Anarbagh

Anarbagh
4656 Franklin Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
323-660-8800

Anarbagh is a small sized Indian restaurant across Vermont from House of Pies, and just up the street from Fred's 62. Housed in a corner space next to a 7-11, there are booths to the right as you enter, then along the long space on the left, are tables. 

Shrimp Biryani $13.95 Shrimp cooked with aromatic rice and flavored with saffron.  When I think of Biryani rice, it is very flavorful and gives off a wonderful smell.  But, sadly this shrimp biryani lacked bold flavor and wasn't any wonderful smell.  The rice and shrimp were both cooked perfectly.  It just lacked the bold flavors I'm expecting.

Service was very good!

A good Indian restaurant doesn't lack for flavor, so sadly I won't be going back to Anarhagh.

Tamarind Restaurant & Catering

Tamarind Restaurant & Catering
4047 Grand Ave
Chino, CA 91710
909-364-9141

Next door to Pizzita Circle, a restaurant I reviewed back in 2015, is Tamarind Restaurant & Catering-an Indian and Pakistani restaurant.  They have a lunch $10.95, and dinner buffet $13.95 which includes a drink.

As you walk in the buffet is set up to the right.  They have a ton of chicken dishes, including Chicken Tikka Masala and Tandoori, I didn't touch any of them.  For vegetarians they have lentils, mixed vegetables in herbs and spices, a cauliflower and potato dish, and cold salad.  They do not have samosa on the buffet.

The lentils were the most bland lentils I've ever had. No flavor, not taste nothing.

The rice was fluffy and flavorful.

The mixed vegetables is just frozen veggies in herbs and spices.  It was ok, but nothing overwhelming.

Service is good.

A friend paid for lunch, since she owed me for flaking on lunch a couple weeks before.  I'm glad because if I had to pay for it, I would not be happy.

Manohar’s Delhi Palace

Manohar’s Delhi Palace
581 S Azusa Way
La Puente, CA 91747
626-964-0343

 Manohar’s Delhi Palace is located in a very Latino strip mall.  But, they get a steady stream of diners coming into their restaurant for a their buffet lunch.  The buffet lunch is $15.95.  There is a good selection of meat items, but if you're vegetarian your choices are a bit limited.

Daal, samosa and veggie egg roll.  The daal was a bit too watery and didn't have that many lentils for me, but good flavor.  I'm betting the veggie egg rolls are frozen then dumped into a fryer. A below average item.  The samosa was very good, good flavor and seasonings, and a light outside, spicy too! But, they never refilled the samosas at the steam table, and once they were out, they put another item in it's place. 

The Indian version of fish and chips!  The fish-I got them at two different times- the first time the fish had clearly been on the steam table for too long.  Not cripsy, very soggy outside and kinda of dry on the inside.  But, the second time I got the fish they had just came out of the fryer and they were crispy, good flavor and moist fish!  Fries were seasoned frozened wedges.  Again it depends on when you get your order.  If you get it at the right time the fries are good.  Other times cold and just not good.

Service was OK.  There is one guy who is filling up water glasses all the time!  You will not be out of water for too long here.  But, after paying our bill in cash, we never brought back our change!  We didn't tell them keep the change.  Unless the customer tells you to keep the change, servers must give back change! 

Overall I thought Manohar’s Delhi Palace was below average! I've found other Indian buffets with larger selections of vegetarian items and better tasting food.

Royal Delhi Palace

Royal Delhi Palace
22323 Sherman Way Ste 11
Canoga Park, CA 91303
818-992-0913

A few blocks west of Cavaretta's Italian Groceries, is Royal Delhi Palace.  Located in a huge shopping center with a Ralph's as it's main anchor.  Royal Delhi Palace takes up four stores in the center.  The three other places are for banquets.  The main dining area is to the left.  It's a good sized restaurant with about 20 tables.  There is a long buffet table along the far wall.  One of the very few Indian restaurants that serve the buffet on weekends.  I took full advantage of the buffet.  It is $8.99 everyday.  Some restaurants would raise the price on weekends.

There is a decent selection of items on the buffet table.  They have a couple chicken dishes for meat eaters.  There were about 6-8 items for vegetarians. 

Garlic naan bread.  This should be renamed cilantro bread.  Filled with a ton of cilantro but very little garlic.  Just average.

