladly offered our coupon upon ordering. And well, since we were saving $12 with our meal (or so I thought), I also ordered a glass of their Mango Lassi - super saccharine, thick, and unimpressive.

So you can imagine my sticker shock when we got our dinner bill for almost $30. All I could think, say, feel was: WTF?!

We asked our server about the bill, who then brought over someone who may have been a manager of sorts to our table to explain our bill.

Apparently, the deal was for an A LA CARTE dish and not the dinner special - which was no special at all. I could have done without the extra vegetable dishes. I left them on my plate because they were both pretty unappetizing. So in reality, I would have PREFERRED the a la carte dishes.

MS and I were livid that they couldn’t have the decency to tell us the coupon caveat at the beginning of our meal. And I was more upset over the fact that the woman helping us was no help at all. She merely mentioned that they were nice enough to honor our second dinner special at 50% off.

Ridiculous.

And as for the food, it was nothing special or great.

I’d much rather pay the extra dollars for better food and much better service, than to drive here to what was more of a Sham than anything else. The food was uneventful, unimpressive, and the service ruined the entire experience.

A definite NO in my books.

I told MS at the end of the meal that they messed with the wrong food blogger!
(This post has been added here, in addition to my BoLA and Yelp sites!)

Shalimar Cuisine of India
street: 10708 Jefferson Blvd | Culver City, CA 90230
tel: 1-310-839-2841

For over a year I have driven past a nice-looking venue (at 11334 Moorpark, just east of Tujunga) where a posted sign promised “ZenChi – Coming 05.â€? Eventually the sign was changed to read “Ok….2006.â€?

Funny! At least these restaurateurs have a sense of humour.

Well at long last ZenChi Cafe has opened its doors, just making its 2006 date by the skin of its teeth.

The first thing you notice about ZenChi is the massive and serene stone Buddha statue that greets you as enter their main doorway. The decor has a decidedly Asian influence, featuring dark stained and glossy wooden tables and chairs, stylishly unadorned. A bustling open kitchen dominates the wide front room, while there is a more intimate dining room off to the left hand side. Patio dining is also available.

Chef Manuel Castro (formerly of the Parkway Grill) concentrates on Asian-fusion dishes at this full-service restaurant. The black napkins indicate they have their eye on the business lunch crowd. Indeed, the lunch menu is well chosen for swift one-hour dining, while the dinner menu seems a bit more leisurely.

The starters range from $8 to $12, with offerings such as Thai pork spare ribs ($8), sesame kobe beef satay sticks with asian slaw – very tender and delicious – ($9) and sufficiently meaty blue crab cakes with citrus aioli ($12). At lunchtime you can partake of the ZenChi Sampler and get a little taste of vegetable dumplings, baby crab cakes and crunchy calamari.

On the lunch menu, the $10-11.00 sandwiches and burgers come with a choice of fries, curry sweet potato fries or asian slaw, and while the curry sweet potato fries were shoestring thin and delicious, but there was no discernable curry present. The usual suspects are here; albacore tuna burger, bbq pork rib sandwich, turkey burger with avocado and caramelized onions.

The salads are substantial and tasty, arriving as a mountain of multicolored greens and vegetables on a square white plate. I especially liked the insalata misto (mixed green salad) which at lunchtime ($7.95) came with powerful nuggets of blue cheese, little cubes of tomato, sliced shiitake mushrooms and water chestnuts that add a satisfying crunch. The so-called “shaved� red onions in the salad were actually sliced, and a bit too pungent for my liking. I’d remembered how much I’d liked the raspberry vinaigrette during a previous dinner visit and the kitchen very obligingly substituted it for their usual balsamic vinaigrette, so I was all smiles. You can also get chinese chicken or shrimp salad ($11.95 and $13.95, respectively), classic caesar with rosemary croutons and wild salmon, seafood or wood-fired sirloin salads.

The only sticker shock was experienced at dinner, when my foodie companion opted for the Thai-glazed Lamb Chops entree with rosemary pesto and mashed potatoes. These were very good, but seriously priced at $25.00.

From their full bar they feature martinis and cocktails made with Korean Soju as well as mojitos and margaritas ($8.50). There are typical martinis such as apple, lemon drop and even a few daring ones such as lychee and pomegranate.

A crisp Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio was reasonably priced at $8 while the mellow St Jean Pinot Noir was $9.00. In fact, none of the wines by the glass cost more than $10 and – best of all – all come in a voluminous wine glass with a generous pour. For bottled wines, the prices are as conservative (we’re talking Ralph’s-level boring) as the selection.

I hardly ever notice service, whether it’s bad or good. I sometimes get annoyed if the check seems to take forever to arrive. That’s because when I’ve decided it’s time to leave, I don’t like to mess around. But this wasn’t the case with ZenChi. Above all, the service was really attentive without being intrusive.

At ZenChi they offer valet parking, but unless you’re teetering in stiletto heels, you should be able to find a parking place on the local streets nearby.

Bottom line – while ZenChi is a welcome addition of decent yet not exciting cuisine to my ’hood, its low-key ambience left me craving more of a vibey scene.

ZenChi Cafe
11334 Moorpark St.
(Tujunga Ave.)
North Hollywood, CA
818-760-3890

Open Tues – Sun, 11.30am–9pm

Last weekend we tried out Bharat Bazaar in Culver City. The set up is similar to India Sweets and Spices (ISS). It’s an Indian grocery store that has a hot food counter. The counter serves a number of different vegetarian dishes, most of them pre cooked and kept warm in steam tables. There are also some different cooked to order items, such as their heavenly samosas…

In contrast with ISS, Bharat Bazaar is clean, welcoming and the women (and men) serving the food are incredibly friendly and accomodating. I had a few questions about what certain dishes were and not only did I get the native and translated name, but I was also offered samples if I wasnt sure if it sounded good. Also, compared with the ISS in Culver City (there are several locations around town), Bharat Bazaar has ample indoor seating.

Of course, there are a plethora of places that look seedy, have surly servers and limited seating that serve some of the most incredible food I have tasted. Just because Bharat is clean, friendly and spacious doesn’t mean that you should go there. Because Bharat also serves fantastic vegetetarian Indian food for cheap means that you should go there.

We opted for a couple of the daily specials, three vegetable selections, a large portion of rice, two pieces of chapatti and yogurt sauce. I chose the spiced vegetable mix, spinach and corn, and a mushroom & pea dish (yes, I know that I have skipped the authentic names of all of these dishes). The mixed vegetables did in fact pack a punch, but the sauce itself was very light, not thickened like some of the curry based sauces. The vegetables were sauteed, cooked through, but still crunchy. The mushroom pea dish had a delicious earthy taste (which I like, especially in mushrooms) and the mushrooms were firm and cooked. The spinach dish was the heaviest of the three, but still not as greasey as some of the quick order Indian places.

My wife also opted for a paneer curry dish, which she enjoyed and said that it wasn’t as heavy as some paneer dishes can be.

In addition to the combo plates, we each also ordered samosas. Damn, these were some of the best samosas I have ever had. Part of the reason was that they were cooked to order, so that they were hot-hot and crispy. No sitting around for these dumplings to get soggy. Another reason why I liked the samosa was that the dough was thin and flakey, sometimes there is too thick a layer of dough and it just doesn’t cook up how I like it. These samosas were exactly how I like it.

And just for reference, here is what the Chapatti looks like. Each combo came with two pieces and the flat, tortilla like bread holds up very well to the sauces on the vegetables.

My wife has already requested a return visit and she will get no argument from me. Not only is the food fantastic and the atmosphere comfortable and welcoming, but the prices can’t be beat. We got all of this food, plus a mango lassi and a ginger beer (no alcohol) for a few cents under $20.

Bharat Bazaar
11510 W Washington Blvd,
Los Angeles, 90066
(310) 398-6766

The first thing that strikes me about this unassuming little Indian restaurant, tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Studio City on Ventura Place, is its chic simplicity. Gorgeous and fragrant arrangements of white Casablanca lilies decorate the room and little sprays of freesias adorn every glass-topped white linen table.