Basmati rice, samosa, and yellow daal.  I'm surprised to see samosa on the buffet, since it is usually pricey and, if good sells well on the regular menu.  But, the samosa was abundant on the buffet.  A good example with well seasoned potatoes and peas, with a light flaky outside.

Basmati rice was well cooked.

Yellow daal-good but a bit underseasoned.  Whenever I go to an Indian restaurant I expect/know the food will be flavorful with a lot of seasoning and spices.  This was lacking the seasoning, but had a nice kick.

Saag paneer-spinach and cheese.  Usually don't see saag paneer with cheese, but this was good, but again, underseasoned.  Matter a fact, pretty bland. 

Shahi paneer-curry sauce with Indian cheese.  This is something new for me.  The curry was pretty bland and the cheese was firm and had a very mild taste.

 Mushroom matar-potatoes, peas, and mushrooms.  This was a good dish.  Huges pieces of potatoes, onions, and mushrooms all well seasoned and flavorful.

Service was good but very military like.  They had two servers in charge of the entire room.  While the room got a bit packed, they handled everything.  Nobody lacked for refills or having their plates cleared.  But, they would just stand towards the front of the room and just stare at every table, waiting to pounce on a finish plate or empty water.  It's almost as if they would get fired if even one plate was left on the table.  It's just weird to have servers so intense!  They need to take a chill pill!

Royal Delhi Palace was well worth the price, but the food lacked seasoning.  There are many other Indian restaurants to try, so no need to come back!

India Sweets & Spices

India Sweets & Spices
3126 Los Feliz Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90039
323-345-0360

India Sweets & Spices is a combination Indian grocery store and a steam table of food.  They have plenty of seating to dine in. It's a huge place and is usually busy.

Samosa- $1 each. My standard for samosa is Samosa House.  The samosa here is just ok.  Nothing great.  It is spicy.  The samosa are sitting on the steam table but they are not kept warm.  They are kept at room temp.  They are potatoes,  spices, and peas.  It's ok, a bit some spicy than Samosa House, but not nearly as good.  One huge factor is that Samosa House fries the samosa to order.  They are not sitting unheated on a steam tray!

Service is bad.  I got to the counter and two ladies are talking and while we make eye contact, they never bother to stop and come help me.  This must have continued for a few minutes.  Then one lady finally gets up but then a man, maybe the owner, has her do something.  So the other lazy lady comes up to help me.  

I won't go back to India Sweets & Spices.  Bad service and mediocre food are a bad combination!

Badmaash

Badmaash
108 W 2nd St
Ste 104
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-221-7466

Badmaash is a weird sounding name for an Indian restaurant.  Located a couple doors from Pitfire Pizza, my friend and I were drawn in by the smell of Indian spices.

A small sized restaurant with more seating upstairs.  It's dark and gives off a nightclub atmosphere.  

Salmon "Boti" Kabaab, $19, marinated in yogurt with fresh dill, lime, and serrano chilies, in a smoked tomato chutney.  The farm raised salmon was very moist and tender, with a wonderful flavor  The chutney was ok, I wasn't a fan, but I would have been very happy with the salmon without the chutney.  It's a decent sized portion, but I think it is overpriced.

Traditional samosa, $4 each, potato, peas, coriander seeds, cumin, and ginger. This came right out of the fryer and was very good.  The light, flaky, wrapper was perfect fried.  The inside was soft, tender flavorful potatoes with the right amount of spices.  Now, $4 is a steep price to pay.  They are good, and a good size, but not worth $4.

Service was good.  Nice, friendly, and quick service.

I understand that downtown LA is changing and the rent for commercial space are also increasing.  While the food at Badmaash was good, it wasn't worth the high price tags.

Agra Cafe

Agra Cafe
4325 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029
323-665-7890

Agra Cafe is tucked into a corner in the same retail center as Garage Pizza in Silver Lake.  The shopping center once housed the now closed, Tang's Donuts and Sandwiches.

It is a very nicely decorated restaurant, with lots of tables.  I got my order for take out.

Samosa, $3.95.  The outside was a bit overdone.  But, had a good crispy texture.  The inside was just too bland, no flavor at all.