Gangadin is a delightful neighborhood restaurant run by the genteel and hospitable Manmeet Sahni, and boy does he have some stories to tell. Serving traditional northern Indian fare, his restaurant has been a Studio City fixture for the past 22 years. Sahni reminisces, “We used to feed the cast and crew from the Remington Steele set when they were shooting nearby. Also the guys from Hill Street Blues.� Sahni chuckles as he recalls the time a few guys in their cop costumes stopped by for lunch and sent two of his (then) illegal Mexican kitchen hands running down the back alley in a panic.

We were in very good hands as Sahni composed a tasting menu especially for us. A modest note at the top of the menu informs us that all their dishes are cooked without MSG, butter, ghee, sugar or any animal fats. We started with a sample of their onion pakoras and vegetable samosas ($3.50). These standard appetizers came out piping hot and were served with an array of three fresh, house-made sauces of red sauce, mint sauce and a sweet and sour tamarind sauce. Though fried, these two delights were surprisingly absent of grease. Samosas are an Indian pastry filled with peas and delicately spiced steamed then mashed potatoes while the pakoras are basically onion rings dipped in spiced gram (chickpea) flour and fried. It certainly was a tasty way to kick off the evening.

Next came the pillowy garlic naan ($2.50), cooked in their tandoor oven, and some Peas Pullav which was basmati rice that was scattered with peas, saffron and tiny cumin seeds ($2.00). These were the essential accompaniments for the fabulously aromatic curries that followed. We got to sample their orange-daubed tandoori Chicken Tikka ($10.50) straight off the skewers and tossed with grilled onions as well as our all time favorite Chicken Tikka Masala ($9.95), which is the same barbecued chicken but served in a delectably seasoned tomato and cream sauce. One dish we have to try at every Indian place is their daal and at Gangadin the Daal Makhani ($5.00) is a fantastically complex lentil curry served in a slightly creamy sauce. When mopped up with either rice or naan, this is a healthy and filling dish.

Lamb Karhai Gosht ($9.95) was a new experience for us. This was a stew of tender and well-cooked chunks of lamb that had been stir fried in a wok with North Indian spices and onions. The result was an ever so slightly sweet and hearty meal.
All of this was washed down with one of the passable California house wines (approx $5.75). My companion opted for one of the four Indian beers on offer, including Golden Eagle, Dansberg and Karma.

Indian cuisine offers many vegetarian options and at Gangadin you can select mild, medium or spicy heat. The weekends can get hectic and Sahni said they tend to steer their overflow to Sompun, the Thai restaurant a few doors down, and vice versa.

If you’re new to Indian cuisine and don’t know where to start, right now they are offering a five item lunch special starting at $8.95.

So check out Gangadin. You won’t be disappointed.

Gangadin Indian Cuisine
12067 Ventura Place
Studio City Ca 91604
818-509-0722
Dine In, Take Out, Free Delivery, Catering
Lunch: Monday-Friday from 12:00 to 2 p.m.
Dinner: Monday-Sunday from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

“When you’re crazy about curry, that’s fine but no matter how much you love curry, you have too much of it, it takes the roof of your mouth off. And then you never want to see curry for a really, really long time but you wake up one day and you think… god I really miss curry.” –Stacy to House, M.D.

Today I decided I missed vindaloo curry (the actual foodstuff, not some cranky British diagnostician with a wicked Vicodin addiction). Would you believe that All India Cafe, our old standby, does not have lamb vindaloo on its menu? Me either! So we decided to break out and try Nawab instead.

We could either have our order delivered in “over an hour,” or we could pick it up in fifteen minutes. I hope this isn’t typical–maybe the delivery boy didn’t want to have to miss a minute of pairs skating? Neither did we but we picked up our food anyway.

Nawab threw in some light, crispy poppadoms and an assortment of tamarind, mint and vegetable chutneys with our order, which I thought was a nice touch. The main dish sauces were not quite viscous enough to eat with just naan, so I wish we had ordered a little rice. Nevertheless, the chicken korma was delicious. I really liked the cashews and raisins in this dish; just a little different from the usual vegetable accompaniments.

The vindaloo, I am pleased to report, was perfectly capable of taking the roof of your mouth off. Seriously, do not attempt the vindaloo without some nice, mild korma and plenty of water. I think I ate a little too much of the stuff and it might be a while before I get vindaloo again, but when I do, I’m heading back to Nawab.

Nawab of India
1621 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90403
(310) 829-1106

The Tibet Nepal House is a lovely little storefront-sized restaurant in Pasadena, as noteworthy for it’s uniqueness as for it’s serene atmosphere. Maybe it’s the Buddhist statuary, maybe it’s the painting of Everest climbers, maybe it’s the colorful kilims, or maybe me, but it just feels quietly comfortable here–except for the two screaming toddlers running around the restaurant–ours and our friends’. While I wouldn’t call it “kid friendly,” it’s not “kid unfriendly either.” The restaurant has been under new management since my last visit close to a year ago, and even though the menu and chef is new, everything was as good as I remembered. We noticed that there was almost no goat on the menu, which was what we always ordered, and an additional meat we didn’t remember seeing, yak.

I’d noticed that lots of pepole have slight trouble ordering from this menu, both because it is extensive, and because folks don’t eat Himalayan all that often. While Tibet Nepal House is essentially an “Indian restaurant,” where it is easy to order familiar Indian dishes (I’d had some lovely curries here in the past), we wanted to lean towards the “Nepalese” side of the cuisine, then got lots of assists from our friendly waiter.

We started with steamed lamb dumplings called Maasu Mo-mo (also available in chicken or vegetable), which were served with a ramekin of creamy cilantro sauce, achaar, which was so delectable, I didn’t even try the red chili sauce. The waiters also brought a dish of soybeans which, though tough and chewy, were nicely coated with oil, garlic and scallion. We all tasted them, and they were good, but none of us really loved them.

What we all loved, was the Kathmandu Sekuwa, chicken breast roasted in a clay oven, rubbed in the “himalayan spices” of mint, cilantro, green pepper, garlic and ginger. This was goo-ood. The meat was tender, and the seasoning was as delicous as it sounds. (I might just try this at my next barbecue…). Like Tandoori, it was served with raw onion and a lemon that had been roasted along with the meat.

We ordered this fish dish, which must have been a special or off-menu item. I can’t find it anywhere on the menu, and we found ourselves guessing that it was catfish. It was a delicious dish, the fish was light, it had lots of vegetables and a brothy sauce. It was not a curry, but more like “fish in brown sauce” from a Thai restaurant. We all “mmm’d” over this one.

Wanting to add a vegetable to the mix, the waiter suggested spinach, which arrived as just that, a nicely sauteed full-leaf spinach, that reminded me of ordering “spinachi” at an Italian restaurant. The spinach was just fine, but I think we all thought we were getting something a little more…Indian-restauranty.

We had to order yak, right? Annapurnayak is yak meat sauteed with green chili, bell pepper, onion, and Himalayan spices. We were all surprised at how conventional this dish was. The meat was very beef-like in appearance and density, the plate looked like an order of steak fajitas, and it tasted, again, very mild and more like Thai food than Indian. While it tasted good and we were all very glad to have ordered it, after a time, the criticisms rolled in from our party. The meat was very, very chewy; and at $16.95 just for this dish alone, we started calculating how much cheaper it would have been if they’d used the sirloin it resembled.

We also ordered two big bottles of Himalayan beer: Yeti, and Himalayan Blue. They were both great, very drinkable, thirst-quenching and familiar, while the Yeti was the more exotic tasting–slightly sweet and “richer” in the mouth.