Shrimp Saagwala, $13.95, shrimp with chopped spinach and spices.  I asked for medium spiciness.  Not what I expected, but this was a very good dish.  About eight medium sized shrimp were covered in a spinach stew.  The spinach was nicely flavored but, it wasn't even spicy!!  The shrimp were pretty fresh and pretty good.  I don't think this was worth the price tag, even if this dish had the right spiciness!

Service by the guy who took my order was good.  He was nice and helpful.  The lady who gave me my order, was terrible.  She didn't say anything, not even a Thank you!!  She needs to learn customer service skills!!

The lack of customer service by that lady wouldn't prevent me from going back to Agra Cafe, but the high prices and only pretty good food, would prevent me from going back!

Dilliwala Indian Kitchen

Dilliwala Indian Kitchen
303 S Diamond Bar Blvd
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
909-860-7444

Dilliwala Indian Kitchen has been open for about 8 months, in what used to be Papa G's Pizza.  While I thought Papa G's served up great pizza, the interior had not been updated since the 1980's.  Now, the interior of Dilliwala is very inviting.  There are about 10 tables with some bench seat along the walls. 

Aloo Samosa, $4.95, crispy fried savory pastry stuffed with spiced potatoes.  While very flavorful, with a good amount of spices, this wasn't worth the price.  Two fairly small sized samosa for about $5???

Dal Tardka, $9.95, chickpea lentils tempered with ginger, garlic, tomatoes, onions, green chillies.  This was a fantastic dal/lentils.  Very flavorful, while the green chillies stood out, they didn't overpower the flavor. 

Service was very good.  Nice and friendly people.  Food was ready quickly.

Dilliwala Indian Kitchen is better than the other Indian restaurant in Diamond Bar, Diamond Palace.  I would go back to Dilliwala anytime, but wouldn't order the samosa because of the price.

Samosa House East

Samosa House East
10700 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 559-6350

I made plans with some friends, I haven't seen in a long time, for dinner.  While we were deciding where to go, I suggested Samosa House and Bharat Bazaar I was shocked when my friend asked, "Which one?"  I had no idea Samosa House East opened!  I understand Samosa House East has been open for about three years.

There is a steam table, a few tables inside and more tables outside.  It's a bright airy space at a very busy corner in Culver City.

Combination plate, $9.72, includes rice, soup or raita, and choice of three entrees from the steam table.  I think the portion size is OK, for the combo plate.

Sambhar- Lentils and vegetable soup-pictured next to the rice.  I got this instead of the raita.  I loved this soup.  I would order this anytime.  Very well seasoned, not too spicy and balanced.  The lentils were cooked perfectly! 

Jackfruit Curry-on the left-this was different.  I looks like pork but is jack fruit.  Had some flavor but I wasn't too impressed with it.

Dal-lentils with some carrots.  Somosa House does lentils very well.  The lentils were well cooked and flavorful.  Pretty spicy, more so than the soup.  But a very good dish.

Chana Masala-garbonzo beans- Very well cooked and seasoned.  I enjoyed the flavor and soft texture of this dish.

Service is good.  The guy who helped me was friendly and helpful.

I liked Samosa House East and would come back for the entrees if I was in the area. Maybe the next time I go, I'll order the combo plate at Samosa House and Bharat Bazaar and some somosa here!

Samosa House and Bharat Bazaar

Samosa House and Bharat Bazaar
11510 W Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90066
(310) 398-6766

After eating at Samosa House East I decided to go to the original Samosa House.  Samosa House was featured on a Food Network show.  They were raving about the great samosa and I wanted to give them a try.

This is the original Samosa House, which is an Indian market that serves food.  They expanded and took over the next door unit, so they is much more seating than what was featured on the show.  The food is on a steam table at the back of the market. 

Somosa-$1.50 each.  The somosa are bigger than most somosa I've had.  I love the flacky outside, that is so light and crisp.  The inside was filled with potato and peas with a kick.  The spices they put in are pretty spicy.

Service is OK.  The young lady who took my order seemed more concerned about closing than helping me.  But, another lady, who I believe is the owner, was very nice and helpful.

I noticed the steam table had more selections here than Samosa House East, but I assume the quality of the food is the same.  I have heard that you get more food here, but I didn't see anybody having a combination plate when I went.

I liked the somosa, but I wouldn't say it was the best I've ever had.  I would come back for the somosa if I'm in the area, but wouldn't make a special trip.  Maybe next time, I'll order a somosa at Somosa House East and order the combo plate here.