We love this place, our friends really liked it, and we will go back. We ordered well of the high end of the menu, and the bill came to $82 for four parents and two toddlers with drinks/no dessert. They have two “Nepali Set Menu” options, which in retrospect, might have been the way to go. No regrets. In fact, there are lots of other items on the menu I would like to try: more clay oven roasted meats, sherpa stew (with goat), and Thukpa or “Tibetan Hearty Noodle Soup”. I could eat those dumplings again right now.

I must also mention that from 11:30-2:30 Mon-Fri, the restaurant offers an All You Can Eat Buffet. I doubt there’s much yak on that steam table, but if you go and it’s there, holla back.

Tibet Nepal House
36 E. Holly St.
Pasadena, CA 91103
(626) 585-9955

When India Sweets & Spices first opened in Glendale I’d say I visited three to four times a month.

Then I burned out on the chaotic lines and the food. I stopped by again twice this weekend en route to a Christmas shopping destination. I was delighted to see that my local incarnation of ISS has become better organized. The restaurant is less antiseptic now that the walls and ceilings are dolled up in baby blue scenic murals. The 50″ television is now placed at the end of the dining hall and it displays deliciously hammy Bollywood dance numbers. The ordering and food pick-up system is much less disorganized and the food is even better than when ISS first opened, in my opinion.

I got a Mysoor Dosa that arrived in half the time of prior visits. The dosa was perfectly hot, toasty and tart while its contents were savory and spicy. The next day I ordered a quick bhel puri snack. It’s a jumbled mix of boiled potato, minced onion, puffed rice and bhel (crispy Indian crackers), seasoned with yogurt, fresh coriander, cumin, chili, masala and tamarind sauce. ISS serves up seven flavored chats in the $2.49- 2.99 range. They’re quickly prepared and taste great with a mango lassi or just a big cup of cool water. Mostly, it’s nice to see a local spot come into its own.

India Sweets & Spices
3126 Los Feliz Bl.
Glendale, CA
90039
323-345-0360

Our first experience, years ago, at Akbar was a result of friends’ recommendations and an Entertainment Card in our pocket. When we walked in, there were only one or two occupied tables. The waiter walked up to us and deadpanned “sorry, we’re full”. We were a bit confused and our faces must have given this away, because he followed up with “I’m just kidding, sit anywhere you like.”

Juan Carlos (the waiter) may take some getting used to, but his monotone style and sarcastic sense of humor will eventually grow on you. If you go there more than a few times, he will remember you, and then ask why you haven’t been coming in more often.

Our standard dish, which we order without fail is the chikken tikka masala which is the traditional chicken dish, cooked in their tandoori oven and covered in their creamy tomato sauce. Served over basmati rice, I have trouble going to any Indian restaurant and not ordering it. Where we do mix it up is with the appetizers and the side dishes.

Since it is usually just two of us dining, we can only really put away a meat or chicken dish, a vegetable dish, rice, naan and sometimes an appetizer. The portions are not that huge, but are certainly filling and flavorful.

There is usually a special samosa appetizer offered, which is tasty, but if you are looking for something special, try the Aloo Aam Tikka. It is a potato patty, stuffed with seasoned green peas and spices, then glazed with a home made mango chutney, which causes Juan Carlos to refer to it as “an Indian donut”. The Aloo Aam Tikka has a delicious blend of sweet, savory and spicy (which can be kicked up with one of the three side chutneys) and is a perfect kickoff to the meal.

For side dishes, we often order the Gobi Aloo (cauliflour and spinach potatoes) or better yet, Sag Aloo (potatoes and spinach) which isn’t on the menu but they will make it if requested. Other side favorites include the Bhartha or Chana Masala. I have also become quite fond of Indian Lagers and Akbar offers a few, including Dansberg and Kingfisher.

Last time we went to Akbar, we over ordered (as usual) and ended up with some Chana Masala leftovers. The next morning, while making breakfast, I decided to spice up our eggs with a little Indian food in the skillet. The results were amazingly tasty, better tasting than looking as you can see from the picture. From now on, I will be know as the creator of the Chanamasamelette:

Akbar Cuisine of India
2627 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, Ca 90403